I was losing. I played my trump card. ‘Satan!’
Louise glanced up from her notes. ‘No way.’
‘Absolutely. In the bank on the Peak.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
‘Leo,’ I said, ‘what’s Satan’s last name?’
‘The kid in the bank? Chow, I think,’ Leo said.
Louise snapped her notebook shut. ‘No way I can beat that. I’m paying.’
‘What the hell was all that about?’ Leo demanded. ‘What’s Satan Chow got to do with anything?’
‘We collect Hong Kong English names. Some people seem to choose them out of a hat, whatever takes their fancy. We have a competition. Whoever can come up with the weirdest name they’ve heard since last time wins. The other one has to pay.’ I smiled with satisfaction. ‘I win.’
April seemed bewildered by the whole exchange.
‘How’s married life, April? Do you have photos of the wedding?’ Louise said.
April’s face lit up and she pulled a few small photo albums out of her briefcase.
‘This is in Sydney, where we had the wedding,’ she said, passing me some of the books.
I flipped through the first one, and handed it to Louise.
‘Can I see?’ Simone said.
‘Sure.’ I handed her one of the books, and Leo looked through it with her.
Louise raised the album she was looking at. ‘How many dresses did you have for this?’
‘Five,’ April said. ‘One white one for the wedding, one white one for the formal photos. They’re not back yet. One traditional red one for the reception, another white one for the reception. And a going-away dress.’
I leaned over the table to speak closely to her. ‘You know, we usually only have one wedding dress.’
April looked horrified. ‘Only one dress?’
Louise and I both nodded.
‘Your Chinese dress is very pretty,’ Simone said. ‘Is that gold and silver?’
‘Yes,’ April said. ‘Red silk, gold and silver embroidery. Boring traditional style. My grandmother wanted to see me in one.’
Simone suddenly squeaked, clambered out of her chair and pulled herself into Leo’s lap, facing him. He looked around.
‘What?’ I said.
Simone put her hand on Leo’s shoulder and whispered urgently into his ear. He listened carefully, then moved her so that she sat facing the table and wrapped his huge arms around her.
‘We’re okay,’ Simone said, eyes wide.
Three teenage boys walked past our table. They seemed perfectly ordinary, wearing baggy denim jeans and black T-shirts. Simone and Leo didn’t shift their eyes from them as they went between our table and the next one.
One of the boys leered at Simone, and Leo held her tighter and whispered something in her ear. She nodded, her eyes still wide. The boys went out of the restaurant. Leo and Simone visibly relaxed.
‘Are you guys okay?’ I said.
‘What was all that about?’ Louise said.
‘Where the hell are the trolleys?’ Leo said. ‘What sort of yum cha is this without any food?’
‘Here’s one,’ April said. The waitress stopped the trolley next to our table. April read the signs on the front. ‘Har gow, siu mai, cha siu bow, sticky rice, tripes.’ She smiled around the table. ‘Who wants?’
‘Cha siu bow, please, Emma!’ Simone said, and climbed off Leo’s lap and sat in her own chair. ‘Siu mai too. I’m hungry!’
‘Okay now?’ Leo said.
‘Yes.’ Simone grinned broadly.
‘Sticky rice,’ Leo said.
‘So you and Andy have your own place now?’ Louise asked April after the steamers had been set on the table.
‘Yes. Andy spends most of his time in China for his work, so I see him once every six weeks or so.’
Louise stared at her. ‘You only see your husband once every six weeks?’
April nodded through the dim sum. ‘We’ve decided to go and live in Australia. He wants to get Australian citizenship. I’ll go first, do the papers, find us a place to live. He’ll come later.’
‘You’re leaving Hong Kong?’ I said. ‘When?’
‘In about a month, I think,’ April said. ‘September, October.’
‘I’ll miss you.’
‘I’ll be back all the time,’ she said. ‘To visit. And go shopping.’
Another trolley rolled up beside us. Instead of the little bamboo steamers, it had four square pots with lids and ladles. ‘Who wants pig’s blood?’ April said. ‘Congee, mixed beef guts. Anybody?’
Everybody shook their heads. April ordered some pig’s blood anyway: dark red jelly-like cubes in clear broth. She passed the card to the waitress who stamped it with a tiny circular stamp held on a string around her neck.
April stirred the blood. ‘Emma, you have to go and see Aunty Kitty.’
‘Aunty who?’ Louise said.
‘Aunty Kitty.’
‘Kitty Kwok?’ I said.
‘Yes. She wants to see you.’
‘What for?’
‘Don’t go, Emma, she just wants to bully you into working there again,’ Louise said. ‘Business has really gone downhill at the kindergarten since you left.’
‘You have to go and see her,’ April said again.
‘No, I don’t.’
‘Call her then,’ April said. ‘She wants to talk to you.’
I rose and went to the ladies’ room without saying another word. Louise followed me. As soon as we were out of earshot, she was onto me. ‘Quick, tell me all.’
‘About what? Kitty Kwok?’
‘No, silly,’ she hissed with a grin. ‘Your new job.’
‘Nothing much to tell,’ I said. ‘I work as a nanny, I look after Simone, end of story.’
‘What about her dad?’ she said. ‘What’s he like? Are he and Leo…’ She nodded back towards the dining room. ‘You know?’
I smiled. ‘He’s absolutely gorgeous. A total gentleman. And him and Leo? No.’
‘Really?’
‘I’m sure of it. Leo brings guys home all the time. Real man-about-town. Leo even told me himself: not Mr Chen.’
‘But what about Mr Chen? What’s he do?’
‘I have no idea,’ I said. ‘I think he’s a spy. He teaches martial arts to kids, but he says that he works for the government.’
Louise stared incredulously at me. I nodded, reinforcing the point.
‘Can you invite me up?’ she said as we went through the doors. ‘I’d love to check him out, Emma. Sounds unreal.’
‘You have no idea.’ I lowered my voice. ‘You know he only ever wears black? Everything. Sometimes he even wears a black shirt