‘There’s nobody here,’ Aunty Lee said, returning to the present.
‘Beth and Jonny will be here. They’re living on the second floor, above the school. This way, no matter how late parents come to collect their children there will be somebody here.’ As Selina spoke she was touching up her lipstick, eyes focused on a tiny mirror. She patted her hair. ‘Wait here, Aunty Lee. This is important. This could make all the difference for the baby’s future. I’m not going to let you mess this up for us!’ Selina reached across Mark’s lap and turned off the engine, taking the key with her. Then she left the car without waiting for a response. If she had had the decency to leave the car air-conditioning on, Aunty Lee might have stayed in the car for longer than the two minutes it took Selina to push through the half open gate and start up the driveway.
‘Come on,’ Aunty Lee said to Nina, ‘let’s go and look!’ She was glad she had brought pineapple tarts with her. No one had ever been accused of breaking and entering when carrying pineapple tarts.
‘Selina said to wait in the car!’ Mark protested.
‘Then you better wait in the car,’ Aunty Lee said sweetly.
There was no sign of Selina as Aunty Lee and Nina picked their way between the stacks of tiles and piles of foam sheeting that occupied the driveway. She must have gone inside. Then the door swung open and a man came out. Despite the heat he was wearing a dark blue shirt shot through with lighter blue lines over dark trousers and pointed toe shoes that always made Aunty Lee think of the elves in the picture books of her childhood. She knew, thanks to Cherril who was always trying to get her husband to dress more like a successful lawyer, that such high-gloss leather shoes were probably from a designer line. And she knew from Mycroft that they were hot and uncomfortable. They did look sleek and beautiful, though.
But it was not the shoes that made Aunty Lee stop and stare. The man was even more beautiful than his shoes. He stood there, just outside the shelter of the porch, squinting slightly in the sun which showed up the straight line of his nose, the high cheekbones, clean jaw and smooth skin and perfect slightly slanting eyes and mouth. Despite her age and slightly aching knees, something deep inside Aunty Lee gave a shiver of delight. It was a purely animal response to the symmetry of the man’s perfectly balanced features; the sensation of coming upon the first ripe durian of the season at the moment when the tough thorny fruit ripped willingly to expose its smooth virgin creaminess.
‘Can I help you ladies?’ the man said.
‘Are you Jonny Ho?’ Aunty Lee asked at the same time as Nina said: ‘We are waiting for Madam Selina.’
‘Ah, Selina Lee.’ Jonny Ho smiled, and Aunty Lee heard Selina give a gurgling little giggle, coming out of the house behind him. She seemed to be having some trouble with the strap of her purse.
‘Do you need a cough drop?’ Mark asked, following his wife out of the house.
Selina walked around the man to stand next to Nina without answering Mark. ‘This is Nina, Jonny. I told Beth all about Nina. She’s worked for our family for years, and she’s completely reliable. I told Selina that Nina could stay here and clean up and watch the house while we take care of all the other things.’
Selina was like a little dog, Aunty Lee thought, wagging its tail and trying to impress its master with a dead rat. Jonny nodded to her before turning back to Aunty Lee and Nina.
‘Yes, I am Mr. Jonny Ho.’ His English was so proper that it must have been studied as a second language. ‘But you ladies can call me Jonny.’
As the man ran his eyes over them Aunty Lee was suddenly very aware that her Curry Up! tee shirt was curry stained, and her pink and green floral pants (such a bright, happy batik, she remembered thinking when putting them on that morning) were old, worn and a little faded. Most women would have been embarrassed, spending the rest of their visit awkward with embarrassment. But Aunty Lee chose to be intrigued instead. It was unusual for her to concern herself with anything beyond comfort when it came to clothes. Looking around for the cause, she realized it was the way Jonny Ho was looking at her. Now she studied him, she saw Jonny wore as much tinted face cream as a Korean movie star and was probably good-looking enough to be mistaken for one, but that wasn’t it. Aunty Lee was more susceptible to a handsome plantain than a handsome man. No, it was because Jonny Ho eyed her like a man wanting to get his money’s worth out of an eat-all-you-can buffet. He was trying to estimate the value of the prawns concealed in their fried batter casings. And that made the prawns feel the need to validate themselves.
Aunty Lee watched Jonny Ho run his eyes over Nina. Without saying or doing anything improper, he made it clear he was interested in her as a property worth acquiring. Aunty Lee felt worried. She hoped Nina would not try to forget Salim by falling for someone else. But Nina was looking bored and stupid. It was the look she wore when Selina was lecturing her. That was all right then, Aunty Lee thought in relief. She turned her attention back to Jonny Ho. He really had a very nice face, Aunty Lee thought, though she would have liked it better with less make-up. His skin was as smooth and white as a steamed rice flour bun and didn’t seem to have any pores.
‘I remember this house,’ Aunty Lee said. ‘I haven’t been here for so long. Wah, you are doing big renovations here, hor? All this dust must be very bad for children, right? In the old days there was a fountain here, right?’
‘We had to get rid of the fountain. Mosquitoes,’ a woman said briskly, coming out of the house.
Aunty Lee recognized her at once as Beth, Patty’s sister. In school they had all called Elizabeth Kwuan ‘Bossy Betty’. Beth was wearing a smart dress and lipstick, but still looked like a strict, rule-bound schoolteacher. She would be the teacher schoolgirls made fun of while in school and remembered fondly as part of their girlhood – like acne. Now, though Beth smiled and nodded to Selina and her visitors, there were frown lines between her brows, and the sides of her mouth immediately returned to their usual down position. She looked like she was looking out for faults just to show she was paying attention. Working for this woman would not be easy. Beth looked like the kind of boss who had already driven one helper into running away and would soon make Nina realize that Aunty Lee, however meddling, was easier to work for.
She was the perfect temporary boss for Nina, Aunty Lee thought.
‘Selina told me your helper ran away,’ Aunty Lee said.
‘Did she?’ Beth looked surprised and disapproving. Selina, who had meant to surprise her but differently, glared at Aunty Lee and started to explain: ‘You said you needed someone to clear away the dust and rubble before painting—’ but Aunty Lee continued over her.
‘I remember you from school. I was in the same class as Patty. Don’t you remember me? I’m Rosie! Here—’ Aunty Lee pushed the pineapple tarts at Beth, ‘from my shop. My condolences about Patty. Poor thing. She was still so young.’
‘At least she was still beautiful when she died. Oh Rosie, of course I remember you. Thank you. Jonny can take … I’m sorry, I’m in quite a hurry right now. I have to go for a meeting with the ECDA. Planning permissions and regulations and all that. I’ve been phoning and phoning but there aren’t any taxis … ’
‘There’s a taxi waiting at the end of the road,’ Aunty Lee said. ‘Maybe you gave him the wrong address.’
‘No.