A Sheltered Woman by Yiyun Li

Author:Yiyun Li
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2015-06-10T00:00:00+00:00

The man of the house postponed his return; Chanel refused to have anything to do with Baby. Against her rules, Auntie Mei moved his crib into her bedroom; against her rules, too, she took on the responsibility of grocery shopping.

‘Do you suppose people will think we’re the grandparents of this baby?’ Paul asked after inching the car into a tight spot between two SUVs.

Could it be that he had agreed to drive and help with shopping for a reason other than the money Auntie Mei had promised him? ‘Nobody,’ she said, handing a list to Paul, ‘will think anything. Baby and I will wait here in the car.’

‘You’re not coming in?’

‘He’s a brand-new baby. You think I would bring him into a store with a bunch of refrigerators?’

‘You should’ve left him home, then.’

With whom? Auntie Mei worried that, had she left Baby home, he would be gone from the world when she returned, though this fear she would not share with Paul. She explained that Baby’s Ma suffered from postpartum depression and was in no shape to take care of him.

‘You should’ve just given me the shopping list,’ Paul said.

What if you ran off with the money without delivering the groceries, she thought, though it was unfair of her. There were men she knew she could trust, including, even, her dead husband.

On the drive back, Paul asked if the egret had returned. She hadn’t noticed, Auntie Mei replied. She wondered if she would have an opportunity to see the bird be taught its lesson: she had only twenty-two days left. Twenty-two days, and then the next family would pluck her out of here, egret or no egret. Auntie Mei turned to look at Baby, who was asleep in the car seat. ‘What will become of you then?’ she said.

‘Me?’ Paul asked.

‘Not you. Baby.’

‘Why do you worry? He’ll have a good life. Better than mine. Better than yours, for sure.’

‘You don’t know my life to say that,’ Auntie Mei said.

‘I can imagine. You should find someone. This is not a good life for you, going from one house to another and never settling down.’

‘What’s wrong with that? I don’t pay rent. I don’t have to buy my own food.’

‘What’s the point of making money if you don’t spend it?’ Paul said. ‘I’m at least saving money for my future grandchildren.’

‘What I do with my money,’ Auntie Mei said, ‘is none of your business. Now, please pay attention to the road.’

Paul, chastened into a rare silence, drove on, the slowest car on the freeway. Perhaps he’d meant well, but there were plenty of well-meaning men, and she was one of those women who made such men suffer. If Paul wanted to hear stories, she could tell him one or two, and spare him any hope of winning her affection. But where would she start? With the man she had married without any intention of loving and had wished into an early grave, or with the father she had not met because her

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