Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Author:Jesse Q. Sutanto [Sutanto, Jesse Q.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

19

Silence.

Big Aunt and Fourth Aunt might as well be statues, they’re sitting so still. Then Fourth Aunt throws her head back and howls with laughter. “Oh my god, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Can you imagine us as the mafia?”

All too easily, I want to tell her, but decide it would be wisest not to say that. “I mean, kind of? Look at Staphanie’s family. Would you have guessed that they’re mafia? I didn’t, but well, here we are. And you were telling me how Abraham Lincoln was really sweet and nerdy and now he’s apparently a mafia lord.”

“Yeah, but there’s like—” Fourth Aunt flaps her arms for a few moments before dropping them. “I mean, there’s got to be a—some sort of tell, you know? It’s obvious we’re good people.”

“Are we?” I throw a very meaningful look at Big Uncle and Second Uncle.

“Okay, they’re the bad guys, we’re the good guys; there’s a very clear distinction here,” Fourth Aunt says.

“Right, but they also know that we killed Ah Guan. Remember? That’s what got us into this whole mess in the first place. They probably think we offed him or something. I mean, technically, we did. By accident, but still.”

Fourth Aunt’s mouth opens, closes, and presses into a thin line. She turns to Big Aunt and says, “Da Jie, what do you think?”

Big Aunt runs her finger along the rim of her teacup, frowning slightly as she mulls. Softly, she mutters, “Is explain what I hear Ama say. She say, ‘Rén bùkě màoxiàng.’ Is mean . . .”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover?” I hazard a guess.

Big Aunt’s frown deepens. “Aduh, no, Meddy. Where got book? I say ‘ren,’ is mean person. Cannot judge person by face. Aiya, I tell your Ma, must send you to Chinese school early, but she not listen. You see, now you think person is book.”

“No, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just a saying in English, it can also apply to—never mind. Okay, so she said don’t judge a book—I mean, a person—by their appearance. What were you guys talking about when she said that?”

“Not to me. I hear her say to Staphanie in bathroom when we meet for dim sum. I not know what Staphanie saying, and then Ama say that to her. Then she say, ‘People can look like good family but then turn out they dangerous.’ Then I come in and they both smile-smile and become quiet. At the time I thinking, oh, maybe Staphanie have boyfriend not come from good family, and Ama warning her not so gullible, fall for bad boy.”

Of course they were talking about us. It makes so much sense. It applies perfectly to us: we seem like a good, normal family on the surface, but beneath that, we’re all teeth and claws and dirty fights to the death. And since they already know we had something to do with Ah Guan’s death, it’s not such a big leap to think we’re mafia, especially if they also run in those circles.

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