Auntie Ning corrected her. “There’s a difference.”
An argument ensued, but Auntie Faye took control and possession of the phone. “Your mother says hi and she’ll call you soon, but she’s busy refereeing right now.”
I laughed. “You found his dating history, so you know who he is?”
“Girard Renaud. Restaurateur and philanthropist. No family left. Only brother died seven years ago. No marriage! Not even engagements.”
“Maybe he still loves Aunt Evelyn.”
Auntie Faye clicked her tongue. “Could be. Oh, and he still looks good. Not ugly old at all. Ning and several others have a crush. And he’s rich. Not as rich as your uncle Jimmy, but he has enough.”
Uncle James “Jimmy” Yu started in the family tea business but made his money in the stock market. His uncanny instincts were often mistaken for clairvoyance. He and Aunt Evelyn were close, and it had long been suspected that she had a tidy nest egg because of their association.
“Girard owns restaurants here,” I said. “The food is great.”
“Is Evelyn still interested?”
I wanted to answer yes, but that would leave Aunt Evelyn exposed. I refused to allow my current annoyance with her to create a mess I’d need to clean up later. Aunt Gloria once hired a singing zebra to help woo her son’s crush by crashing their romantic picnic date. If the aunties back home detected a hint of reciprocation, their heavy-handed version of meddling would ruin the tenuous situation here.
“I’m not sure. I’ll have to get back to you on that. You know what she’s like.”
“Keeps everything hidden like she’s ashamed of her feelings.” Auntie Ning took the phone and held it close to her mouth. “She needs to stop being tragic and grab that beautiful man with both arms.”
“And both legs. Climb that French tree,” Auntie Gloria yelled from the background. Her emphatic statement was received with raucous laughter.
The women were clearly enjoying their wine. Mahjong nights with the aunties lasted until the morning, a quarterly event of competition, gossip, food, and drink. They went all out with theming, choice of catering, and venue. They handed out prizes for the tournament: spa packages and designer and luxury goods. The grand prize was a tiara and a sash. Ma won a few times and pranced around the house for weeks like she was Miss World.
“Keep an eye on her and take care of her. After you leave, she’s all alone over there.” Auntie Faye sighed. “I have to go. We love you.”
“Love you all too.”
When I left, my aunt wouldn’t be alone. She would be with Girard living their happily ever after. She deserved happiness and so did he.
Aunt Evelyn returned and, without a word, placed a wrapped sandwich before me, entered the storage room, and locked the door behind her.
Thirty-Two
Auntie?” I knocked on the door. “Are you okay?”
The lock on the door clicked and she ventured out. Her creased brow and half-eaten sandwich betrayed her waning appetite. She hummed the same sad tune I recognized from that night at Le Papillon Bleu. The notes hovered in the air and reverberated within the shop like a somber chorus.
“What happened?” I asked.
“The posters are everywhere. Every person I tried to enlist to my cause had that damnable paper taped to their door or window: Jerome the butcher, and Miette, whose shoe shop I loved going into. I thought they were my friends or, at least, neutral. How can I combat this wave of prejudice?”
There wasn’t anything I could say to help. Hate was fueled by emotions; it couldn’t be reasoned with. The micro-aggressions I faced did not compare with the coordinated campaign of discrimination directed toward my aunt. She was a foreigner and was outnumbered. Our family, a source of strength through numbers and kinship, was an ocean away.
Her phone buzzed, interrupting our lost thoughts. She withdrew it from her pocket and scanned the screen, her thumb dragging across the glass. Her dark eyes looked at me, her pupils pinpricks. “That was from the fortune-teller society. They have no answers. I’m to document and keep them informed.”
“So I’m their guinea pig now?”
“Yes, it seems so. They did, however, agree with my assessment that this is due to you rejecting your early training. All of this is supposed to be second nature. I find it difficult to teach you when you’re not where you should be.”
I took a deep breath. “I can’t go back to the past and change things. It’s not helpful. We need a plan to accommodate and accelerate what I can do.”
“And