I felt guilty at missing all the activity. He had to have been wearing a Holter monitor for at least one full day, maybe more, as well as taking time off for the appointments. All I had noticed was that he wasn’t looking well.
“And?” I prompted. “The week off?”
“I need a pacemaker, which means a couple days of recovery in the hospital, but he doesn’t want me going straight back to work after that.” He snorted. “If he had his way, I’d take two or three weeks with nothing more stressful than walking around the neighborhood. No heavy lifting, no long hours, no hard work over a hot stove. Ha! I’d be bored to death in two days.”
“Sounds like you should talk to Jeixing. Maybe you two can play chess together or something.”
“And who will watch my restaurant? Matt? Celeste?”
I reached across the desk and caught his hand with mine. I reached with my magic as Chris had taught me, seeking his energy flows. They were sluggish and discolored, but I couldn’t see the precise problem or how to mend it. I settled for transferring some of my own energy, hoping it would give him strength, if nothing else. Modern medicine beat unreliable magic every time. “If you don’t do this, they’re going to need a more permanent solution, and no one wants that.”
Silence. I’d gone too far.
Then, “I will accept whatever the doctor tells me to do. I will take the time off, I will rest, I will come back slowly — whatever he says. But only if you spend at least an hour each day in the kitchen, supervising, making sure everything is done as it should be, and sampling to be certain the food is up to the standard it should be. Start a week from Tuesday.”
Not Monday because they were closed, of course.
I laughed softly. “Tempting me with all the dumplings I can eat? Sneaky. But your sous chefs have been well trained. I have seen everyone in your kitchen. They know what they’re doing, and even if you were gone for three weeks, they would be fine. They would work as though a dragon were watching them.”
“I don’t think he does, but I wouldn’t know.” Benjamin tried to smile, and the effort he put into it broke my heart. “I know my crew will be fine, but it would mean everything to me if you could do this.”
How could I say no?
“Very well.” I would do whatever I could to help him. Even if it meant angering Matt by staying here longer, rather than moving. Later would be time enough to tell Benjamin and Wei that I might have somewhere else to live, a place I intended to check out in the morning. I stood. “Let’s get those dumplings and spring rolls.”
He stood more slowly. “And Pepper? I will tell Matt. If you tell him, he will be angry. If I tell him, he will swallow his anger rather than risk harm to me.”
“Swallow it until the next time he sees me, anyway,” I said dryly. “But I can survive Matt’s anger.”
“Yes, I imagine you can.” He led the way out of the office. “Perhaps I will even give you soup for the children.”
When I knocked at Vanessa and Jeixing’s door, Aniyah answered. She took half a step to the side, opening the door so I could see in, though not really inviting me in. “We’re almost ready to go. Well, I’m ready to go. Kane’s trying to decide which books to take with him, and Gavin is rushing to finish his homework so he can play when we get up there.”
“Am not!” Gavin’s voice didn’t quite cover the scratching sound of his pencil.
Aniyah tossed her head. “Boys! Can I go ahead on up?”
“I suppose. Door’s locked, though.”
“And the key’s sticking. You should let Grandma Wei look at that.” She reached down and grabbed her duffel bag that was sitting next to her feet on the floor. “I’ll sit outside the door and wait. Better than waiting here.”
I stepped out of the way so she could head up, then nudged the door open further and poked my head around the edge. “Are you done yet?”
In fact, Gavin was tucking his papers in his homework folder. Tina was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s your sister?”
He hunched his shoulders, in that universal “I’m going to pretend I don’t know so I don’t get into trouble when she does” gesture.
“Vanessa?” I called.
“Almost ready — I’ll be out in a minute.” Her voice floated from her bedroom.
True to her word, she came out a moment later, fastening a lovely drop earring with rubies into her left ear. Her right ear was already adorned. “We really appreciate this, Pepper.”
“Enjoy yourselves.” I lifted the bag of take-out in my hands. “Thanks to your dad, dinner’s dealt with, and I’m not on open tomorrow, so I’ll watch the kids in the morning until your grandmother can take over.”
“Thanks.” Her face grew a little more serious. “This is going to be a lot harder if you have to move.”
“I’m sure your grandmother will be happy to help out.” Overjoyed, if I knew Jinhong.
“Probably.” She glanced around. “Where are the girls?”
“Aniyah went up to wait outside the apartment. I’d guess that Tina is already up there, trying to fix the lock, although Gavin declined to say so.”
“Mmm. She definitely has that ‘I can do it myself’ attitude.”
“Yeah, no idea where she got that from.”
Gavin had patently not been looking at me during this conversation, pointedly looking the other way when I suggested I knew where his sister was, and now petulantly asked, “If you knew where she was, why did you ask?”
Vanessa and I traded amused glances. I said, “I’m hoping to check out a possible apartment tomorrow morning. I’ll have your grandmother watch the kids until you’re ready to take them.” I probably should have called about the apartment — still could, for that matter — but I was taking Hsien literally about dropping in to talk to the owner. Raising my voice, I said, “Kane! We’re leaving!”
“All right, all right.” He came out of his room with a much smaller bag than his sister had been carrying and seven or eight books piled in his arms. “I just wanted to make sure I had something to read.”
“I don’t think you can get through all of those tonight.”
Eye rolls are universal. “I know that. I need them in case I change my mind about what I’m in the mood for.”
I nodded toward the door. “Head on up. I’ll be right behind you guys.” Then I smiled at Vanessa. “You’ve got my number, of course, but I don’t expect you to need it. In fact, I will be disappointed if you do.”
Laughing, she closed the door behind us.
On our landing, Aniyah was sitting on her duffel bag, chin in hands, staring at Tina, who glowered at the lock as fiercely as she had ever glared at anything. Spinning to face me, she demanded, “What did you do?”
Pasting my most innocent look on my face — one that would have made my parents burst out laughing for certain — I said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I told you the lock is sticking. You said even your Ama had trouble with it. Why are you blaming me?”
“Because I’m good at locks!” burst from her.
I raised my eyebrows inquiringly, inviting her to go on. From the corner of my eye, I caught Aniyah’s widened eyes and bit lip. On the other side of her, Kane and Gavin nudged each other, and if they’d been any older, I probably would have seen money changing hands.
Realizing what she had said, Tina shrunk in on herself, and her eyes shifted side to side, as if she were trying to find a way out of the metaphorical corner she’d placed herself in.
“I see.” I transferred the bag with the food to my left hand, fished out my key with my right, and unlocked the door. Pushing it open, I said, “We will have a talk later about whose locks you have been opening and why.”
Gavin and Kane chorused “Oooooooh.” I shot a look at them, and they sidled past me, guilty looks on their faces.
I let all four of the children go in before I entered, pushing the door closed behind me with my foot.
“Gavin, since you’ve already
finished your homework, you may play on your DS for fifteen minutes. Tina, set the table.”
I followed her out to the kitchen and set the bag on the counter. She carefully didn’t look at me as she got a step stool to reach the cupboard with the plates and bowls. That was fine. I wasn’t sure what to say, and even if I was, she wouldn’t listen right now. With her jaw tight and her eyebrows drawn down, she looked less guilty and more angry that she’d been caught — especially with everyone else watching. She wanted to do things, she wanted to get away with it, and she didn’t want to get in trouble in front of others.
Definitely my kid, though I’d managed to outgrow some of that. I hoped.
While she set the table, I grabbed ladles for the soup, spoons for the sauce, and the container of soy sauce from the cupboard — because even though Benjamin’s dumplings were amazing with the blend of cabbage and ginger and pork, sometimes I wanted just a bit more saltiness to the flavor as well. I had the food ready by the time Tina had set the table — and judging by the alacrity he reached for the food with, the only reason Kane hadn’t already started eating a spring roll was because I’d kept them in the kitchen.
Conversation around the table revolved around school for the most part — which teachers were too strict, how much homework they had for the holiday weekend, why the new gym teacher wasn’t as good as the old one.
As soon as dinner was finished, I looked at Kane. “Could you please clear the table? Gavin needs to practice his instruments.”
“Can’t Aniyah help me?”
I nodded. “That seems reasonable. Make sure you wash the table when you’re done.” I met Tina’s defiant glare. She was certain this would be when I lectured her. “You will come out to the landing with me. There’s something I want to show you.”
Kane’s “Oooh” died on his lips when I glanced at him. I pushed back from the table and stood, then waited for Tina to do the same. I looked expectantly at Gavin. “I’d better hear music when I’m out there.”
His face twisted, but I knew that now none of them would try to eavesdrop — I’d know if Gavin did, and if he couldn’t listen, he’d rat out his cousins if they tried.
On the landing, I closed the door and locked it behind us, then sat on the top step and patted the spot beside me. Reluctantly, Tina joined me. I hesitated, torn about what I planned to do. I was about to break one of my rules — never say bad things about their father to the twins.
“Your magic didn’t work, did it?”
“It’s not fair! Gavin’s always told to practice more, and you want me to do less all the time. How am I ever going to get good?”
I wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head, since she kept her face turned away.
“You practice. You learn. You listen.” I shrugged with my other shoulder. “But I think it’s going to take you a number of years to break one of my spells, crafted with intent. The general idea was to not let in anyone from outside unless I opened the door, but — there was a more specific intent behind my thoughts. Your dad had locked himself into our home, and he didn’t want to leave. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to come in again without asking, so my magic made sure that nothing with any part of him could come in without my permission.” I pressed her close to me. “I’m sorry — that means that you and your brother got caught in the spell, as well as your grandparents and everyone on that side of the family.”
“But why?” She pulled back, confusion on her face. “He’s Dad.”
“Oh, honey. How can I explain this?” My throat tightened with the urge to cry for her. “How do you think he would react if I started walking into his house when he wasn’t there, while he was at work or out with friends — whether I did anything or not?”
Her brow wrinkled, and I could tell she was seriously considering what she knew of Matt before she answered. “He would ask you if that was how you set an example for us. And he’d probably ask whether you left some kind of spell behind, too, as if that’s the kind of magic you do!” Her voice was filled with scorn at the thought.
“Okay …”
He had, more than once, yelled at me about the kind of example I was setting for our children, so that comment didn’t really surprise me. I wondered how much she knew of my magic — I was known for revenge magic, for hexes, for being willing and able to hurt people. Some of that was exaggeration, but there was a kernel of truth to it. Fortunately, a kernel that Matt did not know.
Now Tina was thinking out loud. “If you told him you didn’t do anything, he probably wouldn’t believe you.” She frowned. “Why did he lock himself in there? Just to show he could? That’s weird.”
It was weird, but as far as I could tell, he hadn’t done anything while in there, had indeed, as she said, just done it to show me he could. Which was scary — not a word I wanted to use to Tina.
“I think I can alter the spell a bit — just enough to let you in, but only you. Would you like that?”
Her eyes lit up. “Just me? Not Gavin or Grandma or Ama or anyone else?”
“Just you.” I squeezed her again, stood up, and pulled out my key. “Put this in the door, but don’t try to turn it yet.”
When she was in position, I touched the door knob, letting my magic trickle around the key and her hand, blending her magic with mine. The key turned on its own, unlocking the door. She grinned up at me before pushing the door open.
Gavin was in the middle of his scales on the violin, and Kane was propped in a corner of the couch, bracing his book with his elbows and holding his fingers in his ears. Aniyah wasn’t as dramatic, but she did wrinkle her nose. Gavin wasn’t very good, but for only a few weeks of work, he was doing amazingly well — and I could tell he’d been practicing his fingering as Hsien had said because more of the notes sounded true.
I patted Tina on the back. “Why don’t you and Aniyah head into your room? You can help set up a sleeping bag for her if she doesn’t want to sleep on Gavin’s bed. “
She turned to look at me with shock on her face. “It’s not bedtime yet!”
“No, and I’m not making you go to bed. You can talk, you can read, you can play — you can even come out here once you’re set up, if you want, and when Gavin’s done practicing, you can all watch a movie.”
Gavin reached the end of that cycle of scales and paused in his playing. “What do you mean, if she doesn’t want to sleep on my bed? Where am I supposed to sleep?”
“The boys will sleep out here, and the girls will sleep in there,” I said. “And you’re welcome to giggle and talk or sneak a flashlight to read under the covers if you want. But there will be no pillow fights, no tickling, and most of all, no waking me up. Or else.”
Kane looked like he was going to ask “Or else what?,” but good sense overcame him. I had given him permission to read under the covers, after all. He went back to his book, the girls went to the bedroom, and I went in the kitchen to pop some popcorn for the movie.
Chapter 14
The next morning, Jinhong grumbled a bit about being asked to watch both Tina and Gavin and Kane and Aniyah, but she agreed to do so. After making sure the twins had everything they needed ready for the longer weekend with their dad, I put sweet oil drops in my ears to dull the effects of siren song and left the house around nine-thirty, although I didn’t have to be at work until noon. I took the T to the Symphony stop. Mass Ave and Huntington Ave are major thoroughfares, and between cars, emergency vehicles, runners heading out from the Y, and commuters heading to the T from their apartments, I had to keep half an eye on traffic while looking at my phone to be sure I was going the right way.
My phone’s mapping app told me I needed to head north, so I followed the little blue dot toward the music shop. Honeyed melody crept up my skin and into my ears, the touch of the area’s sirens, and a reminder that if we did move here, I’d need to find another barrier or use sweet oil around the clock. Without the oil, the sirens’ magic set my teeth on edge, making it impossible to thin
k.
I arrived too early and had to lounge about outside while waiting for the shop to open. A pair of sirens strolled by on the other side of the street, unremarkable in their black pants, sensible heels, and colorful wool sweaters. A lot of the other people about wore jeans, leggings, or even sweats, but a few had business suits.
The door next to me opened. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long. I don’t usually have people in a hurry to get new instruments.”
His precise tones — Indian, maybe, or Pakistani — and self-deprecating humor put me at ease. Although his slightly shaggy hair and rumpled T-shirt spoke more of a musician than a businessman, his eyes held a sharp glint. Then, too, Hsien had suggested this place, and I trusted him a great deal — too much, Matt would say, but I hadn’t had cause to regret it yet. And even Matt couldn’t disapprove of this man, who had no trace of magic about him.
“I hear you have an apartment for rent.”
He looked taken aback. “It’s only been free for a couple of days, and I haven’t put a notice about it anywhere. How did you hear that?”
That, I hadn’t expected. “My son’s teacher — violin and gaohu — Mr. Hsien mentioned it.”
Relaxing, he stepped aside. “Oh, yes. He was in the other day. Kind of him to pass on the word.” He put out his hand. “Anil Bhattacharya. Normally, I’d show you around, but UPS usually comes in about fifteen minutes, and I’m expecting some picks and strings.” He motioned toward a door in the back. “Through there, up the stairs. Hang on a minute, and I’ll get you the key.” He walked behind the counter, tapped a button on the register, and when it opened, lifted the tray to pull a key out from underneath. “Bring it back down when you’re done, and we can talk.”
I was pretty sure I’d never looked at a rental without someone hovering over me, purportedly to answer any questions I had, but more likely to make sure I didn’t walk off with any lightbulbs or other fixtures. The stairs were narrower than at the Lius, and I was a little worried about how easily furniture could get up and down. They went up one flight and ended at decent-sized square landing with a window looking out over the street. Picturesque curved cast-iron railings fronted the window.
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