by Kevin Kwan
“I have no idea. I assumed they were yours, so I didn’t open them,” Nick said.
Jirasit untied the ribbon and began sifting through the letters. “My goodness! These were my letters to her after the war. She saved every last one of them!” His pale gray eyes clouded over with tears, which he flicked away quickly.
Nick had brought with him a prospectus of his Tyersall Park buyback scheme, and he was about to take it out of his satchel to show Jirasit when the man abruptly stood up and announced, “Come, let us attend to the matter at hand!”
Nick had no idea what he was talking about, but he followed Jirasit as he strolled swiftly toward a pavilion on the other side of the lake, marveling at his pace. “Jirasit, I hope I’ll be as agile as you are when I’m your age!”
“Yes, I hope so too. You seem quite slow for your age. Do keep up! I picked up yoga when I lived in India, and I’ve never stopped my daily practice. Also, it’s important to keep your body alkaline, young man. Do you eat chicken?”
“I love chicken.”
“Well, stop loving it. Chickens reabsorb their own urine—and so their meat is extremely acidic,” the man said as he quickened his pace. When they reached the glass-walled pavilion, Nick noticed two guards flanking the entrance.
“This is my private office,” Jirasit explained. They entered the room, which contained nothing but an ancient gold statue of Buddha inset into a niche on one wall and a beautiful black-and-gilt desk facing a window onto the lake. Jirasit went to a door against the back wall, and placed his hand on the security scanning pad. A few seconds later, the deadbolt unlocked automatically and he gestured for Nick to follow him into the room.
Inside, Nick found a space that resembled a walk-in vault with built-in cabinets along every wall. At the corner was an old antique Wells Fargo safe that had been bolted into the floor. Jirasit turned to Nick and said, “Here we are. The combination please?”
“I’m sorry, you want me to give you the combination?”
“Of course. This is your grandmother’s safe from Singapore.”
“Um, I have no idea what it is,” Nick said, surprised by this turn of events.
“Well, unless you’re good at safe-cracking, you’re going to need the combination. Let’s see, why don’t we call Catherine in Bangkok and see if she knows what it is?” Jirasit took out his phone and moments later had Catherine on the line. The two of them spoke animatedly in Thai for a few moments, and then Jirasit glanced up at Nick. “Did you bring the earrings?”
“What earrings?”
“Your grandmother’s pearl earrings. The combination is on them.”
“Oh my God! The earrings! Let me call my wife!” Nick said in astonishment. He quickly called Rachel’s cell phone, and moments later she answered in a sleepy voice.
“Honey, sorry to wake you. Yes, I’m in Chiang Mai now. Remember those earrings I gave you? The pearl earrings from my grandmother?”
Rachel crawled out of bed, went over to the dressing table and opened the drawer where she kept her jewelry.
“What am I looking for exactly?” she asked, still half asleep.
“Do you see any numbers carved on the pearls?”
Rachel held a pearl stud up to the window light. “Nothing, Nick. It’s totally smooth and luminous.”
“Really? Can you look again?”
Rachel closed one eye and squinted at each pearl as closely as she could. “I’m sorry, Nick, I see nothing. Are you sure we’re talking about these earrings? They are so tiny, I can’t imagine where someone would hide any information, unless it’s inside the pearl.”
Nick thought back to what his Ah Ma told him when she had handed them over. My father gave these to me when I escaped Singapore before the war, when the Japanese soldiers had finally reached Johor and we knew all was lost. They are very special. Please look after them carefully. The words took on a whole new significance now. He stared at the safe, wondering what it could possibly hold. Would there be gold bullion bars, stacks of old bonds or some other type of financial documents that would help him secure Tyersall Park? What was in there that was so valuable to his grandmother that she would go to such great lengths to protect it?
“Rachel, I’m sure those are the earrings. Maybe we do need to crack them open. Or maybe the numbers appear if you put them in water? I dunno, try anything,” Nick said in frustration.
“Well, before we destroy these lovely pearls, let me try the water thing.” Rachel went into the bathroom and turned on the tap to fill the sink. She looked at the earrings again—they were simple pearl studs on gold posts, each with a little gold disk as backing. Before dipping one of the earrings into the water, she decided to pry the backing off the stud. Suddenly she gasped. There, on the underside of the backing were tiny Chinese characters carved into the gold. “Nick, I never thought I’d ever get to say these words, but…EUREKA, I’VE FOUND IT! There are Chinese characters carved into the backing of the earrings!”
Rachel quickly deciphered the numbers: “9, 32, 11, 17, 8.” Nick turned the dial to the corresponding numbers, his heart pounding as each of the locks seemed to click into place one by one. When he finally turned the lever to open the safe, he held his breath, wondering what he would find inside.
The safe door creaked open, and when Nick peered inside, all he saw were small red leather-bound books, neatly arranged in stacks. He took one of them out and began flipping through its pages. Every page was written in Chinese, and Nick realized he was looking at his grandmother’s private diaries, beginning from the time she was a child to her adulthood.
“Why are these here?” Nick was completely mystified.
Jirasit gave Nick a serene smile. “Your grandmother was a very private person, and I think she felt that this was the only place she could leave them for safekeeping, without the risk of anyone seeing them or censoring them after she was gone. She never wanted them kept in Singapore, and she never wanted them to leave this compound. You are the historian, from what I’m told, so she wanted you to have access to them. She told me you would one day come.”
“Is this all there is? These diaries?” Nick asked, bending down to peer more closely into the dark safe.
“I believe so. Was there something else you were looking for?”
“I don’t know. I guess I had imagined that she would have some other valuable treasures stored away in here,” Nick said a little disappointedly.
Jirasit frowned. “Well you should read them, Nicholas. You may find a great many unexpected treasures within those pages. I’ll leave you be, and perhaps we can meet up again for lunch at noon?”
Nick nodded, as he took a stack of journals out to the desk. Deciding that the best thing to do was read the journals chronologically, he reached to the bottom of the pile for the oldest journal. As he opened the cover gently, the leather binding cracking after decades of stillness, he began to hear his grandmother’s young voice in her handwritten words.
March 1, 1943
It feels like we have been riding for a week, but Keng tells me it has only been three days. Whenever we reach a new outpost I ask him if we are still on the estate and he sighs frustratedly. Yes, we are. Apparently, my mother’s family is the largest landowner in West Sumatra, and it would take a full week on horseback to traverse the estate. The highlands are glorious—rugged with a strange wildness to everything. On another trip, it might have even seemed romantic. If I had only known we would be spending so many days riding just to get to my brother’s house, I would have brought my own saddle!
March 2, 1943
Finally arrived. They take me upstairs to see Ah Jit, and at first I don’t understand what is going on. My brother lies unconscious, his handsome face so swollen and purple I can hardly recognize him. There is a deep, bloody gash on his right jaw that they are trying to keep from being infected. I asked what was going on? I thought the
cholera was under control? “We didn’t want to tell you till you got here. It’s not cholera. He’s bleeding internally. He was tortured by Japanese agents. They were trying to get him to give up the locations of some key people. They broke his body, but they couldn’t break him.”
March 5, 1943
Ah Jit died yesterday. He was awake for a while, and I know he was happy to see me. He tried to talk, but I stopped him. I held him in my arms and kept whispering into his ear, “I know, I know. Don’t worry. All is well.” But all is not well. My darling brother is gone now and I have no idea what is to be done. This morning I walked outside into the garden and saw that all the rhododendron trees have bloomed overnight. Suddenly they are bursting with flowers, in shades of pink I never knew could exist. Blooms so thick, they brushed against my face as I walked through the garden weeping uncontrollably. Ah Jit knew how much I loved these flowers. He did this for me. I know he did.
Nick stared at the journal, feeling utterly confused. None of this made any sense. His great-uncle Ah Jit was tortured by the Japanese, and his grandmother was there? But wasn’t she supposed to be in India during the war? He leafed through a few more pages, and a loose letter fell out. As Nick glanced over the crisp but yellowing letter, a chill ran down his spine. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
CHAPTER SIX
THE STAR TREK HOUSE, SINGAPORE
Eleanor paced around the room restlessly. “She’s late. Maybe she changed her mind.”
“Aiyah, Eleanor, don’t be so kan jyeong. She’s not late. It’s only two minutes past one. Don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll turn up,” Lorena tried to assure her as she lounged on one of the plush white sofas in Carol’s enormous poolside bedroom.
“Traffic was hideous today! My driver had to take two detours just to get here! I don’t know what is wrong. It seems like traffic is getting worse and worse these days. What is the whole point of all these ERPs*1 when everywhere is so damn congested? I’m going to have Ronnie call our local MP and complain!” Nadine tut-tutted.
Daisy went over the plan again like a battalion leader. “When she does come, everyone knows the plan, right? We’ll serve the champagne first, and then I’ll just speed through a very short Bible verse, something from Proverbs. Then we get interrupted for lunch. I had my cook put extra chicken fat into the rice today, so hopefully between the champagne, the chicken rice, and all the nyonya kueys, she’ll get very full, tipsy, and drowsy. The perfect combination! Then while we’re all eating, Nadine, you know what to do.”
Nadine gave a conspiring grin. “Yes, yes, I just sent the nanny very specific instructions.”
“Ladies, I’m going to say it again. I think this is a very bad idea,” Carol warned, grasping her hands nervously.
“No, lah! This is serendipity! How lucky are we that my niece Jackie just happened to be visiting from Brisbane this week? We might never have an opportunity like this again!” Eleanor rubbed her hands together excitedly as her niece reentered the bedroom. “Is it okay? They promised me that everything would be state of the art.”
“Don’t worry, Auntie Elle, everything is all set up and ready to go,” Jackie said.
“Jackie, this won’t be breaking the Hypocritical code, will it?” Lorena asked delicately.
“You mean the Hippocratic oath? No, not at all. As long as the person doesn’t object, there is no issue,” Jackie replied.
Nadine flipped through the latest issue of Tattle idly. “Hey, are you all going to go to this costume ball being thrown by this Countess Colette? It seems like everyone from everywhere is coming to town for the big event.”
“Who is everyone?” Lorena asked.
“All these socialites from Europe and America, Hollywood celebrities, and the environmentalists. It says here that all the world’s top designers are going insane trying to keep up with all the orders for costumes for the ball. Apparently everyone is going to dress up like Prowst.”
“Hahaha, I highly doubt everyone’s going to dress up like Proust—he was a small, pasty little man. They are dressing up like characters from his books!” Lorena corrected.
“I’ve never read any of his books. Did he write that Da Vinci Code one? I saw the movie and didn’t understand a thing!” Nadine said. “Anyway, there’s a rumor that some British princess will be the surprise guest of honor! I heard that Yolanda Amanjiwo bought five tables—cost her half a mil.”
“That Amanjiwo woman can stand in her shower and tear up hundred-dollar bills all day for all I care, I wouldn’t pay a cent to go to any costume ball!” Daisy huffed.
Nadine gave Daisy a pleading look. “But it’s for the orangutans. Don’t you care about the plight of the cute orangutans?”
“Ey, Nadine, when Ah Meng died, did you cry?” Daisy asked.*2
“Er…no.”
“I didn’t either. So why on earth would I want to pay ten thousand dollars just to sit in a room full of ang mors eating ang mor food to save a bunch of Ah Mengs?” Daisy argued.
“Daisy, you just don’t have the heart for animals like I do. Beyoncé and Rihanna, my two Pomeranians, bring me so much joy you have no idea,” Nadine said.
Just then, a maid showed Rachel into Carol Tai’s bedroom.
“Rachel, you came!” the ladies all said excitedly.
“Of course I came! Nick’s told me so many stories about your Thursday Bible study, I’ve always been curious to attend! Sorry I’m late. I drove myself and got a bit lost trying to find the neighborhood. Google Maps didn’t anticipate all the detours.”
“Alamak, why didn’t you have Ahmad drive you? He’s so free shaking legs all day at Tyersall Park now that the old lady is gone,” Eleanor remarked.
“Oh, I didn’t even think of it!” Rachel said.
“Well, Rachel, come meet my niece Jackie. She’s a doctor that lives in Brisbane,” Eleanor continued.
“Hello. It’s a pleasure!” Rachel said, shaking hands with the pretty thirtysomething woman and sitting down beside her on the chaise lounge. A maid immediately thrust an oversize flute of champagne into her hands. “Ooh, I didn’t know you ladies drank during Bible study!” Rachel said in surprise.
“Of course we do! After all, Jesus turned water into wine,” Eleanor said. “Rachel, this is very expensive champagne from the Dato’s wine cellar. You mustn’t waste a drop—drink it all up!”
“Twist my arm,” Rachel said merrily, as Carol handed her a Bible.
“Sister Daisy is going to lead us in the Scripture reading today,” Carol began, as the ladies quickly flipped their Bibles open to Proverbs.
“Yes, okay, Proverbs 31:10: ‘A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.’ What does this mean to you all?” Daisy asked.
“The only thing that is worth more than rubies are good Bolivian emeralds,” Lorena remarked.
“Well, you haven’t seen my new ruby earrings from Carnet! They are drop-dead, and worth far more than my emeralds,” Nadine interjected.
“Nadine, are you still buying jewelry at your age? Don’t you have enough at this point?” Daisy chastised.
Nadine gave her a sharp look. “Pardon me, what do you mean by ‘enough’?”
Just then, an army of maids entered the room, each carrying a lacquer tray containing a bento box filled with Hainanese chicken rice. “Aiyah, they’re too quick with lunch today. I told my butler we wouldn’t be ready to eat until one thirty at the earliest!” Carol pretended to complain.
“Well, we mustn’t let the food get cold!” Lorena commented.
“Okay!” the ladies said, throwing their Bibles aside and digging in to their individual bento boxes with gusto.
“Wait, that’s it?” Rachel figured that Bible study with these ladies probably wasn’t going to feature any probing theological discussions, but she was surprised it was over this quickly.
“
You’re very lucky, Rachel. Auntie Daisy heard you were going to come to Bible study today, so she personally had her cook Swee Kee make her famous Hainanese chicken rice,” Eleanor explained, as she quickly shoveled a tender, juicy piece of sliced chicken into her mouth.
“Oh wow, thank you, Auntie Daisy. I’ve become addicted to chicken rice ever since Nick first introduced me to it! I wish we could find authentic chicken rice in New York,” Rachel remarked.
Right on cue, Nadine’s iPad started buzzing. “Alamak, I totally forgot! It’s time for my daily good-night call with my grandson in London.” She took her iPad out of her large Bottega Veneta Hobo bag and turned on FaceTime. “Joshie, Joshie, is that you?” A moon-faced blond girl appeared on the screen. “Mrs. Shaw, I just got your urgent e-mail. You wanted me to put—”
Nadine quickly interrupted. “Yes, yes, Svetlana, you don’t have to mention anything in the e-mail! Just put Joshua on the screen.”
“But we’re in the middle of his bath now.”
“It doesn’t matter, put him on, lah!” Nadine insisted.
The nanny tilted her phone and a little naked toddler appeared on the screen, sitting in shallow water in the middle of an enormous marble bathtub.
“Alamak, what a cutie he is!” the ladies all gushed in unison.