by Ovidia Yu
More importantly, Beth had meant to use the time to persuade Patty to sell her large, inconvenient Jalan Kakatua house and buy an apartment, in both their names, where the two sisters could grow old together. The tour was really to get Patty out of Singapore and away from her friends with their bad advice and, more importantly, away from the demands of Fabian, Patty’s useless, spoiled, son.
Patty wanted to leave the house to her son.
‘Fabian’s not coming back to Singapore! What is he going to do with a house here?’ Beth had demanded.
‘Then he can sell it after I’m dead.’ Patty, always romantic and impractical, had said.
‘And what will happen to me if you die first?’ Beth blurted out her deepest fear of ending up alone and homeless. It was not fair. Beth, who knew the value of money and had worked so hard all her life, could barely afford the payments on her Housing Development Board flat. And Patty, who had drifted through school and life adored by her parents and her husband, knew nothing and had everything.
Of course, that was before Jonny Ho came into their lives.
Through all the wining and dining and flirting, Beth had thought that Jonny Ho was just doing his job exceptionally well. She had taken him aside and explained that the point of their trip was to help her sister get over her husband’s death. She had been pleased to see how much Patty’s mood and temper improved when Jonny was around. Patty stopped, saying: ‘I wish I hadn’t let you talk me into this,’ and ‘We should have gone to India instead!’
Beth had dreamed of making another trip to China. Once she had Patty settled she would go back to China alone and get in touch with Jonny Ho and ask him to show her around the cultural landmarks that Patty had shown no interest in … he would see she was much more interested in history and culture than her sister.
But less than two months after their China tour, Jonny Ho had come to Singapore on a tourist pass. On Patty’s invitation, he had extended his stay and moved in with them. Then Jonny Ho and Patty had announced, so casually, that they had gone to the registry that day and signed papers. They were married.
This had stung Beth painfully. Why hadn’t Patty told her? After all, she was her sister and she would have told her exactly how ridiculous it would look, her marrying a man so much younger and so soon after her husband’s death. It didn’t occur to Beth that that was exactly why Patty had said nothing to her. But it was Jonny Ho she felt most betrayed by. Beth had thought that she and Jonny were a team, working to cheer Patty up and get on with her life. Once Jonny was married to Patty he agreed that she should keep the house: ‘landed property is always more valuable’. At least he had seemed to like the idea of Beth continuing to stay in the house, so Beth did not have to kick out the tenants who had sub-leased her flat.
All these thoughts were far from Beth’s mind as she hurried down the stairs carefully. This was no time to fall and end up with a broken leg.
‘Why are the workers leaving? Why did you let them go? Call your contractor at once and make him bring them back. Do you have his mobile number?’
But Jonny Ho, standing by the dusty wreckage of what had been the wall between the living room and dining room, laughed at her. ‘Why do you worry? Why don’t you trust me? They have another project, big emergency project to fix now. They will earn big extra money and they will come back to finish the work here tonight. No problem. Why do you not trust me? You must trust me, pretty lady!’ He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her against him.
The physical thrill of being so close to him made Beth forget her renovation worries.
‘I just want this to work, that’s all. It’s got to be finished before the building inspectors come.’
‘Of course it is going to work. It is not just going to work; it is going to be a big enormous success!’
Beth wanted to agree with him, to believe him. But the schoolteacher in her surfaced. ‘“Big enormous success” doesn’t sound right.’ She regretted speaking as soon as she started, but once started she had to finish. ‘You should say a “huge success” or just “an enormous success”.’
Jonny Ho’s English was good. Good enough for Beth, who could not stand being around people who spoke English badly. Because of his dream of getting to America or England or Australia, Jonny had worked hard at improving his English for years, long before the opportunity to come to Singapore. But he still used phrases like ‘big enormous success’ that shouted non-native speaker to Beth’s ear.
Beth was very proud of having been classed a ‘Native English Speaker’ in an English Proficiency test. That test had been part of the admissions criteria for getting into a teaching course years ago but the precious label had grown in her memory. Beth had lived in Singapore all her life and had never studied overseas, but she always remembered to speak the proper English that had become part of her identity.
‘Same difference,’ Jonny said with a teasing grin. That had been one of her sister’s favourite phrases, and he should have known how much it annoyed her. ‘Come on now. Everything also you want to worry about. Success too big also you want to worry. Relax! Go with the flowing!’
Biting back the urge to correct him again, Beth looked at the man and felt herself starting to relax. It was easy to look at Jonny Ho. He did not have the soft, overprotected good looks of young Singaporeans his age, the easily bruised ‘strawberry’ generation. Look at Fabian, for example. All Fabian was good at was complaining and whining till someone else got fed up enough to sort things out for him. After all the money his parents had put into sending him to study in America he had never got a real job. Beth had seen that coming for years. She would have whipped Fabian into shape given half a chance but Patty and Ken had a blind spot when it came to that boy. He had turned out much like his mother, as a matter of fact. Patty had always got what she wanted without working for it. Ever since they were girls, that was the way it had been. And that was why it had been so unfair of Patty to decide she wanted Jonny Ho too.
After all, Beth had seen him first.
And she had watched the young man with far more attention than her sister. Beth had seen how offended he was when Patty asked: ‘Are you a farmer?’ Beth had been all ready to reproach her sister for being rude. But then Patty said: ‘You look like a man who is strong enough to solve all his own problems.’ And Jonny Ho had beamed and said: ‘Exactly. I always solve my own problems. I am independent.’
‘I like that in a man.’ Patty had told him. That was Patty all over. Why should it matter to the man whether or not she liked him? He was there to do his job as their tour guide. And since Beth had made all their tour arrangements, any flirting with the tour guide should have been done by her, the unmarried sister, not the grieving widow. It was all part of the unfairness of life. Women who wanted to get married never got a chance, no matter how hard they tried, while other women barely waited to collect one husband’s ashes from the crematorium before picking up another.
Well, Beth Kwuan was going to show everyone that once she was no longer in her sister’s shadow, she could shine and do better than Patty ever did. Jonny Ho would have to admit that he had chosen to marry the wrong sister. And maybe, just maybe, he would see that it was not too late to put things right. Of course, Beth would never propose such a thing to him. Beth’s moral standards were higher than that. She had always held herself to far higher standards than Patty in everything. She had even done better than Patty at her O-levels, not that anybody had paid much attention. Well, Patty had never taken on a business project like KidStarters. That was why Beth had to make a success of it.
Beth knew she would have been a far better wife and mother than her sister. KidStarters would show all the men who hadn’t given her a chance how good she was at bringing up the best and smartest children. KidStarters had to succeed.
She had almost forgotten that it was Jonny who had been the drive behind KidStarters. Beth had talked about her child training theories for so long that she didn’t immediately realize Jonny
was taking her seriously. But once the details started to fall into place she saw it was the perfect plan. They could both keep the house and have something to live on.
Beth pulled her thoughts back and looked around the mess that was the ground floor of the house. The old wire fencing had been dismantled but the wood planks for the new privacy barrier lay in unassembled stacks next to the bundles of stickers (showing cartoon children playing ball, reading books, chasing ducks) meant to decorate them. Jonny had got a huge discount for the stickers, just as he had for the shiny dark wood planks. Beth had been delighted by how classy the planks and stickers looked. But the stickers had been delivered without the waterproof, smudge proof protector sheets and the dark wood planks without any end posts. Work had halted till these could be delivered. Until then nothing separated the house from the drain and pavement except the ugly gash of upturned earth and broken roots where Patty’s ornamental hedge had once stood. It had been a stupid low hedge that only reached halfway up the fence as though the residents wanted to show off their perfect lawn and perfect house. Even in her panic over deadlines the sight of the lawn now dug up (for the children’s outdoor play area) and the front walls of the house hacked through (to install the required soundproofing insulation) gave Beth some pleasure. She had loved and hated this house for so long – this house that Patty had taken for granted filled with such pointless decorations.
‘The insulation materials still haven’t arrived yet,’ Beth said. But Jonny was not listening. He was on his mobile phone again, shouting instructions in Mandarin too swift and colloquial for her to follow. Jonny always shouted at his business contacts so Beth was not worried. She just hoped that it was their supplies he was shouting about. Jonny Ho had so many projects all going at the same time.
Beth had naively assumed that all it would take to transform this family home into a child centre was childproof locks and toys and children’s books. That was all her nephew Fabian had needed growing up there. Beth knew, because she had helped bring him up. She had probably spent more time with her nephew than his parents had, Patty had never been very hands on as a mother and Ken had seldom been home. It had been Beth who made sure his homework was done and that he studied for his tests. But of course that just made the ungrateful little boy take her for granted and walk all over her while worshipping his parents.
‘You said the new insulation was going to arrive today. Shouldn’t you make sure it’s here before the workers come back?’ Beth asked as soon as Jonny ended his call.
Regulations called for soundproofed playrooms. Unfortunately, it was only after the walls had been hacked that the bales of insulation material had been cut open and were discovered to have been soaked; the insides were foul-smelling and rotting. Very likely they had fallen into the sea at some stage and then sunned till the outside was dry. Beth had been furious, certain that they had been cheated and wanting to complain and sue, but Jonny Ho calmed her down and said it was more important to get them replaced fast than win a lawsuit years too late. He was smart like that, Beth thought fondly. That was what made him such a good businessman. She just wished he would notice what a good businesswoman she was becoming … she wished she had a chance to show herself that. After all the excitement and noise of the hacking this waiting was so frustrating.
‘Come and meet the ECDA people with me,’ Beth suggested again to Jonny. ‘Maybe after the meeting we can look at some non-slip tiles for the paddle pool area.’
‘Somebody has to stay here,’ Jonny said. ‘Look, anybody can walk in and steal everything!’
He was right. It would have been all right if only Julietta had been there to watch the house. But Beth did not want to think about Julietta.
A car slowed down and stopped outside. Beth looked out and saw that Mrs Selina Lee was back. Beth met her at the ECDA where Selina had been trying to get information on local school resources. Beth had talked to her at length, hoping Selina would register her children with KidStarters and also get her friends to. She had also hoped to talk her into becoming an investor. The renovations were coming to much more than Beth expected. Selina had been interested but stingy. Still, Jonny said she might turn out to be useful so Beth didn’t mind. As long as it wasn’t Jonny that Selina was interested in, Beth didn’t mind her sniffing around.
‘I really should go,’ Beth said again. Jonny did not answer. She made no move to leave.
Aunty Lee looked at the large, detached bungalow. She remembered a gracefully landscaped lawn with sloping side gardens. Today it looked like a bomb had gone off, destroying the windows and some walls and wrecking the garden.
The last time she had been here was years ago when both her husband and Patty’s first husband were still alive. It had been during Chinese New Year and Aunty Lee had been awed by the driveway lined with large traditional glazed dragon pots containing kumquat trees heavy with plump, golden nuggets of good luck. Back in their Binjai Park house they had only had two ‘golden auspice’ kumquat bushes flanking their front entrance (and these had already lost several of their fruits to Aunty Lee, who loved the combination of thin sweet rind over sour pulp). Ken Loo had arranged for a lion dance troop and an impressive show of fake fire crackers with laser lights and sound effects. ‘I thought only superstitious businessmen were so concerned about good luck,’ Aunty Lee had said to M. L. ‘These days, doctors have to be businessmen if they want to be successful,’ her husband had told her.
‘There’s nobody here,’ Aunty Lee said, returning to the present.
‘Beth and Jonny will be here. They’re living on the second floor, above the school. This way, no matter how late parents come to collect their children there will be somebody here.’ As Selina spoke she was touching up her lipstick, eyes focused on a tiny mirror. She patted her hair. ‘Wait here, Aunty Lee. This is important. This could make all the difference for the baby’s future. I’m not going to let you mess this up for us!’ Selina reached across Mark’s lap and turned off the engine, taking the key with her. Then she left the car without waiting for a response. If she had had the decency to leave the car air-conditioning on, Aunty Lee might have stayed in the car for longer than the two minutes it took Selina to push through the half open gate and start up the driveway.
CHAPTER FOUR
KidStarters
‘Come on,’ Aunty Lee said to Nina, ‘let’s go and look!’ She was glad she had brought pineapple tarts with her. No one had ever been accused of breaking and entering when carrying pineapple tarts.
‘Selina said to wait in the car!’ Mark protested.
‘Then you better wait in the car,’ Aunty Lee said sweetly.
There was no sign of Selina as Aunty Lee and Nina picked their way between the stacks of tiles and piles of foam sheeting that occupied the driveway. She must have gone inside. Then the door swung open and a man came out. Despite the heat he was wearing a dark blue shirt shot through with lighter blue lines over dark trousers and pointed toe shoes that always made Aunty Lee think of the elves in the picture books of her childhood. She knew, thanks to Cherril who was always trying to get her husband to dress more like a successful lawyer, that such high-gloss leather shoes were probably from a designer line. And she knew from Mycroft that they were hot and uncomfortable. They did look sleek and beautiful, though.
But it was not the shoes that made Aunty Lee stop and stare. The man was even more beautiful than his shoes. He stood there, just outside the shelter of the porch, squinting slightly in the sun which showed up the straight line of his nose, the high cheekbones, clean jaw and smooth skin and perfect slightly slanting eyes and mouth. Despite her age and slightly aching knees, something deep inside Aunty Lee gave a shiver of delight. It was a purely animal response to the symmetry of the man’s perfectly balanced features; the sensation of coming upon the first ripe durian of the season at the moment when the tough thorny fruit ripped willingly to expose its smooth virgin creaminess.
‘Can I help you ladies?’ the man said.
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��Are you Jonny Ho?’ Aunty Lee asked at the same time as Nina said: ‘We are waiting for Madam Selina.’
‘Ah, Selina Lee.’ Jonny Ho smiled, and Aunty Lee heard Selina give a gurgling little giggle, coming out of the house behind him. She seemed to be having some trouble with the strap of her purse.
‘Do you need a cough drop?’ Mark asked, following his wife out of the house.
Selina walked around the man to stand next to Nina without answering Mark. ‘This is Nina, Jonny. I told Beth all about Nina. She’s worked for our family for years, and she’s completely reliable. I told Selina that Nina could stay here and clean up and watch the house while we take care of all the other things.’
Selina was like a little dog, Aunty Lee thought, wagging its tail and trying to impress its master with a dead rat. Jonny nodded to her before turning back to Aunty Lee and Nina.
‘Yes, I am Mr. Jonny Ho.’ His English was so proper that it must have been studied as a second language. ‘But you ladies can call me Jonny.’
As the man ran his eyes over them Aunty Lee was suddenly very aware that her Curry Up! tee shirt was curry stained, and her pink and green floral pants (such a bright, happy batik, she remembered thinking when putting them on that morning) were old, worn and a little faded. Most women would have been embarrassed, spending the rest of their visit awkward with embarrassment. But Aunty Lee chose to be intrigued instead. It was unusual for her to concern herself with anything beyond comfort when it came to clothes. Looking around for the cause, she realized it was the way Jonny Ho was looking at her. Now she studied him, she saw Jonny wore as much tinted face cream as a Korean movie star and was probably good-looking enough to be mistaken for one, but that wasn’t it. Aunty Lee was more susceptible to a handsome plantain than a handsome man. No, it was because Jonny Ho eyed her like a man wanting to get his money’s worth out of an eat-all-you-can buffet. He was trying to estimate the value of the prawns concealed in their fried batter casings. And that made the prawns feel the need to validate themselves.