33
I knock on the door to my room and open it a crack before calling out, “It’s me, Meddy. Don’t shoot, I’m coming in.”
A few cheery shouts of “Oh, you back!” and “Ayo, masuk, masuk!” greet me. My family’s way too chipper for people who’re being held at gunpoint, I must say. When I enter, they’re all sitting around sipping tea, even Maureen.
“Seriously?”
“What?” Ma says, looking all surprised, like I haven’t just caught her drinking tea with the literal enemy.
“Nothing. Of course you’d be drinking tea with your kidnapper, because why not?”
“I’m not a kidnapper,” Maureen says, looking affronted.
“Yah, why you being so rude, Meddy? I raise you better than this,” Ma says.
I raise my eyes to the ceiling. “Whatever. Here you go. I got it.” I toss the duffel bag onto the floor, grimacing when it hits the floor with a loud tinkle. Shit, I hope I haven’t just broken some priceless Cartier watch or whatever.
“Hati-hati!” Big Aunt cries.
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking—” It’s hard trying to make a statement.
“Oooh, exciting,” Maureen says, getting up from the chair. She starts to bend over, stops, then points her gun at me and says, “Open it.”
I do as she tells me and step back as she uses her toes to prod at the bag. Jewelry and watches glitter from inside it.
“Wow,” Maureen says after a pause. “I didn’t think you’d pull it off.”
“I tell you, my daughter is very smart,” Ma says, nodding and smiling proudly at me.
I feel a flush of pride before I realize how fucked up it is to feel proud about this. Still, it’s nice to be complimented.
“How did you do it?” Maureen says, staring at me. “How did you even get inside the safe? The bridal room must be full of people. How’d you get past them?”
“Well, let’s see. I told them I was there to talk to Jacqueline, and then I talked to Jacqueline alone and told her you wanted the gifts, and she let me have them.”
They all stare at me like I’ve just grown another head.
Maureen lets out a bark. “Oh, right, yeah, she just let you have them.”
“Yeah, she did. She said she doesn’t want them anyway, now that they’re tainted with all the bad stuff that’s happened, and she said you might as well have them.”
“You’re lying. Stop lying!” Maureen grasps the gun with both hands and aims it straight at my head.
There’s a squawk from my family. “Aduh, don’t point gun at people,” Big Aunt says.
“Please, Maureen, put the gun down, be good girl,” Ma pleads.
“Quiet, I’m trying to think!” Maureen glares at me. “How did you really get it?”
“I told them I wanted to talk to Jacqueline. She was in the bedroom all alone. I went in, held her at gunpoint, and told her to empty the safe or I’d shoot.”
Maureen’s chin trembles. “Was she okay?”
“No, she wasn’t okay. What did you think was going to happen?”
“I don’t know! I didn’t think you’d actually go through with it!”
“Well, I did, and here’s your stupid stash, now you can take it—there must be at least two million dollars’ worth of stuff in there—and GO.”
Maureen’s eyes dart to the bag. Back to me. Down to the bag. “Did—um—did she ask about me at all?”
“Why do you care? You literally just had me rob her.”
“Only because I didn’t—I wanted—”
“What?” I snap, taking a step toward her. “You wanted what?”
“I was going to—I thought maybe this way, Jackie would come here and talk to me. Without calling the cops or anything. If she saw that I have the gifts, but I gave them back, maybe she’d—I don’t know—”
“Why would she want to talk to you again after you stole from her? Twice!”
“I wasn’t going to steal from her. That wasn’t the plan!”
“What was the plan? How did you even get to know Ah Guan in the first place?”
“I—we were friends. He was the one who got me to suggest your mom as a florist to Jackie. Said she’d get a good deal. He knew I was upset about the wedding, so he came up with this whole plan to get it canceled. He said we could take the tea ceremony gifts, hide them for a while until the wedding’s called off, and then we’d return them.”
Knowing what I know of Ah Guan, he probably had no plans to return them, but I trust Maureen’s telling the truth. I take another step toward her. “Why did Ah Guan think you’d be upset about the wedding?”
“Because—”
“Why, Maureen?”
“Because I love Jackie!”
There’s a collective gasp from my family.
“I love her, okay?” Maureen cries, tears running down her face. “I’ve loved her since we first met, when we were in college. I told myself not to be so selfish, that she’s not into girls. I would’ve supported her through all of her relationships—I did support her through most of them, but Tom is such a—”
“A shit!”
We all turn to look at the doorway, where Jacqueline’s burst in, chest heaving. Once again, there’s a collective gasp from my family.
“Wah, her makeup still okay,” Big Aunt says approvingly.
Second Aunt glances at her older sister in surprise. We all do, actually. For as long as I can remember, it’s the first time Big Aunt’s said something nice to Second Aunt. “Er—yes, mascara no run. Is because I apply eyelash glue on top of it, you know,” Second Aunt says, smiling with obvious pride.
“Sshh,” I hiss.
Jacqueline storms inside. Even though she’s no longer in her huge white dress, there’s just something about her that commands your attention. Maybe it’s how ethereally beautiful she is. Or maybe it’s the way she’s looking at Maureen, half-glaring, half-something else. She’s incandescent. It might be rage or sorrow or—
“Jackie—”
“I love you too!”
Love. It’s love that’s blazing so brightly from her, love that’s caught all of our attention, love that now propels her inside this room.
I was right. The two women love each other. It was a gamble, but I was willing to risk it all for this. I step aside to let Jacqueline pass, and at last she’s standing face-to-face with her best friend.
Slowly, Jacqueline raises her hand and places it on the gun. Maureen doesn’t put up a fight as Jacqueline takes it from her and releases the ammo thingy. I really should brush up on my gun lingo.
“Empty,” Jacqueline says, a smile touching her mouth. “I knew you couldn’t hurt anyone. Not really.”
“I—Jackie—how long—”
“Meddy got me to wait outside while she took the bag in. I heard everything.” Jacqueline places a gentle hand on Maureen’s cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I didn’t think—I—you’re straight, I didn’t want to—”
“I only dated guys because I didn’t want you to even suspect that I might be into you,” Jackie cries. “I didn’t want you to get scared. I thought you were straight.”
She and Maureen laugh, then they fall into each other’s arms. Jacqueline’s chin tips up, Maureen lowers her head, and finally, their mouths meet in a heart-stopping kiss that makes my eyes well up. I look away to give them some semblance of privacy and see that Ma and my aunties are just sitting there, openly staring and smiling, not even pretending to look away or anything.
“Tsk,” I tut at them, and they look sliiightly abashed. I stand there awkwardly, staring at the ceiling while my family steals glances at them. After what seems like an eternity, the two finally break apart, breathless and grinning.
“Look, her lipstick still stay on,” Second Aunt says.
“Yes, your makeup number one. Excuse me, sorry to bother, but can untie us or not?” Big Aunt says. “My hands very painful.”
“Oh! Yeah, of course. I’m so sorry,” Maureen cries, and we all hurry to the beds to help untie the wrist bindings.
I kneel down in front of Ma and start working at the knots around her wrists. Now that I’m crouched so close to her, I can see every line on her face, every familiar crease and fold, all of the laugh lines and the worry lines, the pathways of her life so clearly written across her features. “You okay?” I say softly. There’s so much I want to say to her, but at the same time, it feels like in this moment, she knows everything, every secret I’ve kept buried in my heart.
“Yes,” she says, smiling at me. Her eyes are bright with unshed tears. “I so proud of you, Meddy.”
And in that moment, I’ve never felt prouder of myself and my family.