Page 68 of Dial A for Aunties

They don’t hear her at first. Not most of the crowd, anyway. They’re all too focused on the spectacle that is Jacqueline. Phoneshave been whipped out, all of them aimed at the frothy white mass being tugged to the side of the pool by muscled lifeguards.

But then another bridesmaid comes to help the first one up.

“He’s dead!” the first one screams again.

“What?”

“That guy! He’s dead!”

The second bridesmaid looks at Ah Guan. Sticks out a hand, her face disbelieving. “Yo, dude.” She pokes him. And then she rears back, her face a mask of horror. She doesn’t shout, but when her mouth moves, I can see clearly what she says. “Shit. He’s dead.”

•••

The hotel’s security team is doing their best to keep the peace, but it’s next to impossible to keep the peace when two thousand privileged guests have just discovered a dead body. There are screams, dramatic gasps, even more dramatic swoons, and a lot of demands to “speak to the person in charge.” The person in charge is Nathan, and he’s currently giving orders to have the altar cordoned off and the guests to be escorted back to their rooms while he calls the sheriff’s office.

Someone’s wrapped a towel around me, which I quickly soak through, drenched as I am in my clothes. The previously warm sea breeze has turned cold. The storm is coming, and the wind bites through my wet towel and clothes like a knife. I shiver. I should go inside, but I can’t bring myself to leave, not when the dead body of the man I killed is right in the middle of everything and there are thousands of people around me pointing and shouting.

Nathan’s striding everywhere, giving orders into his walkie-talkie. He’s also drenched, but he doesn’t seem to notice. He stations two guards to block anyone with morbid curiosity, which as it turns out is everyone here, from getting down the aisle. Eventhough the guests seem horrified, they also seem fascinated, hopelessly drawn to the dead body.

“Meddy!”

I very nearly cry when I turn to see Ma and my aunties rushing through the crowd. Even as I watch, Big Aunt elbows a tall man out of the way to make room for Ma and the other aunties. Love swells through my heart. My bossy, loud, overwhelming family is here. Everything is—well, it’s unlikely that anything would be okay, but at least I won’t be going through it alone.

Ma finally squeezes out of the crowd, and I rush to greet her with a hug. She’s never been a hugger, but I don’t care, not right now. I just want to smell her scent. For one fleeting, precious moment, I catch the smell of home—freshly laundered clothes and a hint of fish sauce—and I breathe it all in, taking strength from it.

“Meddy, you okay? How? What happen?” my aunties cluck around us. “Aduh, why is the body there?”

“I don’t know, I—” I am surrounded by people. “Let’s get out of here first.” Together, we cut a path through the crowd, my aunts elbowing chests and stomping on feet whenever they need to (and sometimes even when they don’t need to), until we’re well away from the crowd and round the side of the main resort building. There’s no one here. I guess everyone who’s in the vicinity has followed the noise and energy of the crowd to satisfy their curiosity. Still, we all look around for a few moments to make sure we’re completely alone.

“Okay, so.” I take a deep breath. “I have no idea how Ah Guan ended up on the altar. Do any of you know what happened?”

Am I surprised when my family members look down guiltily for a moment’s breath before they all point at each other and say, “It’s her fault”? I mean, I guess I am, but also not really.

“Okay.” Another deep breath. “Let’s see.” Big Aunt is glaring at Second Aunt, who’s pointing an accusatory finger at Big Aunt. Maand Fourth Aunt are both pointing at each other. Right. So, nothing new, then. “Why do you think it’s each other’s fault?” I hold my hands up. “Wait, one person at a time. Big Aunt, you go first.”

“Why her first?” Second Aunt demands.

I shrug. “I don’t know, ’cause she’s the eldest? Isn’t that how the rules go? Anyway, we don’t have all day, so... Big Aunt? What happened from your point of view?”

Big Aunt shoots Second Aunt one last magnificent glare before dragging her gaze to mine. Her face softens, and she begins telling her story in rapid Mandarin.

“I went back to the kitchen to look for a waiter’s uniform for Ah Guan. There are so many waiters and other sorts of servers around, I thought it would be the perfect disguise. It’s a good idea, right?”

It takes a moment before I realize she’s actually expecting an answer, and I hurriedly nod. “Yes, very good idea.”

“So I made sure to be extra careful. I went to the locker room and checked that no one was inside, and then I looked inside the lockers one by one and aha! I found one! A waiter’s uniform. I even got his shoes. I remembered, you see, that Ah Guan didn’t have shoes on. I’m all about the details, you know, because of my work,” she adds with obvious pride.

It takes a moment for me to work out all the Mandarin words, and when I do, I say, “Yes, you are very detailed, Big Aunt. So you found a waiter’s uniform... but why is Ah Guan not wearing it?”

“Exactly! Why he not wearing it? You ask her!” Big Aunt says triumphantly, switching to English and pointing a finger straight at Second Aunt’s face. God, she’s good. Now that she’s done telling her part, she’s switched to English to goad Second Aunt into relaying her story in English too.

“You take so long!” Second Aunt says, rising to the bait. “AndI know you will make mistake, forget this and that. Already you make such big mess of everything. Why I should stay there and wait for you to make more mistake, I ask myself? Why? No. This time, I will take charge. I have to go to groom’s suite because groom and groomsmen want hair done, so okay, I go. Inside, I see, waduh, got so many of them. So many! And all their groomsmen clothes just lying around, and these silly boys all drinking and not pay any attention, so I think, aha! This is perfect disguise. Got so many groomsmen here, who will notice one extra one? So when they not looking, I take a set and I rush back to room.”

“If it makes you feel any better, your mother and I helped to put the groomsman’s clothes on him,” Fourth Aunt pipes up.

How’s that even remotely supposed to make me feel any better?

Ma must have read the look on my face, because she says, “We are always listening to Big Aunt—” She turns to Big Aunt and adds, “Da Jie, you always give very good advice, but this time we think maybe give Er Jie a chance, since she come back with the groomsman uniform so fast.”

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