Page 25 of Dial A for Aunties

Teeth gritted, I put my blanket over the top half of his body.

“Tuck the sides under him,” Fourth Aunt says. “Wrap him up like a burrito.”

“Oh god,” I whimper, but I do as she says, tucking the blanket underneath his body, cringing at how warm it feels. “He’s still warm,” I hiss, face scrunched in revulsion. I hesitate. “Should we—uh. I think we should check his pulse.”

“No, no, that very bad luck, touching corpse,” Ma says, shaking her head firmly.

I stare at her. “What are you talking about? I literally just touched it. Can I also point out you guys were talking about cutting him up moments ago? Would that not involve touching him?”

“Is different,” Ma says. Everyone else save for Fourth Aunt nods.

“How is it different?” I cry.

“Touching dead body to cut it up, get rid of it, is okay. But touching dead body to try and find life inside, ohhh, very bad luck.”

“WHAT?” I swear my head has exploded. “How is cutting up a dead body better than just a small touch to make sure it’s actually dead?”

“Aiya, if you don’t understand, no use trying to explain,” Second Aunt says.

“When someone doesn’t understand, that’s exactly the time you should explain.” I shake my head. Why am I wasting precious time arguing with them? Without giving myself time to chicken out, I grab Jake’s wrist, cringing, and feel for a pulse. Ugh, god, this is so gross. I feel about, pressing here and there, but my hand is trembling too hard and my palm is all sweaty and—

“Sudah!” Ma snaps, yanking my hand back. While still holding on to me, she reaches over and knocks on the door, saying,“Aduh, knock on wood, why my daughter insist on bringing bad luck on us? Knock on wood deh.”

“Aiya, come here, give that to me. He’s clearly dead.” Fourth Aunt pushes me aside and grunts as she lifts Jake’s upper body. “Ooh, heisstill warm. Interesting! Would’ve thought he’d have gone all stiff. Must be because it’s such a warm night. Meddy, pull the blanket round from underneath him—yes, okay, good. Top wrapped. Let’s do the legs.”

We’re all staring at her, dumbfounded. Fourth Aunt is a D-list singer, a total diva with big hair and tight, sequined clothes. Being efficient with wrapping up dead bodies is not a quality I would’ve guessed her to have. But her tone is so authoritative that even Big Aunt obeys without question. We lift Jake’s legs until Fourth Aunt finishes wrapping the second blanket around them. When we’re done, we all step back with a visible shudder.

“Right, to Da Jie’s car!” Fourth Aunt says.

I stop Ma in time from opening the garage door, telling her I’m going to turn off all the lights first.

“Oh, yes, good thinking,” she says, clearly rattled by the whole experience. My heart twists at the sight of her lined face. I’ve done this to her. I’ve made her worry. The least I can do is try to fix it, try to stay on top of things.

Once the lights are off, we open the garage door, wincing at the whirring noise. We should’ve just carried the body through the house and gone out through the front door. God, I hope the garage door’s crazy loud whir doesn’t wake any neighbors.

“Let’s go,” I whisper. I brace myself and, before I can chicken out, grab the top half of Jake’s body. He seems so much heavier than I remember. How the hell did I even manage to carry him out of the driver’s seat and into the trunk in the first place?

Adrenaline. Right. My blood might as well have been Red Bull at the time. I could’ve moved boulders if I’d had to. But now, hoursafter the accident, I’m exhausted, my arms noodly, my legs stiff and slow. I manage to lift Jake’s torso a few inches up, my muscles trembling hard. “I can’t do this on my own,” I gasp, and am about to drop him when Ma catches his head.

“Er Jie, you take his hips,” she barks. “Da Jie, you take his legs.”

Big Aunt rushes to take Jake’s legs, as she’s told, but Second Aunt is frozen, her eyes wide. “I can’t—I don’t—” Big Aunt snorts, and Second Aunt glares at her. “What? I don’t want touch dead body, is that wrong?”

“Your family in need and you don’t even want to help,” Big Aunt says. “You tell me, is wrong or no?”

“It’s okay, I’ll take the hips,” Fourth Aunt says, running forward. She waves Second Aunt away. “You open Da Jie’s trunk.” She lifts, and together we heave Jake out of the trunk.

It’s hard to describe the walk to Big Aunt’s car, which, as promised, is waiting for us just a few feet away. Jake is heavy, warm, and limp, and even under the layers of blankets, I’m acutely aware that we’re carrying a dead human. We’re moving as fast as we can, but we have to adjust to one another’s speeds, which slows us down. Any moment now, Mr. Kim next door is going to wake up, get a glass of water from his kitchen, glance out the window, and see us. Or maybe, from across the street, Mabel’s chihuahua will wake up and ask to go outside.

Somehow, we manage to make it to Big Aunt’s trunk without any neighbor shouting “Hey, what are you doing?” Through unspoken agreement, we lower him gently instead of dropping him unceremoniously. I guess we have hearts after all, even though we’ve just moved a dead body.

10

Present Day

The drive to Big Aunt’s bakery, which is only a ten-minute walk away from ours, is tense and interminable. Ma, Fourth Aunt, and I are all squished up in the back seat, and nobody says anything. Big Aunt’s bakery is on Valley, a few blocks away from the huge Ranch 99 supermarket. It sits in between a beauty salon, which conveniently belongs to Second Aunt, and a florist, which conveniently belongs to Ma. She parks at the back of the bakery, and we spill out of the car. I take big gulps of air, grateful to be out of the suffocating, thick silence of the car.

This time of night, there are no cars around, nobody in sight. It’s as though the entire world is asleep and this moment belongs to us, this awful, dark moment that will forever be tucked into my memories as the worst night of my life. I’m so grateful that I have my family with me. It’s a strange thought to have as we heave Jake out of Big Aunt’s trunk and move him, withmuch difficulty, across the parking lot and through the bakery’s back door.

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