Page 40 of Four Aunties and a Wedding

With one last hug, Ma and I walk slowly to the door. The wedding is about to begin.

15

There is a chamber where Ma and I can wait that leads into Christ Church Cathedral. It’s basically a waiting room, but it feels wrong calling it a waiting room because waiting rooms aren’t supposed to be this majestic. It has marble floors, beautiful paintings on the stone walls, an impressive vaulted ceiling, and floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows. As soon as Ma and I get in, I rush to the windows to try and get a view of the quad. I finally find the least blurry spot and peer through it.

Just as Seb said, the guests are arriving. My heart leaps when I spot Nathan, looking so tall and gallant in his tux. He’s flanked by two groomsmen and they’re all beaming and looking like they fell out of some Oxford rowers brochure. God, I am going to marry the hell out of that man. Then I feel guilty for having such a raunchy thought in a cathedral. Then I feel even guiltier for having a raunchy thought while my family is out there trying to stop a literal assassination attempt.

“Wah, look at fascinators,” Ma says from the next window down. “Oooh, what is that one? A swan?”

I squint at where she’s pointing. “Pretty sure that’s a flower, Ma.”

“Really? Oh yes, you right. Hanh,” she sniffs. “Flower. So biasa.”

I bite my tongue before I can tell her I wish she’d gone for biasa—average—too.

“Oooh, that one interesting! Look like tiger—”

“Also a flower.”

“Hmm.” Ma pats her Komodo dragon and looks at me with a worried frown. “How come no one wearing animal on hat? Jonjon say is all rage in England.”

And now I’m presented with a conundrum: tell Ma the truth—that Jonjon probably lied because he wanted to do something outrageous and avant-garde to get his name out there—or lie to save her feelings.

“That’s because this group is pretty conservative when it comes to fashion,” I say.

Ma smiles with such pride that I’m glad I chose not to tell her the truth. It would’ve killed her to not be able to fully enjoy her Komodo dragon today.

Speaking of killing...

I peer back through the window. No Lilian in sight. I allow myself to relax a little, but then I spot Staphanie in the crowd, standing out among the pastel outfits in her all-black photographer clothes, and my stomach clenches once again. Staphanie is making a good show of pretending to be a photographer, that conniving little professional killer. She’s working her way through the crowd, smiling and nodding at people while taking their pictures.

Meanwhile, Ama is standing on the fringes of the crowd, and from here, I can see her mouth moving; she’s talking intoan earpiece. The vise around my chest tightens, especially when I realize I have no idea where Staphanie’s other two uncles are. They could be anywhere. One of them could be positioned on the rooftop with a sniper rifle trained at the quad. I mean, that’s a crazy thought, but they’re mafia. Who knows what they’re capable of? What’s Ama saying? She must be giving instructions to her family, getting them into position to strike—

And oh god, just as I think that, Staphanie approaches Nathan and his parents. My hands curl into fists as she places her hand on Nathan’s arm, and argh, I just want to plant my fist right in that smarmy face of hers. The face that has smarmed at me for months and pretended to be my friend—

I need to focus. Her betrayal isn’t the important bit here. Yes. Thanks to the Ah Guan incident, I understand that my mind keeps flitting and settling on the unimportant bits of the situation only because it can’t handle the terror of the real problem. But understanding this and knowing what to do about it are two completely different things.

I can’t help the flare of jealousy as Nathan’s mother smiles fondly at Staphanie. They only met yesterday, and yet she’s hit it off so well with Nathan’s parents. Much better than my family and I did.She’s a killer!I want to shout at them.

Gosh, I am really bad at focusing on the actual stuff that matters. Okay. Where are my aunties?

Just as I think that, the crowd shifts, heads turning, and I know exactly where they are. They’re making their entrance. Oh, man. I can only imagine the whispers that are going through the crowd right now. I can almost see the ripple of surprised expressions.

Fourth Aunt comes out to the quad first, because of course she does. She sashays down the stone steps and onto the grass field as if it’s a red carpet, waving and beaming at everyone else.Even from here I can see the miniature faux mic that her Komodo dragon holds in its paw, and I can hear snatches of Fourth Aunt’s voice as she greets the other guests in her newfound English accent. Oh god.

Big Aunt and Second Aunt walk out after Fourth Aunt. Well, I say walk, but really, Big Aunt strides as per usual, like a North Korean dictator marching out to greet his army. Her Komodo dragon stands as erect as ever, gazing down with disapproval at everyone. Second Aunt glides out next to her, the sly fox hiding in the tiger’s shadow.

I catch a glimpse of the looks of sheer horror on Nathan’s parents’ faces before they plaster on polite smiles and greet my aunts, and I swear this moment is a knife twisting in my guts. I know it’s wrong, but oh god, so much secondhand embarrassment. The shame. I could cry, I really could. Okay, but perspective, I remind myself. In the larger scheme of things, this isn’t so bad. I mean, who doesn’t have embarrassing family, amirite?

Well, Nathan, for one.

Okay, my thoughts are clearly not being helpful. No matter how embarrassing my aunts are, they’re about to help me prevent a murder, so... Yanno. Be grateful for them, I remind myself as I watch my three aunts strike a pose for Staphanie and all the guests gape at them. In the bright daylight, their shiny purple outfits are blinding. I wonder if Staphanie would know to adjust for the added exposure—oh, who am I kidding? She’s probably got her camera set to Auto.

Then my aunts suddenly perk up and their heads turn as one, like meerkats. Ma utters a low gasp.

“I think is her,” Ma says, flapping her hand at me. “Look, Meddy, is the queen.”

And sure enough, Lilian Citra, Nathan’s biggest investor and the target of Staphanie’s family, has arrived.

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