Page 70 of Four Aunties and a Wedding

There’s an awkward silence as we all stand and smile with aching politeness at one another. Nathan gives a small nod to someone in the distance, and with a start, I realize he’s nodding to Ama. Right, of course. She’s the wedding planner, after all. He’s just telling her to get the festivities started.

There’s a bit of a rearranging to be done, chairs to be shifted to fit Third Uncle at our table, but it finally gets done and we all take our seats with obvious relief. The doors reopen and waiters stream in, carrying trays of food. My mouth starts to water. When was the last time I ate? Wow. I think it was actually the night before. I’ve gone nearly twenty-four hours without food. No wonder I feel so jittery and brittle.

But just as the beautiful salad is placed in front of me, I realize with a start that this is it. This must be how Staphanie and her family are planning to kill Lilian! It would be so simple. We all have assigned seating, so they’d know in advance which would be her plate, her glasses, her forks and spoons. Oh god. I look over at the next table, where Lilian is sitting. The food hasn’t reached her table yet.

I pat Ma’s arm with urgency. “Ma, si itu,” I whisper to her.With Nathan on my other side, I can’t say anything more specific than “the thing.”

“Apa itu?” What thing?

I grit my teeth. Dammit, Ma. Come on. “Itu,” I say meaningfully, widening my eyes.

“Eh? Apa? Kenapa?” Ma’s getting louder.

“Everything okay?” Nathan says wearily.

I nod and force a smile before turning back to Ma and whispering, “The pembunuhan.” The murder.

Her eyes widen in shock, like the thought of murder has come as a surprise. Oh my god, there are no words for how awful it is that Ma is drunk. Then, fortunately, realization dawns on her face and she nods sagely. “Oh yes. The pembunuhan.” She leans across Third Uncle and whispers something to Big Aunt, who’s already halfway through her salad.

Big Aunt’s head shoots up and they both look over at Lilian. My heart sinks. The waiters have gotten to Lilian’s table and are serving everyone their salads. Ma and Big Aunt must have realized this too, because they both shoot up to their feet. In fact, Ma shoots up so fast that her chair clatters to the floor. The deafening thump slices through all the noise in the dining hall, and instantly every voice is silenced. Everyone is looking over at us. Shit, shit.

Ma looks terrified, and who can blame her?Oh my god, do something!my mind screams at me. But everything is a blank. All I can see are the stares from everyone, especially from Annie.

Luckily, Big Aunt, who has a lot more forethought than I do, lifts her chin proudly and says, loudly and clearly, “Hello, everyone! My name is Friya, and I am Meddelin’s Big Aunt.”

A soft murmur goes through the crowd and shoulders visibly relax as everyone thinks,Ah, speeches. Right. Speeches are understandable. Thank god for Big Aunt’s quick thinking.

But my relief is short-lived. Because after she’s done introducing herself, it becomes obvious that Big Aunt has no idea what to say next. She looks at me. She looks back at the crowd.

“Thank you, everyone, for you coming here,” she says, faltering. The silence is deafening. I should save her. I’m about to stand up when she forges on. “For you coming to my Meddy’s wedding.” She looks back at me and her face softens. “You know, I not Meddy’s mother. But I always feel like she is my daughter. Ever since she little, I have love her like a daughter. Because daughters are blessing, yes?”

The crowd murmurs its agreement. Most people are smiling genially. Holy shit, this might actually work. But I can’t just sit here and relax, because what’s going to happen once Big Aunt finishes her speech? People will go back to eating, and we’ll be back to square one.

As Big Aunt continues talking, I whisper to Ma, “We need to stop Lilian from eating.”

Ma looks at me with wide eyes. “Yes,” she says slowly. She takes out her phone and writes a text. A few seats away, Second Aunt and Fourth Aunt take out their phones and glance at them before typing their replies. I can’t help noticing that Annie has noticed this exchange and is watching with open disapproval. I guess from her point of view, Ma and the others are being incredibly rude, given that their big sister is giving a speech.

A strange note in Big Aunt’s voice makes me look up, and to my horror, I find that she’s crying again. ARGH. I’m frozen in horror as Big Aunt sobs, “And now my beautiful daughter leaving me, get married in foreign country, maybe after this live in foreign country, who know? Like my son, you know, Russ, you also leave me, live so far away, never visiting me.”

I jump up and hurry to Big Aunt, giving her a hug and loudly thanking her for the wonderful speech. Belatedly, I realize thatby doing that, I’ve signaled the end of the speech. There is a smattering of polite applause, and then the tinkle of cutlery as the guests start digging into their food once more. I look desperately at my family, and Second Aunt jumps up and shouts, “I also have speech!”

“Good grief,” Annie mutters, letting her fork drop and dabbing at her mouth with her napkin.

Everybody stares expectantly at Second Aunt, who glances over at me with wide eyes. “I—uh—I am Second Aunt. My name Enjelin. Hello. Yes, hi. Ah, you know what I like to do?”

Oh no. No, no, no.

“Tai Chi!” Second Aunt says proudly, getting into her stride. “Come, we all do Tai Chi!”

Everyone looks around with WTF expressions.

“Yes, this all part of Chinese-Indonesian wedding,” Second Aunt says. The few guests from our side of the family frown and shrug. “Is will bring good luck to the newlywed. Otherwise, they be cursed forever. Come, stand up, everybody!” She claps loudly and starts going around the room, urging people to their feet.

Oh god. This is so much worse than I thought it was going to be.

“Is she serious right now?” Annie says.

“Well, it’s good to get a bit of exercise in before eating,” Nathan says. He turns to me and shoots me a “What the hell is going on?” look.

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