Page 13 of The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties

Second Aunt takes an enraged breath and releases it dramatically. Abi reaches out for her hand, but she yanks it away. “Fine. You continue,” she snaps.

Big Aunt is openly beaming at this.

Abi clears his throat. “So as I was saying, one of the baskets was meant for somebody else. That person is the director and majority owner of the Ruo Fa Group.”

Nathan releases a low whistle.

“What is it?” I frown at him.

“That’s a major multinational corporation. Some of my partners are vying to do business with them.”

“Yes,” Abi says, “they’re sort of a big deal.” He laughs weakly. “So you see, that’s why I had to come back here to get the gift basket—”

“Aiya,” Ma says, “you were here, you can see for yourself that all the gift baskets are all taken apart and give away already! Why not you just get a new gift basket for this Ruo Fa Group director? We can help you with it. My Dajie can even bake her masterpiece cakes to put inside the basket. No one can resist Dajie’s cakes.”

Big Aunt harrumphs again, but she’s also smiling slightly at that.

“Er, well, you see, it’s about what was inside the gift basket.” Abi scratches his chin, looking utterly miserable. “That particular gift basket contained all the red packets. And before you offer to give me money for it, it’s not about the money. One of the red packets contains a title deed to a large plot of land. Land that’s very strategically located in Jakarta. Ruo Fa Group has been gunning for it for almost a decade now, but I’ve held fast to it all this time. But now, after all this time, I’ve reached an agreement with their director, and I am giving her the land as a show of good faith.”

This is greeted by a moment of shocked silence.

Then Second Aunt hisses, “Her? I knew it was a she.”

“Really? That’s your takeaway from all that?” I mutter.

“Aduh, all the red packets given away to the kids,” Ma says.

Abi nods forlornly. “I know, I was there.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Trust me, I’ve replayed the scene in my mind countless times. All those red packets going out to dozens of children...” He ends the sentence with a defeated groan. “I really, really need that title deed back, otherwise...” His voice wavers with a note of fear bordering on shrill panic.

Ice tingles down my spine. Sure, from a business standpoint, this sounds bad. But Abi is positively fearful. I mean, his hands are actually shaking, for god’s sake. That’s a little bit over the top, right?

“Om Abi,” I say, “can I ask, what’s the worst thing that can happen if you fail to give the title deed to this Ruo Fa Group director?”

Abi’s eyes meet mine, and the chill spreads from my spine to the rest of my body. My scalp crawls. His eyes are filled with pure, animalistic desperation. “I—I don’t dare to think of the consequences of that, my dear,” he whispers. He tries for a smile, but it ends up a ghastly grimace.

What the hell is going on? What am I missing here? “If it’s a business deal, then surely the worst that can happen is that the deal falls through?” I look around the room at the various expressions everyone is wearing.

Big Aunt appears triumphant. Second Aunt is pursing her lips at Abi, and I’m not sure if it’s meant to be disapproving or coquettish. Ma is looking very worried, and Fourth Aunt is watching with horrified glee, her eyes wide and shining. The last time Fourth Aunt had that look was when she was about to look at Ah Guan’s body. Oh god. It clicks into place then.

They’d said, hadn’t they, in Oxford, that Abi was a crime lord. A mafia. A gangster. I don’t know, whatever the terms are here. But all that talk about Abi being a criminal was no exaggeration.

“Oh my god,” I whisper. “This is a mafia thing, isn’t it? The head of the Ruo Fa Group, she’s also some—I don’t know—some cartel leader?”

“Whoa, whoa,” Abi cries, holding up his palms. “We’re definitely not gangsters. We’re all law-abiding citizens here. There is no such thing as a crime syndicate here in Jakarta.”He glances around the room, as if searching for a hidden camera, and says, loudly, “We all respect and follow the law. We are very law-abiding. I don’t even jaywalk.”

We all stare at him. This is the most unconvincing thing I have ever heard.

“Weren’t you referred to in newspapers as the ‘Scourge of Jakarta’?” I point out as politely as I can. “I’m sure I’ve seen articles about how you’ve had people murdered. Not that I’m judging or anything,” I add quickly, in case I accidentally offend him and he has us killed.

Abi laughs. “Oh god, no. Those aren’t newspapers, my dear, they’re tabloids. They also write about women giving birth to half-goat demons, and family curses, and all sorts of rubbish. My competitors, they like to feed these lies about me to the tabloids to tank my reputation.” He gives Second Aunt a pleading look. “I promise you, I am a law-abiding citizen. All of my businesses are legit.”

I take in Abi’s tattooed arms, noticing how a bit of tattooed skin peeks out from above the collar of his shirt. I can totally imagine his entire torso and back and arms covered in a dragon tattoo. It’s too easy to see him holding a cigarette casually while ordering someone to be tortured or killed. Despite his civility and his fear, he exudes an aura of strength, a certain rough quality that hints at a life of danger.

The uneasiness spreads across my entire being, and I place a hand on my stomach, feeling ill. There’s a sensation of needing to get as far away from Abi and his terrifying problem as I can. “I don’t know if I want to be involved in this—”

“I don’t want any of you involved in this,” Abi says quickly. “But the thing is, the Ruo Fa Group will know that this waswhere I lost the title deed, and they will send men to—ah, ask for it. Unless we find it first.”

The way he says “ask for it” triggers alarm bells. Somehow, I don’t think he meant people politely asking where the title deed might be. Visions of my family, of my little nieces and nephews, screaming with fear as their loved ones are tortured in front of them, swim across my mind, and my knees nearly give out. I clutch at Nathan, and he keeps a firm hold on me. His jaw is clenched. I know he has sensed the danger as well.

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