Page 17 of The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties

Julia lifts her chin and regards us slowly, almost lazily. But there is nothing lazy about those sharp eyes of hers. As they rove over me, I get the sense that she’s reading all of my innermost thoughts and missing nothing at all. She waves her hand to one side and says, “Sit.”

This is a whole new level of commanding presence. Not even Big Aunt dares to defy her. We all hurry to find a spot on the sofas opposite her. When we’re all settled, Julia’s lips quirk into a polite smile.

“Thank you for coming to my humble abode,” she says in Indonesian. Then she seems to notice me straining to follow her words. She looks pointedly at me, then at Nathan, and without prompting, switches to British-accented English. “I said, thank you for coming to my humble abode.”

“We’re honored to be invited here,” I blurt out. Then I mentally kick myself. Technically, were we even invited here? But it felt weird to not say anything.

“Mm.” Julia’s gaze slips over Ma and the aunts one by one, taking them all in.

Abi leans forward. “I wish to explain—”

Julia gives him a sharp look, and he falters before mumbling an apology. After a moment of excruciating silence, Julia says, “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance. I’m Julia Child Handoko. You may call me Julia Child.”

Of course. She can’t just be Julia Handoko. She’s got to be named after some famous white person. I have to stifle another bubble of hysterical laughter at this. Everything about this is so unreal.

“So,” Julia Child continues, “I understand that Abi here has failed to bring the title deed that I was promised.”

Abi jerks up. “I didn’t fail, I will bring it, but it might take some time—”

Once again, Julia Child silences him with a single look. When she does speak, she directs the question to us. “You all strike me as honest people. Not businesspeople.” She gives a humorless laugh. “Save me from businessmen, each one is a bigger snake than the last.” She levels her gaze at Nathan. “Well, obviously you’re a businessman, but you’re still young, still uncorrupted. Now, which of you will tell me the truth about what happened?”

For a moment, we all exchange panicked glances at one another. Then, true to our family’s structure, Big Aunt nods and turns to face Julia Child. “I’m Friya Chan, head of the family,” she says in Mandarin.

“A matriarch,” Julia Child replies in equally smooth Mandarin, delight clearly written on her face. “Carry on.”

“My family and I are only visiting for a week for the Chinese New Year celebrations. We have no connections to you or Abi, no loyalties to either party.” Big Aunt shoots Abi another deadly look. “I don’t even like Abi. Never trusted him.”

“What?” Second Aunt cries. She turns to Julia Child. “She’s just saying that because she’s jealous that he likes me and not her.”

Oh god. This can’t be happening. Part of me wants to lungeforward and tackle Second Aunt, but Ma is faster than I am. She pushes Second Aunt back and smiles at Julia Child. “So sorry about my older sister. She’s a bit emotional because of... ah, her menopause.”

Julia Child’s eyebrows quirk up. “Oh? I’ve got lots of remedies for that. I’ll have someone bring them up here.”

Ma goes, “Ooh!” and looks utterly delighted. “What sort of remedies? Jamu?” Jamu is Indonesian traditional medicine, something Ma sometimes looks into as a side hobby.

“Some jamu, some traditional Chinese medicine, some Western medicine too.”

“Wah!” Ma claps her hands together, her eyes lighting up like a kid entering Disneyland. “Yes, please, have someone bring up your collection. I would love to see it. I’m a bit of an expert in TCM, you know. I even subscribe toTraditional Medicine Monthlyand I’ve been trying to—”

Fourth Aunt clears her throat. “Maybe this isn’t the best time to talk about your drug habit?”

Ma glares at her. “It’s not a drug habit, it’s—”

Fourth Aunt flaps her hand at Ma and turns to Julia Child, pointedly ignoring Ma. “As my big sister was saying, we’re only here for a visit. Now, I admit that maybe this was all triggered by me, because I was the one who called Abi to let him know that Erjie is in town. He came by the house this morning with all these gift baskets, which he generously gave to our family.”

“Sogenerous!” Second Aunt croons, smiling at Abi, who grins bashfully, scratching the back of his head like he’s all of twelve years old.

“But so badly organized,” Big Aunt sniffs. “It turns out one of those baskets was meant for you.”

“The basket that contained the title deed,” Abi adds. “It was in a red packet, nestled among other red packets. They were all meant for you, as a token of my respect.”

Julia Child looks on impassively. “And what happened to all those red packets that were meant for me?”

I raise my hand. “We, um, we gave them out to the little ones.”

“So you gave my red packets away.” Julia Child’s voice is icy cold with finality.

My mouth shuts, dread suddenly crushing me from all sides. I take a breath to say something else, some words of explanation or apology, but nothing comes out.

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