Page 67 of Behind Frenemy Lines

“Oh, don’t you want to wait till the nasi lemak is ready? It’s almost done, right, Zuri?”

Zuri nodded. “We just need to fry the peanuts and ikan bilis. Chicken done already.”

Charles shook his head. “Thanks, but I should see what state the flat is in, and get my things. And see if I can rescue Loretta’s collection.”

“But have they fixed it? Will you be able to stay there?”

Charles glanced down at his phone. “The building management company hasn’t replied to anything since yesterday. I think they’re probably offline till Monday. It’s fine, I’ll get a hotel.”

My friends had made no pretence of not listening in on the conversation.

“What’s wrong with your flat?” said Zuri. When she heard the story, she said, “I’ve got a spare bedroom. You could stay with me.”

It wasn’t a terrible idea. Zuri’s estranged father was a bigwig in Bank Negara. She lived in a palatial flat in Wimbledon. She would have hosted the nasi lemak party, if not for the fact Wimbledon was a pain for everyone else to get to.

“That’s probably more comfortable than my sofa bed,” I said.

Charles looked alarmed. “Thank you, that’s very kind, but I really couldn’t—”

“I’m serious,” said Zuri. “Anygood friendof Kriya’s is a good friend of mine.” May Yin choked on her green tea.

I ignored them.

“You’re welcome to come back here,” I said to Charles. “I’m going to be out most of the day tomorrow anyway. I’m volunteering at a legal advice clinic for asylum seekers. You should be able to get in touch with the building management company on Monday, right? You should at least get them to confirm they’ll cover a hotel before you pay for one.”

Charles slanted a look at Zuri, who was grinning like a shark.

“If you don’t mind me staying over the weekend…” he said, turning back to me. He’d clearly figured out that Zuri was not going to let him out of the flat unless he agreed to stay with one of us, and he’d identified me as the lesser of two evils. Wise man. “I’ll be out of your hair by Monday.”

“Of course. So you’ll be coming back?”

“We’ll save a plate of nasi lemak for you,” said Zuri sweetly.

Esther turned up as Charles was leaving. He was so intent on escape he only gave her a perfunctory nod before he fled.

Esther handed me a bottle of red wine. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one getting the wine?” said May Yin. “We scheduled this at nine is because of me!”

“We scheduled this at nine is because of Ethan,” Esther corrected her. “He’s too young for a bottle of Pinot. Who was that guy?” She jerked her head towards the door through which Charles had disappeared.

“Yes,” said Zuri. “Whowasthat guy, Kriya?”

The focus of collective attention swung round to me before I could invent another household chore to take me out of the room.

“Is it Kawan Baik?” said May Yin. “It’s Kawan Baik, right? Kawan Baik’s name is Charles.”

“The question is, why is Kawan Baik staying at your place?” said Zuri.

Esther’s eyes went round. “That was Kawan Baik? Wait, did you rumpy-pumpy with Kawan Baik?”

“What?” said the rest of us.

“I just learned this word today,” said Esther, with pride. “‘Rumpy-pumpy.’ It means ‘have sex.’”

“Oh, that’s a very interesting term,” said May Yin, seriously.

“Right?”

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