Page 46 of Next Time Will Be Our Turn
“This is a foolhardy quest,” Mama grunted. “You are such a young girl—”
“A woman. I’m a woman, Mama. I’m twenty-seven. I haven’t been a girl for a while now. And I’ve worked hard, I know what I’m doing.”
Mama and Papa looked pointedly at her, and I saw her through their eyes. She looked so wrong, so completely the opposite of all the Chinese-Indonesian’s standards of appropriate feminine beauty. Even her eyebrows were wrong—arched sharply so she looked intimidating as hell, whereas Chindos prefer their women to have straight Korean brows that sloped slightly down, so we always looked scared and helpless. And her hair had been dyed blond and cut into a harsh bob. The effect was striking, making her look like a model. Way too eye-catching. My hairstyle was the Chindo-approvedshoulder-length and carefully curled into soft waves. Everything about me said:Help me, please.Whereas everything about Iris said:Fuck with me, I dare you.
“I just need someplace to live while I build my empire,” Iris said. “And I promise I’ll be as helpful with the wedding planning as you want me to be.”
Mama and Papa sighed. “Of course you can live here with us, Iris,” Papa said. “We always wanted you to come back.”
“We’ve asked you a million times over the last few years to come home,” Mama said.
“Yeah, but you asked me to come home to get married,” Iris said. “I just want to be clear: Don’t get your hopes up, okay? It’s not happening. I’m focused on my work. But you’ve got Magnolia here to play the role of the perfect Chindo daughter and give you all the grandbabies you want, so everyone’s happy!”
I swear I could feel my skin sprouting bristles, but still, words refused to come out. I merely gritted my teeth and clasped my hands hard on my lap. It worked on Mama and Papa, anyway. They smiled tiredly at me, and I could practically see the thought going through their heads:Iris is right, at least we have Magnolia here to fulfill the Chindo dream. Thank goodness we have good little Magnolia who has never and will never break any rule, never make any waves, never make a sound.
Chapter 15
MAGNOLIA
2007
Do you know what irony is? People often say, “That’s ironic,” and then it turns out their example has nothing to do with irony.
Here’s what was truly ironic: within five months of Iris coming back to Jakarta, she’d not only fulfilled her promise of starting her own business, but she’d also met a Chindo guy, fallen wildly in love, and married him.
Yep, that’s right. My sister, who’d always been so adamant about not believing in the “institute of marriage” because it was “a social construct designed to subjugate women,” was married. All before Parker and I managed to book a venue for our wedding. Nowthat’sirony.
Of course, her being Iris, she would never stoop so low as to do things by the Chindo book. No traditional Chindo wedding for her, with two thousand guests, a Chinese tea ceremony, and a big, sparkly white dress. No, Iris went to the courthouse onemorning on her way to her office, and by the time she came out, she was married.
Mama and Papa were aghast when she told us. I was aghast too, but as per my usual, I was quietly aghast.
“Married?” Mama gasped. “Is this a joke?”
“No.” Iris opened her briefcase and took out a piece of paper. It was her marriage certificate.
“What—why would you do this?” Mama said, shying away from the marriage certificate as though it were coated in poison.
“I’ll call Uncle Handry,” Papa said, already pulling out his phone from his pocket. Uncle Handry was a lawyer. “He’ll get it annulled.”
Iris’s face twitched. It looked suspiciously like she was close to laughing. “Oh, I wouldn’t do that.”
“Iris, let your papa fix this,” Mama said.
“Yeah, but I thought it would be prudent to get married before the baby arrives.”
All the noise and commotion screeched to a sudden stop. Mouths froze open, eyes stared unblinking.
“The…baby?” Mama hissed.
Iris gave a sheepish grin. It was clear she was enjoying this. “It’s about two months along. I have a feeling it’ll be a boy.”
A choked sound scratched its way up Papa’s throat. He raised his hand, and for one horrific moment, I thought he might actually hit her. My body moved on its own accord. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I stepped forward. Before I could get to them, Papa had turned away abruptly and stormed out of the room. My muscles turned into water, and I almost sank to the floor.
“What have you done?” Mama said, her eyes bright withtears. “Stupid girl. You think this is a game? You’ve ruined yourself. You’ve ruined your sister!”
All traces of Iris’s smile disappeared. “If Parker leaves her because her sister is married and expecting, then maybe he’s not the kind of guy she wants to marry.”
I was so sick and tired of them talking about me as though I weren’t right there in the room. “I know what kind of man he is,” I said. “And this won’t make him leave.” As soon as I said that, though, doubt immediately sprouted in my heart. In fact, I didn’t know, for sure, if he wouldn’t leave me over something like this. But I tried to hide it, to raise my chin with a confidence I didn’t feel.
