Chapter Ten
The lightbulb buzzed on. Groaning, Aiden pried one eye open. His stepmother’s watery figure hovered beside him. “You need to prepare all the food we are to have in the meeting tonight,” Yin Mei said and left just as quickly.
Still blinking the morning film away, Aiden stared at the yellow light dangling above. Numbness tingled throughout his body, and even with the glaring light above his eyes, he threatened to fall asleep. His fingers twitched against the bed.
That means it’s already the next day.
Eyes snapping open, Aiden heaved himself out of bed, stomping up the stairs to shake the sleep permanently away.
An entire dining room table of ingredients spread out and a list of dumplings and dishes to be made confronted him upstairs. “Good morning to me,” he murmured, rolling up his sleeves.
Flour covered his body. He kneaded, mixed, and carefully wrapped the dough around the meat filling of pork, ginger, and celery.
Chicken, beef, fish, and pork mixed with bamboos, carrots, napa, and bok choy.
The pans sizzled of oil, and Aiden tasted the various concoctions of vinegar, soy sauce, and spices he mixed together before dumping them in with the ingredients.
He Bao dropped by to taste and decided to throw out all but one.
“Can’t you cook better than this? We have to look good tonight.” He tossed another dish into the trashcan.
“Then get a professional cook,” Aiden retorted under his breath.
Zhu Zhu popped in to ask for sweets and disappeared.
“You heard her. Zhu Zhu wants sweets.” He Bao pointed to the oven.
Aiden was too tired to roll his eyes and set himself to baking.
A pile of dishes filled the sink by the time he saran wrapped the approved food.
At least I can use the dishwasher this time since it won’t be wasting water for only a few bowls, Aiden thought to himself.
He started when the windows showed nothing but darkness, and he finished when the sun began its descent over the horizon.
Rinsing, then shoving the dirty pots and pans into the dishwasher, he watched the lifesaving machine start and walked to the living room where the family gathered.
Zhu Zhu radiated in a pink ballgown dress with Chinese symbols flecked across the skirt in gold.
Lace sleeves crawled over her arms to reach her sweetheart neckline.
Jade earrings hung from her ears. They swayed gently when she looked up at his arrival before returning to her iPad.
He Bao pranced in the living room with his hair slicked back and an expensive suit wrapped around him.
He bounced on the wooden floor, grinning whenever his black, leather shoes squeaked.
Aiden's stepmother rushed out from the bathroom, pushed up her chest in her sleeveless red dress, and wrapped a fur shawl around her shoulders.
She reached for her purse.
Aiden stared. “Where are you going?”
His stepmother looked over at him. “Well, the meeting was moved to another location. Mr. Yang insisted on having it at his house for tonight. I believe he bought some new exotic animals he wanted to show off. There’s also a young man he wanted to introduce to Zhu Zhu. The two can be friends.”
I cleaned the entire house for nothing? Aiden chewed his lip. “Why did I cook so much food if we’re not hosting?”
“Well, we obviously still need to bring food,” She grabbed a pair of white satin gloves. “You would’ve known about the change if you picked up your phone last night.”
Aiden did not miss the chilly glance thrown in his direction, but his eyes wandered to Zhu Zhu.
She slouched over her iPad, tapping the screen three times, each heavier than the last, and her eyes twitched to catch his gaze before returning to her drawing.
“How old is this young man?” Aiden asked.
“Mr. Yang’s children are very young, so I know it’s not his kids. ”
“Older,” Zhu Zhu immediately mumbled just loud enough for everyone to hear.
“I said they could be friends. She will need guidance once she goes to a university that’s appropriate for her, and he’s currently attending that university,” Yin Mei interjected. “Carry everything out to the car, won’t you?”
Aiden grabbed one of the wrapped dishes. His hands clenched. “Should we already be talking so far into the future regarding Zhu Zhu if we still have no hint on the location of the will? Assuming you’ve told me everything about it.”
Zhu Zhu slowly looked up from her iPad with wide eyes. Besides her, He Bao stopped his prancing and glared. His stepmother whirled toward him, but her gaze fell on the expensive porcelain in his hands.
Want me to throw it? To make the challenge clearer, he shifted it in his hands.
“Listen you,” He Bao snarled. “You’re asking a lot of questions for something that doesn’t concern you. This is between Ma, my sister, and me. Go put everything out in the car already! If we’re late, I’m going to tell the other families it’s because of you.”
Suppose I have time for more backtalk later, Aiden thought. He transferred the dishes one-by-one with no one’s help to the car. Besides, I need something else first.
He returned inside, lowering his eyes and softening his tone. “Some of my clothes are fraying. Can I borrow a needle to fix them?”
“You want a needle now?” His stepmother sighed. “Zhu Zhu, go grab him a needle.”
“I don’t know where it is. I don’t know where anything is. You’re the one who decided how everything goes in this house, including our own rooms,” Zhu Zhu replied, head lowered to the iPad again.
“You live in this house, don’t you? You should already know where everything is.”
“I’ll get him the needle,” He Bao interrupted.
He glared at Aiden when walking past. After stomping around the house, He Bao returned and shoved the needle into his hands, almost pricking Aiden’s finger along the way.
Still, Aiden kept his expression carefully submissive, nodding with his eyes flicked down.
“We must lock everything up.” His stepmother gestured to the basement.
Obediently, Aiden returned back down. He turned the light on, settling onto his bed. Yin Mei slammed the door shut. The lock clicked with a key. “Move, move. We can’t be late for tonight.” He listened to their steps fade. The house fell to silence.
He grinned at the needle in his hand.
“Wasn’t able to use it during the kidnapping, but I can definitely use it now,” Aiden relished aloud. He dug into one of the boxes that the family abandoned in the basement, digging out the clothes Zhu Zhu graciously saved for him that morning.
His heart thumped against his chest, pulling out the silvery sheen with a dragon roaring at the front. He smiled, pain pricking at his chest.
His brother’s last gift to him.
Something she made for him.
Aiden donned the modernized hanfu. The silk wrapped around his shoulders in the perfect shape and perfect height.
He overlapped the collar, and both sides fell into place, hugging his chest at the right proportions.
He fastened the strings around the end of his sleeves, and the scales of the dragon glimmered against the dim light.
He tightened the sash around his waist, and the pants flowed just above the floor while the waistline snugged around his skin.
He allowed himself to think of her. Just briefly. Wondering how she predicted this. Wondering how she could’ve made this when he was still young.
His breath shortened in an instant, and the swaying dim light reminded him of the car lights pulling around the window.
His brother’s shadow turned around the corner for the restroom.
His pouts and fitful cries at the game, and her laughter transformed before him—from glittering of joy to the horror of realization.
Sounds exploded around him, and a weight landed against him.
“Enough!” Aiden cried, collapsing onto the floor. He hugged himself. “Enough…” He would not think of her.
Not when Brendan was waiting.
Brendan’s hands, Brendan’s jacket, and Brendan returning lost items without fail and without hesitation. Brendan who made him feel both weak and strong.
Aiden wiped the sweat from his forehead. I won’t think about the past tonight. He climbed up the stairs and picked at the lock with the needle.
The door clicked open.
He raced outside of his basement prison, out of the house of expectations, and into the streets of the open air. He smiled and waved at the moon as he called an Uber to take him to campus.
He headed to the ball.
· · ·
The dance was held in a familiar building—the building where he met Brendan, Christina, and Javier on that fateful day in the hallway; he was going to his math class, and he had since learned, they had just finished theirs.
Booming music already echoed in the well-lit building just from entering the front doors.
Following it, he climbed up the stairs and turned toward the only room where different colors blinked.
I hope Brendan didn’t leave and think I stood him up.
Waiting for his stepfamily to leave, unlocking himself from his basement, and finding a ride to campus had eaten up time.
But I don't have to rush tonight. He looked at the time.
According to Mr. Chen’s schedules, these family meetings tended to end around midnight. He just needed to return to the house before then.
The floors vibrated beneath his feet. A great cloud of chatter floated out into the air. Heart thumping, Aiden stared down at his unusual clothes. He reassured himself that the other students were too drunk to pay attention to a late straggler, but his breaths tightened with each step forward.
It’s fine. It’s Brendan.
Aiden stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He walked through the door.