Chapter 18 #3
his own business until they inevitably went away.
But every Angeleno knows that one day, one of these earthquakes will be life-changing, even devastating. The Sun Clan’s seismic
clashes were no different. For Teddy, the equivalent of the Big One happened when his step-granddaughter, Meadow, disappeared
the day after Lunar New Year.
Teddy had known that Roses and April had been at loggerheads over this baby business, but loggerheads was nothing new for
them. Perhaps he was too complacent, because when Meadow didn’t show up to breakfast the Monday after Roses’s big annual party,
he was completely caught off guard.
Blissful ignorance cuts both ways. No one had bothered to tell Teddy. Like a passé vase, Meadow vanished from the Malibu compound
and out of his life.
Meadow Sun and Teddy Grinspan were not blood related, but he loved that little girl like a doting grandfather from the moment
she was born. He was the fourth person to hold her, after the nurse, April, and Cristiano. Meadow was Teddy’s favorite person,
and when she was gone, he missed her terribly.
And Teddy knew Roses better than most people.
He knew that, not too deep down, Roses also missed their granddaughter, perhaps even missed April.
Other than fussing over Bessie’s pregnancy or tending to her guava orchard, Roses had barely left her private bathroom in months.
He knew that Roses was going through a hard time.
He decided it was time to get involved.
“Rosie,” he whispered, leaning over the candlelit dinner. “You don’t look like you’re listening.”
Roses looked up from her poached salmon like she was being pulled from far away. She nodded and turned back to Diana Damrau,
renowned German coloratura soprano, who was performing a selection of arias for the couple. It was a world-class extravagance
for an audience of two in the Malibu compound’s courtyard.
This was a classic Teddy Grinspan move, the type that helped him win Roses Sun over in the first place. Roses loved the opera,
and Teddy had brought the literal best of opera to their backyard, over a romantic and hopefully peacemaking dinner.
Accompanied by a string quartet plucked from the LA Philharmonic, Diana Damrau began singing her signature piece, the villainous
Queen of the Night’s showstopper from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Commonly mistaken as a love song, it is actually a rage aria sung by a powerful matriarch who threatens to disown her daughter
unless she does her bidding.
No, it was not subtle, but Teddy figured the time for subtlety was over.
“Rosie,” he whispered again. “Do you know who else loves this song?”
“Who?” Roses asked. She was rapt now, as Diana Damrau trilled extravagance through Mozart’s death-defying high octaves.
“Meadow.”
At the name of their granddaughter, Roses turned to him, surprised. But then she smiled softly. “Whenever you play this song,
she screams along.”
Teddy chuckled. “She loves this song, but she can’t sing it for shit.” He reached across the table and put his hand over hers.
“I miss her. When do you think she’ll come back?”
Roses did not reply, only sighing. Her eyes were wet.
Teddy tried again. “Maybe after Wayward’s baby shower, we can figure out a way for them to move back in?”
As Diana Damrau began to hit the astonishing staccatos of the aria, Roses in turn began to nod.
But then a loud chiming sound interrupted both women. Horrified, Teddy saw as Roses’s phone sitting on the table next to the
roasted asparagus lit up with an incoming call; it was not on mute.
But once Roses saw who was calling, she was oblivious to the gaffe. She grabbed her phone and rushed back into the house,
leaving Teddy humiliated in her wake. Startled, Diana Damrau stopped singing, right before the triumphant climax of the song.
“Zat’s never happened before,” she sniffed.
In her bathroom on the third floor, Roses sat down at her vanity and accepted the call. Instantly Master Chu popped up on
her screen, grinning at her toothily.
Hello from Bhutan, my dear Mrs. Sun! I thought I would check in with you, this being the day before Wayward’s baby shower.
He was wearing a thick parka that wreathed his old, wrinkled face with fur, and behind him in the distance, the snowcapped
peaks of the Himalayas loomed.
Everything is going wonderfully, Master Chu, Roses replied, smiling. The baby is healthy, Bessie has been a wonderful surrogate, and Wayward is doing a fine job at Sunfang. I consider myself
semiretired these days, at least until the boy is born!
Master Chu nodded encouragingly. And Galahad? Has he proven himself useful to you this past year?
Oh, Master Chu, I hope he stays forever!
Not ten miles away, in a run-down trailer parked inconspicuously in a large encampment of unhoused folks under the 405 Freeway, Roses’s voice continued.
It has been a hard year, but thanks to Galahad’s encouragement and advice, we will soon have our Sunfang heir!
Though the trailer appeared worn from the outside, inside it was clean and sparse. There were only a few personal effects
here and there, the most basic necessities for life. Hanging from knobs on the side were three robes of different colors.
Heaped on an end table beneath them were many iridescent bracelets.
On a desktop computer at the back end of the trailer, Roses’s face was displayed on the video call as she went on elatedly.
I truly believe that this weekend’s baby shower will see everyone united behind the future of the Sun Clan! And I owe it all
to you and Galahad. I really do hope Galahad stays forever, Master Sun!
Wearing a fur parka as he sat on a desk chair in front of the monitor, Galahad replied to Roses in Cantonese, with a perfect
imitation of Master Chu’s worn voice. My dear Mrs. Sun, I am so glad that we have been such a balm to you during these tumultuous times.
As Galahad spoke, his computer applied the filter of Master Chu’s face over his own in real time, transmitting this deepfake
effect to Roses. The filter even applied a dramatic AI-generated image of Mount Everest in the background.
Galahad will always be at your disposal, said Galahad. This weekend, everything changes, Mrs. Sun. Everything will change!
As Galahad continued to regale his unwitting mark, he did not notice that a pair of sharp eyes was scrutinizing him from a
corner of the trailer’s window where the blinds had not been fully shut. The eyes blinked rapidly, stunned at what they saw.
Outside of the trailer, Lola backed away slowly, processing what she had just witnessed. She had been tracking Galahad Chu for months and months, but the alleged holy man was a shadow to chase, constantly changing his whereabouts.
But finally, Lola had discovered him in the act, and what an act it was. She was bewildered. Why was Galahad pretending to
be his own grandfather?
As Lola walked over to her matte-black Harley, she pulled out a burner phone and dialed a number. It rang a few times before
someone picked up.
“Yes?” Iris asked.
“I found him,” Lola said. “And I caught him.”