17. M.M.I.T.
Chapter seventeen
M.M.I.T.
Monique
Today had been a whirlwind of lessons about the East—politics and strategy.
Every moment was filled with intense mental challenges, forcing me to constantly learn and adapt to this new world. It was a grueling and harsh experience, but with each passing minute I began to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of the East and its people.
But, now it was time to deal with Chen.
And I didn’t know what was going on with me today. Perhaps, I was too hungry to calm my temper. Maybe, it was the whole being hostage thing with Leo.
Either way, Chen wanted a fight, and I wasn't backing down.
I crossed my arms over my chest and faced Chen directly, meeting his fierce glare head-on. “Go ahead, Chen. Say what you have to say.”
His eyes flickered with barely contained fury. “You don't understand the East like we do.”
“That’s fair.”
“You come here with your little ideas, your newly found influence, and think you can change things overnight.” He pointed at me. “But the East has been ruled by traditions, laws that are not so easily undone.”
“Okay. Fair point, I don’t know shit about the East, but I understand enough.”
Chen snorted and began to talk.
I cut him off. “People died last night because of me—”
“Yes, which means that you should be even more careful and shut up—”
“I’m not going to keep quiet about kids dying—”
“You will if I tell you to.” Chen scowled. “You are never to get in front of a microphone again, Friend of the Four Aces . Know your place.”
Those last words hung in the air.
Chen's gaze bore into mine, challenging me to dispute his command.
I raised my eyebrows. “Know my place?”
“That is what I said—”
“You’re about to get your ass knocked out.”
Chen blinked. “What?”
“Don’t fucking talk to me like that.”
“I outrank you—”
“I don’t give a fuck about rank!” I was ready to jump out of my seat. “I don’t like the way you said it.”
Chen blinked again. “Monique, first of all, you cannot talk to me like that as a Friend of the —”
“I am the Mountain Mistress. . .in. . .training. . .”
Chen opened his mouth to retort but no words came out.
Hu parted his lips in shock.
Duck snickered on the side.
Well. . .I said it. I’ve decided to take the job.
A bit nervous, I turned my gaze to Lei. He simply watched me with a neutral expression. And I desperately wished that I knew what was going on in his head.
Chen, however, actually. . .calmed down. “You are the what?”
I lowered my voice. “I’m. . .the. . .Mountain-Mistress-In-Training. We can say. . .M.M.I.T for short.”
Duck chuckled.
I glared at him.
He stopped and cleared his throat.
Chen shook his head. “Mountain-Mistress-In-Training is not a thing.”
“It is now.” Tension gathered in my shoulders. “I’ve decided that I’m going to live in the East and. . .I’m going to be the Mountain Mistress. . .one day, so I need to figure this all out. Which means that I need a training period, and it started today.”
Chen's face hardened. “Mountain Mistress isn't something you just try on like a hat and decide, ‘Oh. So pretty. I’ll wear this today.”
“I know that—”
“It’s not a game.”
“Do I look like I'm playing?”
His eyes narrowed, and his gaze burned into mine as though he was trying to read my intentions.
Duck spoke, “We would need to vote on that, Monique. That’s not something you can just step into—”
“I was already appointed to be Mountain Mistress by the Grand Mountain Master.” I turned to Duck. “Ask him.”
“I’m not asking Uncle Leo anything.” Duck raised his hands in surrender. “If you say it, then I believe you.”
I put my view back on Chen. “The Grand Mountain Master’s appointment is worth five votes.”
Chen frowned. “I’m sure Uncle Leo told you that on your little ride to the gate—”
“He did.”
“What else did he say?”
“None of your business.”
“He had you as a hostage.”
“He did.”
“And now you two are best friends?”
“After today. . .I understand him.”
In that moment, my skin prickled under the intensity of Lei's stare, as if his gaze were physically touching me.
I turned to Lei.
His face was still unreadable.
Fuck. What are you thinking? Are you mad that I’m cool with your father now? Or are you nervous? What is it? And even more. . .how are you going to react when I tell you about the tea ceremony tomorrow?
Chen grabbed my attention. “No disrespect.”
I rolled my eyes and turned back to him, knowing that he was about to say all of the disrespect. “What, Chen?”
“Uncle Leo killed your father, and you don’t even care. Is having power, money, and getting in the palace more important than your loyalty to your own father?”
I flinched. “Fuck you. That’s not what’s going on—”
“Doesn’t matter. Once the East knows about Uncle Leo killing your father, questions like that will get thrown at you all the time—”
“But, I expect better from you , Chen, because you were there when I was ready to jump off that roof because of my father’s death.” I jabbed the air. “So don’t give me that—”
“I will give you whatever you want, Friend of the —”
“I’m the M.M.I.T!”
Duck attempted to cover the bottom half of his face to hide his chuckling, but was doing a horrible job.
Then, finally. . .Lei spoke, “What made you change your mind from yesterday?”
I swallowed. “It’s a long story.”
“We have the time.” Lei studied my face. “But, regardless of my father’s power vote, your reasoning for this big change must be discussed, and unfortunately in front of my main counsel. Because in the end, I can always veto my father’s vote.”
You better not.
I almost retorted that yesterday he was in bed damn near begging me to be his Mountain Mistress and live in his Palace.
But, I knew that it wouldn’t matter.
Plus. . .he surely was curious about what had happened between his father and me to quickly change my mind.
How do I explain it to them? It’s so damn much.
Chen bobbed his head. “I agree with Lei. We need an explanation.”
“Well then. . .let’s begin with my father’s cologne.” I let out a long breath. “That’s where it starts.”
Lei widened his eyes. “Your father’s cologne?”
“When I was a kid, my father had these two bottles of cologne that I was never allowed to touch. He kept them on the top shelf in his bathroom cabinet, like prized possessions.” I placed my hands in my lap. “One was a clear glass bottle with this warm amber liquid inside, labeled with elegant script. The other was a dark, black bottle with sharp edges and. . .its label was barely visible in the dim light. . .like it was a secret or something.”
Chen twisted his face in confusion. “What does two bottles have to do with—”
“Be quiet and let her talk.” Lei watched me. “Go ahead, Moni.”
“I loved Dad’s first cologne. It was fresh citrus and sandalwood with hints of lavender.” In that moment, I could actually smell the scent. “When he hugged me before going to work, that scent would get on me and. . .”
An odd smile spread across my face. “And. . .umm. . .I would smell my shirt at school and grin. It was like a protective cloak that I believed would shield me from all the darkness outside.”
I nodded to myself. “That was the cologne he wore to church too.”
Lei raised his eyebrows. “And the other cologne?”
“It stung my nose.” Thinking about it, I hugged myself. “It had this. . .musky undertone. There was a bitterness to it, like. . .unripe fruit left out too long, mixed with strong spices.”
As I spoke of that foul scent, it began to materialize around me, curling through the air in front of my face like a dark fog.
Stop it. Don’t do that again. It’s not real. Remember. The smell isn’t here.
Still, the scent clung to my senses, settled in my throat, and made my stomach churn.
“My father would wear that cologne when he would disappear for hours.” I shook my head. “As a little kid, I never understood what was going on. Mom would be upset. . .worried. . .especially on the nights when he wouldn’t even come back home for a few days. I had no idea it was all about gambling and women. My family. . .we didn’t talk. Mom stayed silent. Dad did too. And. . .the silence passed down to us. My sisters and me. . .we didn’t ask questions. We all just sat in silence over this—Dad, Mom, my sisters, and me. Unbearable silence.”
That damn smell wrapped itself around my head and seeped into my nostrils, suffocating and relentless.
“Then, Mom got pregnant with my youngest sister, TT and. . .Dad didn’t use that cologne anymore. He was back to only going to work and church. Then, he wore the good cologne.” I gave Lei a sad smile. “I grew up and went to college. All was well until. . .Mom got cancer.”
This deep sadness rose within my chest.
Fuck. Why am I starting here? Why did I even begin talking about fucking cologne?
I sat there stunned, unsure of where I was going with this.
Lei placed his big hand on mine. “What happened then?”
“Jo called me to come home because she thought Dad wasn’t doing a good enough job of helping Mom out.” I stopped hugging myself and grabbed Lei’s hand, gripping it tighter. “I returned home, figuring I would only be there for a month or two. . .you know. . .take a semester off, but. . .”
Duck, Hu, and Chen watched me like I was a television.
“What?” Lei asked.
“Dad started spraying that fucking cologne again—the evil one.” I turned my view to the window and watched the streets of the East roll by. “We would have a nice dinner that I cooked, laughing and talking as a family at the table and then once we were done. . .Dad would go take a damn shower, put on nice clothes, and spray that disgusting cologne all over himself, ruining everything. . .not letting us be great. . .be beautiful.”
Pain gripped my heart, bringing back all the heartache that I’d tried to shove away for so long.
Fuck.
My gaze trailed over the intricate shades of blue that adorned every corner. Banners and flags fluttered in the breeze, bearing symbols and characters.
Lanterns in vibrant shades of indigo hung from doorways and balconies.
The faint scent of incense wafted in through the slightly cracked window, but I still couldn’t get the stank of my father’s evil cologne away from me.
“Eventually, it started to be every Friday night. He would spray that cologne and rush off to the casino with his new woman. . .to only return exhausted and broke on Sunday night. I didn’t say anything to Mom. . .what would I say. . .a daughter to a grown woman. . .a whole ass wife. . .” I tightened my hold on Lei’s hand. “But, every time, he left. . .that nasty cologne smell. . .it would linger in the apartment. And no amount of scrubbing or airing it out could get rid of the smell.”
I continued to gaze out the window, unable to face Lei and everyone else.
Everywhere I looked on the outside, there were splashes of blue—the deep, royal blue to the soft, sky blue.
“So it began. . .my father’s ritual and mine. He would leave out on Friday stinking up the apartment. Then, every Saturday morning, I would grab the mop and bucket and spend the day trying to wash that stench out.” I gritted my teeth. “I would open the window, but nothing worked.”
As the SUV navigated the bustling streets, we passed shrines nestled by storefronts, in corners, and near temples.
“Then Dad just. . .never returned.” I shrugged and turned back to Lei. “He just said fuck it. No discussion with Mom. No goodbye to us. Just left that fucking shitty ass cologne on the bathroom shelf as if that would take care of us.”
Everyone remained silent, and I thought back to the day when I really accepted Dad was not returning. It had been a month, and I’d already confirmed through Snow that he had been at their casino bar, laughing with some chick the night before.
I spent the rest of the day on my knees scrubbing the kitchen floor.
Weak from her new medication, Mom watched me with tired eyes. “There's no smell, baby. It's all in your head.”
“I’ll stop when I don’t smell it.”
“Moni, please.” Mom coughed. “Go rest. You have work—"
“Ma, we have to take Moni to the looney doctor or something.” Jo walked in and sucked her teeth. “You're tripping, Moni. I can't smell a thing.”
“I can smell it.”
I shook that memory out of my mind. “No Dad meant that we needed more money. Instead of my taking Mom to the hospital, I got a job at the Chicken Factory and Jo would leave school early to take Mom to treatments. Jo barely graduated that year.”
Fucking son of a bitch. You could have at least taken your wife to the hospital.
“All this time, I thought Mom died with the stank of that cologne as one of her last memories.” My eyes watered. “But today I learned that. . .”
Lei leaned forward. “What did you learn, Moni?”
“I learned that she got to smell your mother’s garden. All those beautiful, perfumed flowers. She was in the East, saw Lotus Blossom, and smiled in her last months of life.” Tears spilled from my eyes. “For that. . .I would rep the East for life.”
Lei considered what I said and then muttered, “Your mother knew my mother?”
Nodding, I wiped tears from my eyes. “Leo showed me a whole photo album of photos with them—”
“No.” Chen shook his head in disbelief. “That doesn’t make any sense. I used to prepare Aunt Jing’s weekly schedule for security reasons. She didn’t have many engagements—”
“There’s pictures of them together, laughing and enjoying themselves, even Lei is in one.” I wiped more tears. “Lei’s mother took Mom to the fair, the beach, the garden right at Lotus Blossom—”
“Hold on.” Shock covered Lei’s face. “Are you talking about Mrs. KiKi? That’s the only person my mother spent time with in her last years.”
Duck bobbed his head. “It has to be Mrs. KiKi. Now I can kind of see the resemblance.”
More tears left me. “Mom told you all her nickname? Banks started calling her that at three when he couldn’t pronounce Kiana.”
Chen touched his forehead. “The sick woman that became Aunt Jing’s bestie. The one. . .Aunt Jing got depressed over when. . .”
Lei finished for him. “When she passed. I remember that month. Mom barely left the garden. She would just sit there in that one spot and stare blankly at the flowers.”
The SUV fell silent, the only sound coming from the hum of the engine and distant chatter of the East outside.
Jesus.
We all sat there, lost in our own thoughts, grappling with the new revelation.
Then, Chen spoke, “Well. . .that does change everything.”
Hu nodded. “Now I understand why Uncle Leo chose Monique. At least I’m beginning to understand.”
Lei’s eyes watered. “Where’s the photo album?”
“At Lotus Blossom. I dropped it when Leo put the blade to my throat.” Then, I thought about my ladies-in-waiting. “Oh no. We have to go back and get my ladies-in-waiting too. I left them there.”
“Tell the driver to take us to Lotus Blossom.” Lei still appeared to be holding back tears.
Was it the thought of his mother?
Or did my own tears make him sad?
Meanwhile, Chen blurted out, “You left your what?”
“My ladies-in-waiting.”
“How the hell did you get ladies-in-waiting today?”
“Aunt Suzi and Aunt Min—”
“No.” Chen wagged his finger. “I am the only person that can pick them.”
I shrugged. “Well, you’re about to pick the ones that I have because I like them and only them.”
Chen touched his chest. “You all are about to give me a heart attack.”
I eyed Lei. “What happened to your aunts? I saw them being escorted away from Lotus Blossom.”
“They’re in the palace dungeon to serve thirty days.”
I opened my mouth in shock. “No. You have to let them go.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Because they’re my. . .trainers.” I shrugged again. “The M.M.I.T. needs trainers.”
Chen groaned in annoyance.