Chapter 12 #4
The automated door slid shut behind the men, and April instantly turned to Lola. “What the fuck’s going on between you and
Weiwei?” she asked in a conspiratorial tone. “You two have been in a dick-measuring contest all afternoon. What’s with the
agita?”
Lola finished her beer. Her freckled cheeks had turned rosy; the palest of her cousins, when she did drink, she was always
the first to emit Asian glow. “If I had a dick,” she sniped, “it’d be twice the size of his.”
April harrumphed. “If you and I had dicks, we’d be running Sunfang Global by now. You know, Lola, I used to beg my mom to
hire you to work there. I told her that out of all of us, you were the most natural entrepreneur.”
“Somehow I don’t think Auntie Roses would appreciate my résumé,” Lola replied, standing up to grab more beers from the fridge.
She had forgotten how pleasant a light buzz could be.
April accepted a fresh bottle from her. The two of them clinked cheers, then took a chug. “I think she appreciates your skills plenty,” April said, a certain mischief suddenly flashing in her eyes. “She might not have hired you for Sunfang Global, but she hires you for other things.”
Lola narrowed her eyes a bit. “What do you mean?”
Now it was April’s turn to be satisfied. She had always admired Lola’s ability to maneuver their family’s dynamics without
ever getting her hands dirty like the rest of them. Being the youngest in their generation helped for sure; Lola had never
been under the same scrutiny as April. But for once, April was in possession of a secret before Lola.
And even better, it was a secret about Lola.
“Baby cousin,” April asked, “is it true that you were the one who leaked Sunbern’s audio?”
Lola’s mouth dropped open.
Outside, Wayward leaned against the old Camaro as Sunbern rummaged through the back seat, which he insisted did contain the
turntables, though they must have been buried somewhere under a mound of old junk and random personal effects.
“Have you trended on TikTok yet today?” Wayward asked. He was constantly bemused by his elder cousin’s notoriety, but he had
never been surprised by it. To Wayward, Sunbern had always been “famous” as the beautiful boy of the family, so when the rest
of the world realized it, it felt completely natural to him.
Sunbern chuckled. “Honestly, it’s as trippy as ever, but I’m just grateful that waitresses aren’t spitting in my drinks anymore.”
“You’ve had a rough couple years,” Wayward replied with a grimace. “I’m sorry if I haven’t been around as much as I could.”
Sunbern shrugged as he chucked crumpled fast food bags onto the dirt between them. “Listen, I get it, Shortcake. You’re busy running the family empire.”
“To be honest, I thought you might be angry at me,” Wayward ventured.
At this, his older cousin stopped and turned around to peer at him. “Angry? Why?”
Wayward frowned. “Do you really not remember? The last time we came here together? It was you and me and some of those actor-slash-models
you used to run around with . . .”
“Yeah, those freeloaders!” Sunbern stopped rummaging and stood up straight, stretching his long arms as he yawned. “What’s
your point?”
“Sunbern, that leaked audio of you talking about Shannon,” Wayward said carefully. “You were talking to me in it. It’s a recording
of our conversation, just the two of us. Your other friends were inside, but you had wanted a cigarette, so I came outside
with you.” He gestured around them. “We were probably standing not too far from where we are now.”
“Oh right!” Sunbern looked around too. “I remember now.” He burped and rubbed his abs, his happy trail peeking out from under
his tank top.
“My point is,” Wayward continued, “you never suspected it was me who leaked the audio?”
Sunbern shot a surprised look at Wayward. “Why would you say something like that, Shortcake?” He looked genuinely troubled.
“Of course I wouldn’t think that about you! You’re my cousin! The closest thing I have to a little brother!”
Wayward was quiet, then reached up and patted Sunbern on the shoulder. “You are too kindhearted for this family, Sunbern.”
He meant it.
Without warning, Sunbern scooped Wayward into a bear hug, laughing. “Stop being so serious all the time, Shortcake! Live a
little bit! You worry too much!”
Wayward chuckled too as Sunbern dived back into the back seat. He envied Sunbern on many levels. When they were kids, their aunties had called them The Beauty and the Brains, which had offended both of them—Sunbern felt dumb while Wayward felt ugly.
But in that moment, Wayward would have preferred to be dumb rather than confirm an ugly suspicion that had been plaguing him
for a long time. He and Sunbern had been alone during that fateful conversation that had led to the elder cousin’s cancellation
and public immolation. Wayward had not leaked it, and certainly Sunbern had not.
As Sunbern finally raised the turntables above his head triumphantly, Wayward forced a smile. But in his head, he had a troubling
thought:
Who was spying on them, and how?
Wayward looked down at his Sunfang phone, and wondered.
“Theo G?” Lola repeated, perplexed. “Are you sure you heard that right?”
“That’s the thing,” April said. “I’m not sure at all. The landline was a bit fuzzy, and my mom and Auntie Hyacinth were talking
in fast Taiwanese, which I’m hella rusty at. But one thing is for sure: The two of them were behind Sunbern’s leaked audio,
and there was a third accomplice, whoever this Theo G might be.”
“And you thought it was me,” Lola said, sounding a bit miffed. “Sorry to disappoint, but it wasn’t.”
“No offense, baby cousin,” April said and shrugged, “but you are the family fixer. Our aunties aren’t tech smart. I figured
they might have approached you about it.”
“They did approach me,” Lola confirmed. “They wanted me to secretly record him on my phone. Offered me enough money to retire.
But I refused.”
“Holy fuck!” April gasped, stunned by this admission. “You’ve been sitting on this secret this whole time, Lo! Why haven’t you ever told Sunbern?”
“For the same reason you’re never going to tell him, April,” Lola hissed. “It would destroy him, and you know it.”
April sighed in acknowledgment before asking, “Then who is Theo G?”
With that, the automated door slid open, and Sunbern and Wayward strode in carrying the turntables, looking particularly chummy
as they laughed together.
“All right, ladies,” Sunbern called out, “DJ Sunbern’s in the house!” He bounded up the spiral steps to the second floor of
the RV, knocking his turntable against the walls in his excitement, Wayward just a few steps behind.
Lola got up to join them, a little too keen to be done with this conversation, but was held back by April, who stuck a finger
in her face. “You never answered my question, Lola. What are you up to? What’s going on with you and Wayward?”
Lola rolled her eyes, slumping in the booth. “If you can’t figure it out yourself, why should I tell you?”
April glared at her. “Hey, I told you about Theo G! How about some quid pro quo?”
Lola groaned. “April, none of it has anything to do with you, so you should just stay out of it. Please, take my advice for
once, because whenever you do get involved, it doesn’t change anything . . . You just get even more disappointed with everyone.”
April’s eyes widened. “So it involves everyone?” Her voice hushed. “It has something to do with Sunbern too then.”
Lola let out a frustrated sound, uncharacteristically at a loss for words. Normally she would never be so sloppy, but the
beers after years of sobriety had taken their toll.
“Baby cousin,” April demanded as she grabbed Lola by the arm. “Did you have something to do with Sunbern and Shannon Shoo
getting back together? Are you gunning for the Sunfang Trust too?”
“Maybe?” Lola said, her eyes closed.
Coming from Lola, that was a yes. April was aghast. Was there yet another Sun Clan baby boy in the works?
From up above, a thumping bass began to shake the entire RV as they were flooded by disco house music. Saved by the beat,
Lola leaped out of the nook from the other end of the booth and shimmied past April.
“Enough family stuff, April!” The baby cousin gestured to the compact opulence around them. “We’re in a mansion on wheels
in the middle of the desert. Let’s just enjoy ourselves. The boys already are!”
She gave her eldest cousin an innocent pout and held out her hands. April rolled her eyes but let Lola pull her up.
As the women headed up the stairs, April accidentally brushed against the entry sensor, and the front door slid open, letting
in the lusciously golden sunlight of approaching evening. Knowing the door would shut by itself, April ignored it, though
her mind was still dark and stormy. She also had the oddest stomachache, a certain queasiness she had never felt before.
After April disappeared up the spiral staircase, Bindi crept out from where he had been hiding under the dining table. Spooked
by the RV’s excellent acoustics and forgotten by the humans, he tiptoed over to the exit, where he sniffed at the desert air
for a couple seconds. Outside, the sun felt warm and inviting. But it was actually setting, and darkness would be upon the
wilderness within the hour.
The puppy hopped out of the RV just as the automatic door slid firmly shut behind him.
Sinking into the satin sheets of her bed in Hollywood, Shannon Shoo giggled to herself. Then she let out a throaty moan and
bit the tip of her ornately painted fingernail.
“Oh, Fenix,” she cooed.
Smiling back at Shannon, her mystery lover Fenix had her wrapped around his fingers. Shannon wasn’t normally a fan of getting
fingered, because most men didn’t know what they were doing.
Fenix, however, was not most men.
He had beautiful hands. His long spry fingers were always clean and impeccably manicured with neatly trimmed nails. Fenix