“It’s almost like this is a public place, and there’s a fair happening around us,” she replied with her usual hint of sarcasm that eased me.
Lots could change, but Yesoh Yeo would always besounapologetically herself. It was refreshing.
“Ah, yes.” I chuckled but evidently my smile did not meet my eyes because she still appeared confused.
“Are you spying on Beck right now?” she folded her arms, “because if you are, that’sweird, let a girl have fun.”
“I’m not spying. I’m—well,” I muttered, at a loss for words. “I just needed answers.”
“To what?”
“It’s nothing, truly. You should keep an eye on Soleh,” I deflected not wanting to get into it.
“Soleh’s fine; he’s being watched by the lady with six kids who gave him a candy apple because she’s exhausted and thinks he’s one of hers,” she reassured me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Right.” I kept watching him from my peripheral vision.
“Look, I know you don’t think I’m cool or whatever like Cahya and you’dmuchrather talk to him but—” she rambled but I had to intervene.
“Do you truly think that I don’t think you’re cool enough to speak to?” I asked, and she glanced down. “That’s bollocks and you know it.”
“How British of you,” she mused, “younevercuss; you should cuss more often.”
“I need to be a good influence,” I reminded her.
“Or you could just be yourself,” Yesoh stated plainly, and I was taken aback.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me, you could just be yourself and stop censoring what you do and say all the time. You’re sixteen.”
“I envy you as I envy Beck,” I let slip.
“Why?”
“The way you can be so at ease. Ienvyit. I, however, have to be responsible, and that often means forsaking my own selfish interests for the better of those I care about.”
“Hm, I see.” She attempted to comprehend. “So what’s going on with Beck though?”
Feeling the weight of her inquiry, I hesitated for a moment before shrugging and speaking in a quieter voice than I had meant to. "Beck has been acting strange. I’m guessing from what I’m seeing right now that it’s been because of a boy.” I had no idea why I was saying that, but it came out of me like Yesoh conjured it out.
Yesoh gave a slow nod, her expression contemplative. She seemed to be seeing something that only she could comprehend as she gazed out toward the ocean. “She didn’t tell you about that guy?”
“No,” I told her. “And obviously I don’t expect her to speak to her little brother about boys. I don’t—Idon’tknow anything about relationships and matters of the heart and all that. But I hoped that if there was someone special in her life she’d want me to at least meet him.”
“Who does Beck speak to about these things then?”
“She used to speak to our mother, but she’s not around right now,” I told her. “She hasn’t been in a while. And since then she’s been closed off.”
“I see.” Yesoh paused as if to think. With a voice that was nearly whispery, she added, “My mom is not around either.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, she’s working at a firm back in Indonesia. She can’t abandon her job, it’s everything to her,” Yesoh explained, “so it’s just me and the boys.”
“And it’s just me and the girls.” I sighed in parallel.
“At least we’re not alone.” She smiled just as Soleh ran up to us with two more candy apples in his hands. “Oh!”
