“Zhu Zhu!” He Bao cried and attempted to give chase.
“Leave her, He Bao. There is no point in trying to reason with her when she is being so emotional,” Aiden's stepmother hissed. A few strands stuck out from her well-crafted bun. She realigned her dress sleeves.
I could not have worse luck.
“I was waiting for you,” his stepmother snapped. She marched out of the living room to where he stood at the doorway and shoved the photograph of his brother in his face. “Why do you have this?”
Aiden’s heart heaved back into his mouth, racing for an acceptable excuse, but his stepmother continued before he could even attempt one. “You knew that this was dangerous to have for the family. He Bao told me that you volunteered to tear this up. Is there areasonfor you keeping it?”
The hair on the back of Aiden’s neck stood up.I can’t believe this.He gaped, incredulous.Why is she testing me?
“Well? I’m waiting. Or have you gone deaf magically after going to school?”
His body almost burst into flames. “The reason is that my brother’sdead,” he growled, “and I don’t have a single picture of him. It’s my only memento of him. What’syourproblem?”
Pain flashed against his cheek.
Aiden gasped, head swinging to a different angle. His hand touched his stinging skin. Slowly, he turned toward her, but she kept her arm up in preparation for another swing. Behind her, He Bao stared with his mouth open.
“Youare the problem. You are utterly worthless when compared to your brother.” Her voice froze the entire house over. “Unless you want to argue with me about that fact?”
He didn’t dare.
“After everything I’ve done for you, you decide to talk back to me? Because of me, our secret about the missing will is safe. Because of me, the other families won’t look down at us or your dead brother for doing something as stupid as forgetting where he hid it. Because of me, I have protected you from gettingkilled. You could be killing people right now. Stealing things, navigating legal loopholes, all the things you are wholly unprepared for, and you want to speak to me like that? I didn’t owe you anything. I did this of my own accord.”
You didn’t tell me everything either.The words stayed lodged in his throat.
His stepmother stepped back and inspected the photograph carefully. With a purposeful glance at his direction, she split the photo into two. She continued ripping. The sound shredded Aiden’s own heart into pieces. Tears bubbled up to his eyes as she, with cold indifference, dropped the pieces of the torn photograph, watching it float to the ground with a satisfied grin.
He Bao grabbed his mother’s arm. “Ma, you’re tired,” he said softly, “and Zhu Zhu made you angry. You should rest.”
For Aiden, the world had stopped turning. He stared blankly at the floor.
“You’re right.” She turned away. “Aiden, get the house cleaned up tonight. The families are hosting a meeting, and I need to ensure our house gives a good impression. All the cleaning materials are in the utility room.” She shook He Bao’s hand off and marched away. He Bao stayed frozen in place.
Aiden knelt down. Panting, he crawled over to where the pieces of the photo fell and picked them up. He held each piece to the air, taking note of the lines and the color before lowering it into his palm. A corner of his brother’s left eye. The top of his brother’s head. As he formed the photo whole in his mind, he remembered Hui Ye’s last words.
Whatever you want, I can give to you.
Lies. All lies.
He bit down on his quivering lip and tasted blood. Blinking furiously, he battled to keep the tears from falling. He barely heard He Bao say, “Zhu Zhu didn’t eat tonight, so you should eat it. It’d be a waste otherwise.”
His stomach claimed no hunger. Instead, he got up and headed to the utility room. He swept up the fragments Zhu Zhu left behind. He tossed the trash together. Guilt chained up his body and sunk him lower while he watched the remains of his brother’s existence drop into the plastic can.
He got down on his knees, scrubbing the floor. The bleach burned his eyes, but his body pumped of energy. He dusted the furniture and rearranged the pillows to their more performative places. He methodically recited the rooms he still needed to clean, moving from the living room to the kitchen to the dining room to the study room.
His mind shouted no complaints, and he proceeded on autopilot. The mind-numbing chores forced his hands to keep moving, his mind to keep listing out to-dos, and his legs to scurry around the enormous house.
Anything to distract him from feeling.
Three books were stacked neatly on the ground of the study room. Aiden returned two to their original places. He reached upward to return the third, but pieces of paper fell out from the pages.
“Of course,” he mumbled, getting down on his knees and sweeping the paper together.
His brother’s face reflected back.
He stuffed photographs back into the pages of the book, but his mind screeched awake. Blinking, he pulled out one of the photos, staring at the familiar nose, eyes, and hair.
