“Only doing my job,” the officer said to me. “I need to see the license by itself.”
“I’ll cut it out of the wallet,” I said, my voice rising. I sounded hysterical.
Channing joined me in the doorway and said to the man, “Kent Cho will be right over.”
The impact of her words was instantaneous. He turned and walked right back to his official vehicle, a blue SUV withEast End Policepainted across it. He didn’t leave, just waited in the car with his driver’s side door open.
“A little extreme, aren’t they?” I said. “What’s Kent got to do with this?”
“He helped me last time this guy showed up. I guess there have been robberies in the neighborhood; it’s on the news, whatever. Who knows.”
“Okay, but why didn’t he believe you when you told him who I am? Especially if you went through all this with him before?” I said.
“Reason doesn’t matter around here. They have their own weird rules in this town,” she said. “Anyone they don’t know is suspicious to them,” Channing said with a sigh.
“What about the tourists though? They have to go through this?”
“Yeah, I have no idea. I didn’t think you and Harabeoji coming for the weekend would matter to them.”
I’d never heard of such a procedure. I shook my head. “So it’s over, we can go to sleep now?” I asked.
“Almost,” she said, and closed the door. Instead of going upstairs, she hovered near the tall, narrow windows on either side of the entrance, looking out to the driveway. I went over to see what was keeping her.
A car pulled up to the curb and a man climbed out. He walked to the policeman, who was standing now. They shook hands.
“Let’s get this over with,” Channing said grimly, and opened the door. I felt a rush of cold air sweep across the lawn as if a windstorm had suddenly spun up. I shivered and put my arms around myself and winced. When I looked up again, Channing had retreated, and the police officer and his car were gone. Kent stood in front of me. He smelled like rain. He looked angry as he stared at his shoes. I moved aside in surprise. Had we done something wrong?
The first thing he did was storm past me to my cousin and whisper something to her. She leaned back and said, “I appreciate it, Kent.” From the stiffness of her shoulders I could tell she was trying not to be rude. He laid a hand on her back. It was taking all her willpower not to pull away from him, I could tell from the tight line of her lips.
I stood where I was despite the wind and said, “Yes, thanks, Kent. Good night!”
“You should go,” Channing said. “The door’s open.” She pointed to it.
Without missing a beat, he said, “Then tell Dahee to close it. I need a few minutes with you.”
My cousin glanced my way and nodded. I shut the door. “It’s late, we should get the kids to bed,” she said, and sidestepped away. I knew she’d already gotten the boys to bed. If they weren’t asleep, they would have been clamoring at our feet.
“She’s right. I’m exhausted,” I said. He didn’t respond and was staring hard at my cousin. I repeated myself, thinking he hadn’t heard me.
“Dahee, I only need Channing.” His eyes never left her.
“Like I said, thanks for coming over,” she said a little louder now. “You dropped everything to help, and I appreciate it.”
“That’s all I’m looking for: a little appreciation,” he said. “You know I’ll always protect you.” He continued to stare at her and wet his chapped lips, which were parted, of course. He hardly blinked.
“I’ll tell the Ahns how helpful you were,” she said.
“I need your help with something specific in my car,” he said. “Then I’ll go.”
“Tomorrow, okay?” she said. Her voice was light, and her lips were turned upward in a smile. It was so obviously a fake smile. Why was this the price she had to pay to men like Kent? Words of gratitude weren’t enough for him. She had to act out a dance of niceties in return. She had to flatter him and give him the time he demanded so he felt respected or else she’d be labeled as rude or thoughtless or cruel no matter the size of the favor he’d given. All to keep this job and make sure the rest of society thought well of her. What would he say to the Ahns about her if she didn’t please him? What would the rest of East End think of her?
I recognized the restraint in her stance. I couldn’t bear seeing my cousin go through the motions now. The performance cost so much from the one performing. She’d said no in many ways, and he didn’t accept it.
“Are you negotiating with me?” he said.
Channing’s face froze.
“I think she has a headache,” I told Kent.
