“Ma doesn’t care enough about me to search my room,” she replied. “Besides, she deserves a punishment for what she did to Prince Cannonball.”
“What did she do?”
“Well, it started with Gu Ma. She hates cats, especially strays—she says they’re bad luck, so Ma made dumplings with poisoninside and tossed them in the garden. Prince Cannonball ate one and was sick for days. That’s how I found him.”
I couldn’t believe it. “She poisoned him!”
“With those herbs she keeps in the cabinet.” Lily stroked the cat fondly. “He’s fine now, but he wouldn’t touch any food until I peeled open a can of luncheon meat. Watch.”
She took the chunk of luncheon meat I’d set aside and placed it on the ground. Prince Cannonball pounced, devouring his meal greedily.
For the first time, I heard Lily laugh. It was more of a cackle, unbridled and exuberant. I loved it.
“What?” she said, noticing my stare. “You can say it, all the other girls do. I sound like a squawking goose.”
“What’s wrong with that?” I said. “I’m a bumpkin. I happen to know that geese are very intelligent creatures.”
That made Lily cackle again. “Maybe bumpkins aren’t so bad.” She put her elbows on the table, letting go of all formalities. “Do you really not know how to read?”
“I stopped going to school when the Japanese came.”
She scooped a spoonful of macaroni onto the table and shaped the noodles into characters. “What’s this word?”
“Big.”
“This one?”
“Sky.”
“So you know some.” Lily sounded encouraged. “I’m going to teach you more.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Mama doesn’t let me out of the house—I’m bored and have nothing to do. I’ll teach you, hm, twenty characters each weekend? Don’t worry if it’s hard at first. Written Cantonese isn’t like we talk. It’s formal and stuffy. If there’s time, we’ll read some English, too. Why the look, Gah Jeh, you don’t want to?”
I bubbled inside, noting Lily had dropped formalities and finally called me “gah jeh” like real sisters. “I do,” I said. “It’s just... I’ve tried before. I’m not very bright.”
“Who told you that?”
“Our grandmother.”
Lily snorted. “If you don’t fail, then you won’t learn. And if you don’t learn, then you’ll never amount to anything.”
I paused. “Is that Confucius?”
“That’s Ha Lele,” Lily said pertly. “As for your lessons, we’ll start today. After I finish eating. Deal?”
Even in those days, I was sensitive about my lack of learning. So when Lily offered to teach me without asking anything in return... she unlocked the vault to my heart.
“Deal.” I made claws and went for her ribs, tickling her mercilessly. Together we squawked, laughing until our bellies hurt. It was the beginning of our beautiful love.
Chapter Thirteen
I was getting better at disappearing. Gu Ma’s house was like a jail—when I wasn’t cooking or working in the factory, I was expected to be in my room, and in bed by eight-thirty. As soon as I could hold my breath for more than two minutes, I started sneaking out.
No one ever suspected. I walked in on Sai Ma’s parties, I stood next to Gu Ma while she gambled, I even watched Baba smoke in his den. My favorite thing to do was steal inside the parlor to look at the records.
I was young and I was bored. Turning invisible was a harmless game I played with myself—until I found the gun.
