Chapter 37

The rest of the week went by quickly. My mornings were spent working and afternoons relaxing so my body could heal. Then I would cook to have food ready when the girls got home. We fell into a routine of Ji checking my shoulder outside every day. I kept thinking of it as bandaged but the truth was the bandages were long gone, it was just a series of really nasty looking bunched skin and stitches. Still, I thought of it as bandaged. Being stitched sounded wrong and made me feel more broken. Lavi and Melissa quickly gave up correcting me when I used the wrong word. While Ji checked me out Melissa cleaned the pool and Lavi did some housework. They would finish up about the time Zahra and Grace arrived.

Grace was voted in as team captain and Melissa was elected choreographer. Lavi, Ji and Zahra filled out the starting roster. A few more girls were interested but Grace delayed tryouts saying she needed to figure out a system for it and Blackman agreed. It was made clear I was not only welcome to stay but encouraged to do so. Grace referred to me as an auxiliary member, rank of cook obviously. So, I sat in a deck chair and put in sound canceling earbuds to read or watched a movie while they practiced. Watching them practice was a pleasant distraction but I stayed out of it. We would chat when they took a break. Grace took every chance to apologize for her mother. I told her that I’d talk to June when I was ready. Zahra opened up around me quickly, probably an effect of knowing the other four well and the group being small. I quickly found that Zahra was the devil’s advocate of the group. She would challenge others, often starting a sentence with “but what if” or “let’s think about this.” She would alternate between sounding like a California Valley girl and a teacher.

Meanwhile I was developing a list of things that were on my mind and Friday afternoon started to work through them. First, I was getting more letters from the HOA about my lawn which was absurd so I talked to the lawn service owner and we worked out a plan. Secondly, Lavi had come home with an A+ on her history exam so a piercing was added to the agenda for Saturday. Next, Clarence Marshall emailed me to say that the school’s attorney was dragging his feet on the slander issue. I had a chat with Clarence and filled him on everything that happened. I could hear the glee in the man’s voice over the phone. Clarence promised to push on it next week and I reminded him that if they didn’t give the public apology I did want to take it to court. I was living with two teenage girls that acted more mature than Richardson and I would be pleased to give her back some of the grief she had given me.

Finally, Ji’s family was also on my mind. Ji’s mother didn’t appear to be an issue. Xinyi, though, was a troublemaker. The younger sister had pressed to come over and see what Ji was doing here after school. The new dance team was now common knowledge but since they couldn’t meet as a school function here they were just friends getting together, almost daily, and if they happened to go over a few dance moves ... well, that might happen but only informally. Mrs. Guo put her foot down saying that Xinyi had her friends and Jiang had hers and they could stay out of each other’s business. But there was also a father that came home on the weekends and it was Friday.

I had posted a picture of adding some apple mint from my garden to a cup of green tea when I saw Mrs. Guo’s account mark it as liked. She wrote a comment, “Looks wonderful!” It had a green heart emoji after it. On a whim I replied. “Come on over, glad to share.” It wasn’t serious. Then her reply appeared. “Be there in thirty minutes. Make big pot!”

I blinked. Did she know where I lived? Of course she did, she had picked up Ji here once. Fuck me. I looked around for something to clean up but Lavi kept the place impeccable. Have you ever felt the two sides of your brain argue with each other? One half was yelling and the other was calmly reminding the other half that we might as well be polite since I was boinking her daughter. I thought about texting Syliva to tell her I’d used the word ‘boinking’ but then decided I didn’t have the time to explain the context, assuming she even remembered when she had used it. Besides, maybe I could find out if I needed to be concerned about Meilin Guo’s husband.

But first, I headed into the kitchen. I needed wax paper and to double check a recipe quickly. Maybe I’d have time if she ran a little late.

She did run late and forty-five minutes later an attractive middle aged Mrs. Guo was sitting down across from me at one of the patio tables. She was pale and while she didn’t have Ji’s youth she had a radiant smile and glint in her eyes. Her black hair was pulled back into a simple bun that was kept in place by two metal pins with butterflies on them. She had bright red lips and red earrings. I think because of Ji’s descriptions I had expected some kind of exotic styling but the dress was very western. It was green and started right at her knees, hugging her closely until it ended below her breasts with ties over the shoulder. A white long sleeve shirt covered her where the dress stopped. I was also relieved to see she was at ease.

Because of my arm I had to bring things out one at a time. She poured us tea from the pot as I put down honey and then fetched the fresh eggy cakes, wrapped in paper, just like I’ve had in Chinese bakeries. As I was walking back she asked, “Do you want honey in your tea Mr. Carlo?” Her voice had an awkward cadence as if it still took a split second to think about how to say something. Still, it was her fourth or fifth best language according to her daughter and better than my second best language so I wasn’t going to be critical.

“Yes please, and it’s Robert.”

“Meilin, then. This is from your bees?”

“Yes, Ji told you?”

“No, but I watch your Instagram.”

“Oh, of course.” I felt stupid.

“Jiang talks to me very little. But what she does tell me I know is true.”

“And what has she told you about me?”

She smiled and added honey to her tea. “She says you and your wives are her friends. Friends with benefits I think is the saying.”

I might have swallowed involuntarily. “Well, sometimes friends with benefits are more about the benefits. I think we are really friends.”

“That is important to you,” she asked. I nodded yes. Meilin closed her eyes and breathed in from her tea cup deeply. “It smells wonderful and the cakes look delicious.” Rather than daintily taking one she simply picked it up and tore it open. She pulled a hot steaming section out to eat and ate it with relish. “Thank you for inviting me,” she said.

“Thank you for coming,” I replied. I sipped my own tea.

She looked around at my home. “Tea, bees, plants, this reminds me of my childhood on grandfather’s farm. Good memories. But, about today. I wanted to meet you Robert. Jiang has been very happy but I have questions.”

I looked at her searching for those eyes while she looked around and I sipped my own tea. “Questions?”

“How many friends like Jiang do you have?” She was looking directly at me now.

“None.”

“No others?”

I shook my head. “We aren’t swingers. We don’t trade, it’s not like that. If we like someone we might be willing to ... uh make more friends but we don’t go looking for it.”

“Other men?”

“No. I’m not interested in men and the girls said they aren’t either. It doesn’t feel like it would work with our... “ I almost said dynamic but that felt wrong so I concluded with “family.” She nodded as if she approved of it.

“But they like men?”

“Melissa yeah, Lavi not much.”

“But you all look at women? New friends are tempting a lot?” She looked at me and I had the sense this question was a test.

“Yes, very tempting, but sometimes stupid.” I think I was turning red.

“You are bashful. Surprising in a man like you.” She studied me over her tea.

She was so relaxed I couldn’t help but feel I should put my cards on the table. “I wanted to talk to you about something too. Her father.”

“Ah, he thinks she is a virgin. Good father, good husband, only sees in us what he thinks are good things.”

“Should I worry?”

“About?”

“Shotguns. I’m allergic to them.”

“Shotgu... ? Ah, the shotgun marriage.” She chuckled, “No, worry about what I think.”

“And what do you think?”

“Jiang has tried to be a good girl. I thought being American would teach her to take care of herself.”

“Take care of herself? I’m not sure I understand.”

“As a person and as a woman. She followed that T’wana girl. My grandmother would say you can’t see the sun if you stand behind others.”

“Lavi told me Ji is really speaking for herself now, not just trying to fit in.”

“Yes, that. And more as a woman.”

“You mean...” I still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of talking about Ji’s sexuality with her mother, especially without Ji’s permission, so I was trying to skirt the issue.

“When I met her father I asked ‘Do you know how to lick vagina?’ and he said ‘no, a man does not do that’ so I told him he could learn now or no second date.”

I smiled. “Obviously there was a second date.”

She smiled. “He was a good student.”

“You still haven’t told me what you think.”

“I think Jiang must learn to be a woman and that is complicated. You wouldn’t understand anymore than I would understand what it means to change from boy to man. She has stood up to me recently. She is becoming strong. She did not begin this with you and your wives but has found you along her road.”

“So, your husband...”

“He came home last night.” I must have looked surprised because she laughed. “His schedule does vary. I talked to him and he agreed to leave this with me.”

“How did you manage that?”

“I gave him oral sex while talking to him. He is incapable of disagreeing with me when I do that.” I couldn’t help it, she said it with such a straight face I laughed. She grinned to show she understood what she had said just fine.

“I have to ask about Xinyi. Is she going to cause problems for Ji?”

Meilin sighed. “Xinyi is her father’s daughter, she expects the world to follow her rules.” Her seriousness evaporated. “Maybe she needs a man to fuck her happy like you did her sister.”

I grinned. “That was a team effort.” I shouldn’t have said that and think I blushed again.

She laughed and it was a rich sound. “That is the real reason Xinyi is so mad, she is jealous!” She calmed down but kept the smile. “Maybe it will be good for her.”

I raised my tea cup. “Ganbei!”

“Ganbai!” She enthusiastically joined me. “You know some Chinese?”

“I only remembered that because I heard it in a movie once and I thought it was really close to the Japanese ‘kanpai’ which I learned from a book once.”

She smiled. “I will teach you another word now. ‘Mimi.’”

I practiced it a few times until she found my pronunciation satisfactory. I still didn’t understand tones.

“What does it mean,” I asked.

“A secret. I’m going to tell you one.”

“Uh, I can’t promise to keep a secret if it involves Ji, not as a friend.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “No, not that kind of secret. This secret is about me.”

That surprised me. “I think I can keep that.”

She smiled. “My grandfather had two wives, many children. My best memories were on their farm. You remind me of him.”

“I thought polygamy wasn’t legal in China.” I had looked up a lot about it over the last few months.

She shrugged. “China is a big space. After the revolution the central party didn’t mean much to people out in the country far away from cities. It took a long time for things to reach out that far, especially with wars happening. When they did get around to finding out Zufu, Zumu and Ai, the wife who was not my grandmother, were all old. It was much easier to let it go though it was clear younger folks could not do it. When anyone official was around Zumu was Ai’s sister and just living with them.”

“Wow.” A lot made sense about her reaction to me now.

Meilin looked at me. “One last question. What will you do if Ji does fall in love with you or one of your wives?”

“She doesn’t love us like that, she’s more of a really good friend, Mielin.”

“Feelings can shift. I fell in love with my husband while just using him for pleasure.”

I blinked. “Uh, she’d have a place with us. We’d have to figure that out.”

“She could move in?”

“Yes.”

“And if she leaves town for college?”

“I’d miss her and welcome her back anytime she could visit.”

“Good.” She set her tea down. “You love her for who she chooses to be, then you are the right kind of man. I don’t know what she will feel but if there is one truth about my girls is that both are storms, one just didn’t know it until June.”

“June?” That was well before things began here with practice.

Meilin nodded. “We went home to Guangdong to visit. Jiang used to be very close to her cousins. Something happened between them. I saw her thinking even then and after we came back she started changing. Have you ever watched a baby learn to walk?”

I shook my head, I hadn’t.

“Their legs become strong and powerful but they don’t know how to use it and fall a lot. I saw that with Jiang’s feelings. She began pushing back against her sister, me, even her father. It was only little things, I don’t think Xinyi or Li Jung even noticed. And like a baby she fell some too.”

“You’re worried about her?”

“Shi. Yes. But excited too. She will not learn who she is without crashing some but there are men that would take advantage of her.”

“And you worry I will.”

“You are the right kind of naughty man I think.”

“Maybe I’m not so nice.”

She shrugged. “Good men are often not nice. I think you are a good man. That is enough. I was dropped, no dumped, several times before I met my husband. All hurt when they happened but the ones that hurt long after were the ones who lied or cared nothing.”

I didn’t have anything to say to that so we finished our tea, poured new cups and talked of baking. She asked in depth about Ji’s cooking. She admitted she hadn’t developed a taste for western food and wasn’t a very good cook but liked more foods than Ji gave her credit for. She stayed away from pizza and Italian in general because she hated tomatoes. I promised to send Ji home with some other kinds of pizza that didn’t use tomato sauces sometime. It was all very nice and she left.

At no point had I been concerned about her cutting my balls off. I could really get used to that. Later I was reading to the bees when Ji, Lavi and Melissa came towards me nearly at a sprint. Melissa, “We have to ask”

Melissa didn’t get to finish because Ji saw the paper wrapped cake in my lap. “He did!”

I looked at them. “I take it you checked Instagram. It was a spur of the moment thing.”

Ji, “Topic of discussion was... ?”

“Just getting to know each other.”

“Hmmm.”

“I swear, no intimacies were shared. I did not tell her you make the sound of a balloon deflating when you cum.”

Ji turned red. “I do not!”

Lavi, “well, you kinda do.”

Melissa, “it’s cute.”

Ji surrendered. “God, all right, let’s check your shoulder.” She motioned back towards the patio and I dutifully got up and headed there.

Melissa finished cleaning the pool and did a few other errands. I stopped her from watering the herbs since I already had.

“How’s the reading going?” She asked.

“They’re enjoying Joseph Conrad now.”

Melissa started playing a new game she was obsessed with called Kurokami on her tablet while Ji was watching her play after declaring the stitches fine. We were letting the arm get some air and sun so I was watching Lavi when she came out. She had worn a skirt today and plopped in my lap facing me.

“I missed you,” I said.

“I know.” She grinned at me. She kissed me.

“I loved you first: but afterwards your love / Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song / As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.”

“That’s pretty.”

“It’s Rosetti.”

“At this point do you look stuff up just to recite to us?”

“No, but I find myself reading poetry thinking of both of you so I think certain things stick more.”

“Awww...” She kissed me again. I liked her decision making skills.

“How did classes go?” I asked.

“Ji made cajun canine in the hallway.”

“Huh?” I wasn’t following.

“She burned a bitch.”

“It wasn’t a thing,” Ji said.

Melissa was playing and ignoring us so Lavi continued, “One of T’wana’s clique thought she was being clever. So, she ambushed Ji and sprayed water from a bottle into Ji’s face. Pretended it was an accident.”

“Seems juvenile but I have a feeling there was more,” I said.

Lavi had must have taken her bra off inside because as she hugged me I could feel a lot of loose chest rubbing against me. I ran my hand down and grabbed one cheek. Hmmm ... I ran my hand around, nope no panties. She had taken a few things off. She grinned at me as my hand explored.

Ji, “Yeah, it was Suzy Allbright, she thought she was being smart. She said, ‘Oh so sorry, still you should be used to taking it to the face.’”