A cinderella crime story, p.12
A Cinderella Crime Story, page 12
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’s dead,” he growled, “and I don’t have a single picture of him. It’s my only memento of him. What’s your problem?”
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.
“You are 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 getting killed. 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.
I’m so tired that I’ve started to hallucinate. Aiden closed his eyes. His stepmother used the study room the most. The books belonged to her. Then the photographs belong to her as well. He opened his eyes.
His brother was eating ice cream with a flirtatious smile. He leaned forward toward a woman in a wide brimmed hat and a breezy dress. Aiden grabbed the next photograph from the book, and again, it was his brother—now dressed up in a tight suit, meeting other business people in front of a restaurant. He shook a man’s hand, eyes already glinting of dollar signs. Another photograph of his brother serenading a different woman. The woman sat stiffly in a chair, her gloved hands clenched in her lap, a beauty mark below her lip, and her curled hair elegantly falling over one shoulder.
Yet she looked familiar.
No, that’s the same woman. Aiden compared the photograph with the first. The hair color, eye color, eyebrows, lips, and body language all differed, but he caught the smile on their faces.
An identical smile that reminded Aiden of a fox.
However, the question plaguing his mind distracted him from the strange woman who looked like different people. Why did his stepmother even have private photographs shot of his brother in the first place?
A horrifying theory sunk in, and he dropped the photos in a panic. Don’t be ridiculous, he scolded himself, stuffing them back into the book and shoving it onto the bookshelf. His stepmother’s paranoia only existed because of his brother’s death. Without his brother, the businesses remained in flux. With the businesses in flux, her income and livelihood for herself and her children hung over the ledge. She’d throw me away, but there’s no way she’d throw away her children’s futures like that.
He escaped from the room and reminded himself of the hallways to clean. As he vacuumed, mopped, and dried the floor, a fire sparked inside him. She’s such a hypocrite. He slammed the Swiffer against the wall and slammed it again for extra measure. She demeans me for keeping that picture when she’s hiding her own.
Javier and Christina’s words echoed in his head.
Aiden drained dirty water in the bathroom and dropped the bucket loudly on the ground. He heard his stepmother stir in her closed bedroom at the disturbance, and a sickening sense of satisfaction spread through his body.
Christina and Javier were right about his family.
Brendan was right about him.
As he scrubbed the night away, Aiden made a promise in the dark. If he wanted to do something, he wouldn’t let her stop him anymore. After Infinite’s potluck, he would demand his stepmother to tell him everything, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
• • •
Filed in the dimly lit office of Mr. Zhou’s home, Aiden kept his arms straight by his side and looked ahead. The other workers of the Zhou family lined up beside him. Their faces remained neutral, but Aiden noticed every twitch in their hands, eyes, and legs. Mr. Zhou berated the man in front of them.
“Do you understand how important this acquisition was for us?”
“Yes, Mr. Zhou.”
“Do you understand the extent of protection this would’ve brought for not just me, but also you? To all of us?”
“Yes, Mr. Zhou.”
Mr. Zhou’s voice boomed like cannons when he lost his temper, and he lost it often. Aiden could hear it echo even a few hallways down, and a few times, the sound of bullets had ensued. The man who failed his mission and bowed his head low was a longstanding employee of the Zhou family.
“In my defense, I suspect there was sabotage.”
“Sabotage?” Mr. Zhou snapped his head around.
“It appears the other family had already formed their own opinions of me, and by extension you, when I arrived.”
“Sabotage. All excuses!” Mr. Zhou smacked the man’s face with a folder of papers.
The walls around Aiden grew taller, and the men beside him faded in color. Confused, he looked around, watching them transform into transparent ghosts. He broke his standing position to grab the man beside him, but his hand went through a puff of smoke.
Mr. Zhou’s voice continued to echo angrily even though the man himself disappeared. Instead of the employee, Aiden saw that the poor man in trouble turned into a stone statue with vines squeezing around his neck. Mr. Zhou’s voice boomed over the intercom. “You cannot survive without Infinite, have you all forgotten that? None of us can survive without Infinite. I do not allow failures because that is the least I ask for, and yet you still fail me!”
Aiden clasped his hands around his ears, but the words rattled through his skin and shook his organs. He squeezed his eyes shut. An ice-cold hand pressed against his head.
“I’ll take care of it, Aiden.” He looked up to see his stepmother sneering.
A frosty breeze blew through the room. He fell to his knees. The gleam of ice crawled over his skin, cutting him.
“What do you want from me?” He managed to choke out against his shivers. “You act like you want the best for all of us, but you’ve been nothing but cruel.”
Yin Mei narrowed her eyes, and the ice reached for his face but stopped at his shoulders. A comforting warmth wrapped around his back. Eyes widening, Aiden recognized the familiar sensation. He grabbed his shoulders with both hands and ripped himself toward the warmth protecting his back.
His eyes snapped open to the sensation of his arm shaking, his fingers the only part he could control amongst the numbness. A shaky breath left Aiden’s lips, and he moved his head off his arm. It took several squeezes of his hand to slowly return the blood flow through the rest of his arm. A jacket fell from his shoulders.
Someone tapped away on a keyboard, and he looked beside him to see Brendan concentrating on the laptop. It was just the two of them in a familiar study room.
Slowly, he grabbed Brendan’s jacket from the ground and grasped it to his chest.
The other boy looked up. “Did you sleep well?”
Aiden nodded. “You should’ve woken me up.”
“I don’t mind. I had homework to do anyway.”
“When did Christina and Javier leave?”
“About half an hour ago.”
He played with the long sleeves that still smelled of Brendan. “I should apologize for how I reacted, right?”
“Nope.” Brendan closed his laptop, packing it up. “Just tell them that you’re not mad at them anymore. That’s enough.”
“Would they still even want to be friends with me if I don’t apologize?” Aiden’s arms shook. Mr. Zhou’s man bowed low to the ground, praying for forgiveness. Sorry, the man repeated. Sorry.
“They’re the ones who brought up a sensitive subject, and you didn’t even say anything mean to them. You’re perfectly fine.” Brendan grabbed his backpack and walked over to Aiden. He offered his hand.
Confused, still clutching the jacket to his chest, Aiden grabbed Brendan’s fingers with his own. Brendan stared, wide-eyed. Coughing, the other boy looked away. “Err, my jacket?”
“Oh.” His heart fluttered. Instant heat filled his face. Aiden shoved it back to Brendan. “You don’t have to wait for me,” he said, keeping his face low.
“I want to.”
Why do I always feel so good when I’m with him? Aiden wondered. The two walked side by side out of the library. They meandered through the campus like the first club meeting, observing random things on campus. A flower. The old tree. A squirrel that wasn’t albino. Eventually, they got to the main road. Aiden called an Uber from the sidewalk, basking in the warmth that radiated from his heart and formed a shield around his body.
“So, um,” Brendan stammered.
Aiden turned toward him. Brendan glanced downward and shifted from leg to leg. Despite the evening darkness, Aiden watched a warm red slowly spread across Brendan’s cool face.
“Yes…?”
“Right. This might be bad timing, but I just wanted to ask—”
Aiden’s phone burst into light, vibrating and ringing. Both jumped, the phone almost slipping past his fingers. One glance at Yin Mei’s name, and the color drained from his face.
“I’m sorry, I have to take this,” he mumbled, moving a distance away. He did not miss Brendan’s face falling.
I’m sorry. His heart squeezed tightly against his chest. I have to do this, Brendan. I’m so sorry.
The various photos of his brother flashed before his eyes.
The phone leapt against his hand, and the ringing grew louder. He stared at his stepmother’s ID staring back at him.
His hand clenched tight.
He slid the phone to hang up, silenced it, and slipped it into the deepest pocket of his backpack. “Brendan!” Dashing, Aiden smiled at seeing Brendan who still patiently waited. He stopped himself short from colliding into the other boy.
Brendan held his arms out, but Aiden steadied himself and stared up into the beautiful blue eyes that focused on him and only him. He gazed up at that honest face that hid no ulterior motives. He thought back to Brendan handing the picture of his brother to him—a flimsy piece of paper cut out from a mock spread that had already begun to fade in color. He preserved it to be returned without a single bent corner. Only with Brendan did his opinions matter. Because of Brendan, he met Christina and Javier, who spoke out of concern for his state. Always with Brendan.
“Don’t you need to take that call?” Brendan was still thinking of him.
Aiden continued to gaze into those blue eyes. “What were you going to ask me?”
Brendan blinked. “What?”
“You were going to ask me something.” He stepped closer. “Ask me.”
A car drove past with searing headlights, illuminating Brendan’s blue eyes sparkling brighter than stars. A rosy red painted over his cheeks when he beamed. “There’s a redo prom happening on campus tomorrow. Did you go to prom in high school?”
Aiden shook his head.
“Well, it’s like a ball. Everyone dresses fancy, and they dance. There’ll definitely be alcohol, though we’re not legal. Anyway.” Brendan reached out with his hand. “I wanted to know if you’d come with me. As a date.”
Warmth spread through his own cheeks. Aiden reached over, grabbing two of Brendan’s fingers. “I might look weird, though. I don’t want to wear a suit.”
“It doesn’t matter what you wear. I’m sure you’ll look good.”
The confidence in which Brendan saw him. The assurance of his entire existence. It strengthened the shield his heart built around his soul. Aiden smiled. “I’d love to come.”
A noise of relief escaped Brendan’s lips. The taller boy leapt into the air, yelling. Aiden jumped, but laughter consumed his entire body as the other boy overwhelmed with pure giddiness danced on the sidewalk.
He reached out for Brendan, but the Uber car drove up beside them with flashing lights. Strangely, his stomach didn’t turn. Tomorrow night is the meeting. They won’t need me there. She can have her meeting, and I’ll go to Brendan for the redo prom. He stared at the future confronting him. Then I’ll demand answers from her. Courage coursed through his veins.
“Brendan,” he called, and the boy stopped dancing to turn around with that wide grin on his face. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!” Brendan practically skipped away after waving good-bye.
Laughing, Aiden entered the car. Since he started working for the families, he had come to loathe the arrival of every new day, but as he watched the campus pass in the window, his smile remained glued to his face.
He needed tomorrow to come faster.
Chapter Ten
The lightbulb buzzed on. Groaning, Aiden pried one eye open. His stepmother’s watery figure hovered beside him. “You need to prepare all the food we are to have in the meeting tonight,” Yin Mei said and left just as quickly.
Still blinking the morning film away, Aiden stared at the yellow light dangling above. Numbness tingled throughout his body, and even with the glaring light above his eyes, he threatened to fall asleep. His fingers twitched against the bed.
That means it’s already the next day.
Eyes snapping open, Aiden heaved himself out of bed, stomping up the stairs to shake the sleep permanently away.
An entire dining room table of ingredients spread out and a list of dumplings and dishes to be made confronted him upstairs. “Good morning to me,” he murmured, rolling up his sleeves.
Flour covered his body. He kneaded, mixed, and carefully wrapped the dough around the meat filling of pork, ginger, and celery. Chicken, beef, fish, and pork mixed with bamboos, carrots, napa, and bok choy. The pans sizzled of oil, and Aiden tasted the various concoctions of vinegar, soy sauce, and spices he mixed together before dumping them in with the ingredients. He Bao dropped by to taste and decided to throw out all but one.
“Can’t you cook better than this? We have to look good tonight.” He tossed another dish into the trashcan.
“Then get a professional cook,” Aiden retorted under his breath.
Zhu Zhu popped in to ask for sweets and disappeared.
“You heard her. Zhu Zhu wants sweets.” He Bao pointed to the oven.
Aiden was too tired to roll his eyes and set himself to baking.
A pile of dishes filled the sink by the time he saran wrapped the approved food.
At least I can use the dishwasher this time since it won’t be wasting water for only a few bowls, Aiden thought to himself. He started when the windows showed nothing but darkness, and he finished when the sun began its descent over the horizon. Rinsing, then shoving the dirty pots and pans into the dishwasher, he watched the lifesaving machine start and walked to the living room where the family gathered.
Zhu Zhu radiated in a pink ballgown dress with Chinese symbols flecked across the skirt in gold. Lace sleeves crawled over her arms to reach her sweetheart neckline. Jade earrings hung from her ears. They swayed gently when she looked up at his arrival before returning to her iPad. He Bao pranced in the living room with his hair slicked back and an expensive suit wrapped around him. He bounced on the wooden floor, grinning whenever his black, leather shoes squeaked. Aiden's stepmother rushed out from the bathroom, pushed up her chest in her sleeveless red dress, and wrapped a fur shawl around her shoulders.
