Elixir of Immortality

Chapter 7

I ran back home, without another thought of Abahai Soontornvat. My cheeks were pink and I slammed the door behind me. I peeled off the heel-sandals I was so excited about and threw them on the floor. I was seething, livid with anger.

"Xiran?" Māmā seemed surprised as I walked into the kitchen. "You're back so early, I thought you were going to visit Ushi and Abahai. Xiran—hey, Xiran, look at me when you're speaking—"

"Māmā, everything should be perfect, but it just isn't!" I blurted in English, feeling hot tears at the corners of my eyes. I thought Māmā would scold me—crying on a joyous day was bad luck in Chinese culture.

"I got into a fight with Abahai and I hate the fact that he's always working, drifting away from me and Ushi! Oh, Māmā, Ushi is moving away to America!"

"Xiran," she tutted, motioning for me to sit at the dinner table. "I can't understand what you said in English."

Anger flared in me. I was having such a hard time, and Māmā didn't say one bit about it or comfort me. I stayed silent until the rage faded away. I clenched my fists, sighing. "Sorry."

"Now, what do you want to speak about?" she asked in Cantonese.

I carefully explained what I said earlier, except in Chinese. Māmā rested a hand on mine, soaking what she could. "Oh, Xiran, why didn't you tell me earlier? I didn't know Ushi was moving away to America," she fretted.

"And then she'll make all these American friends," I grumbled, crossing my arms. "When she's gone, I'll have no one left. Abahai is always so busy in the Soontornvats' gift shop. I miss Ushi and Abahai, our friendship will never be the same, I'll be so...alone."

"I am sorry," she said. "But the man who Nǜshì Lian paired you up with will keep you company."

But I don't even know him, I wanted to scream. English or Cantonese, Māmā didn't understand. She didn't know that when I tore my skirt, I was scared that the boys at my school would laugh at me, so Ushi stayed with me in the girls' washroom while Abahai snuck out of school to buy me another pair with his own money. That's what I was scared of—no one I love in my corner anymore.

"Okay, if you say so, Māmā." I was about to leave when I remembered something. Don't ask, don't ask— "Hēi'àn De Mìmì is a real village, correct? I just never see maps of our town in Asia an-and all the tourists talk about it—"

"Where did you hear this?" Māmā snapped.

From Abahai. "From the girls at school."

"Idiot tourists," she murmured, wringing her hands. "Don't listen to them."

"The girls at school?"

Māmā's expression changed. "Yes, the girls at school, that is what I meant."

"Okay." I ignored the obvious factor as I headed to my bedroom, closing my door. I slid down the door, sighing. She's not telling me the truth.