Red Phoenix

entered. Ms Kwan gestured dismissively. ‘No need, Leo, we are family.’ He sat again.
    I went to the fridge and pulled out one of the moon cake tins. It was made of light metal with a delightfuldecoration of an ancient painting of the moon on the lid. I opened it to make sure that Michael hadn’t attacked it yet. The four moon cakes were untouched; still in their plastic wrap. They were round and about ten centimetres across. The design of the moon was clearly visible on the flaky white crust of each cake.
    I checked the side of the tin: these ones had lotus seed paste inside and definitely no egg yolks. John said that he liked the yolks, even though he couldn’t eat them: they made a symbolic moon when the cakes were cut. I didn’t—the yolks were too salty and rich for me.
    In the centre of the plastic tray holding the cakes was a clear pouch with a plastic knife and some cocktail forks for eating the cakes outside under the moon.
    I put the lid back on and held it out to Kwan Yin, who gracefully took it, nodding to me.
    ‘Give her two,’ Leo said from where he sat at the kitchen table with his back to us. ‘Get rid of the damn things. Everybody’s sick to death of the sight of them, and they’re so rich that you can’t eat more than a quarter of one anyway.’
    ‘Do you want another tin?’ I said. ‘He’s right, you know. Simone won’t eat any more, and Michael and Leo have had enough. And you know how many calories these things have; if I eat them they go straight to my hips.’
    Both Leo and Ms Kwan laughed softly.
    ‘Do these pants make my ass look big?’ Leo squeaked in a falsetto without turning around. ‘No,’ he said in a deeper voice, ‘but the big hole in the back of them gives a good view of it.’
    I sidled over to Leo and flicked the back of his bald head with my finger.
    ‘Ouch,’ he said, and rubbed his head. ‘Give Ms Kwan another one.’
    I pulled a tin out, checked the side, checked that Michael hadn’t attacked it, and handed it to her.
    ‘You have another couple of coins on the table out there for you and Leo, Emma,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘You’ll have more than one lantern for the next festival. Call me if you need me.’
    ‘Wait!’ I stopped her before she could disappear. ‘Please don’t do anything unless we absolutely have to. Right now they’re quiet. No need for you to put yourself in danger for us. Okay?’
    She smiled sadly, nodded, and disappeared.
    Hey, Emma! Simone squealed right into my ear. I just blew up a level three demon with my Inner Eye! Come and have a go!
    ‘Bastard,’ I said quietly as I went out.
    ‘I heard that,’ Leo said behind me.
    Both Leo and I took the kids to school on their first day. We went in the big car. They sat silent and intimidated in the back in their new, stiff green uniforms, school bags at their feet.
    There were a lot of cars outside the school, and the security guard made sure that each vehicle stopped only long enough to let children out, explaining that if parents wanted to come inside they would have to park away from the school. It was chaos.
    As we approached, the security guard waved us on. Leo stopped the car and I opened the window to speak to the guard. ‘We have a permanent space in the car park,’ I said. ‘Let us in.’
    He smiled, shook his head, and waved us on.
    I looked around for the head guard. Obviously they had put extra staff on for the first day. I couldn’t see him, so opened the car door and hopped out.
    ‘Go around the block and come back,’ I said to Leo.
    He nodded as I closed the door, and pulled away.
    The security guard smiled patiently at me. ‘Just drop children, no parking.’
    I ignored him and went to the guard post. Nobody there. I saw the head security guard, Paul, minding the entrance. He was a very nice Filipino who spoke good English; he’d been informed about us and knew that we had a permanent space in the car park. He saw me and I waved to him.
    ‘Hi, Paul,’ I said cheerfully as I approached him. ‘Is our space ready?’
    ‘All ready,’ he said. ‘Where your car?’
    I pointed. ‘That guard moved us on, wouldn’t let us in.’ I smiled at Paul again. ‘Will you let us in?’
    ‘Sure.’ Paul went to the guard and told him the situation. The Mercedes appeared as they were talking, and both security guards ushered Leo into the car park, pointing out the space that they had allocated for us.
    ‘Thanks, guys,’ I said to the guards. I smiled, trying to turn