White Tiger

he came to check out the view. ‘Amazing place. Don’t you miss it?’
    ‘I’ve never lived in anything as exalted as this. We used to come down and stay in pokey hotels. But I miss the fresh air and sunshine.’
    ‘His element is water,’ Leo said. ‘He can’t go into the water at all in Hong Kong. The sea is too polluted. Swimming pools are chlorinated, and poisonous to him. Ms Kwan is a genius to get him here. He probably can’t wait to go in.’
    ‘Well, let’s take him down and put him in the water,’ I said, turning to smile at him.
    ‘We’d better take him shopping first.’ Leo grinned. ‘Unless you want to see him arrested.’
    ‘I need to do some shopping too,’ I said. ‘None of my swimsuits fit me.’
    ‘Yeah, you have lost weight. I didn’t really notice.’
    ‘Too busy looking at the guys. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty to look at here.’
    Monica came in and checked the refrigerator. ‘I hope I can find the right Chinese ingredients here.’ She bustled through the cupboards. ‘All Western.’
    ‘I know my way around,’ I said. ‘Leo can take us to the shops. I know where you can buy everything you need.’
    ‘I need to buy some swimmers!’ Simone yelled. She ran out of her bedroom and threw herself at Leo. ‘Pick me up, Leo, I want to see outside!’
    Leo hoisted her on to his hip. She clapped her hands in delight. Mr Chen turned to look at us from the balcony and smiled. It was the first time he’d smiledsince the attack on the Mountain. It was wonderful to see.
    ‘We’re going shopping,’ Leo said to him. ‘You have to come along.’
    Mr Chen came into the living room and closed the sliding door behind him. ‘Let’s go.’
    ‘You coming, Ms Kwan?’ I shouted.
    ‘Yes! Wait for me!’ She hurried out with a white straw hat in her hand, still wearing the silk pantsuit. ‘The sun is very strong here. I want to find a hat.’
    ‘Oh, come on, Kwan Yin,’ I said. ‘You need a hat?’
    ‘The sun is very strong.’ She linked her arm in Mr Chen’s. ‘Come, Ah Wu, this hat is very old and I need to buy a new one.’
    I directed Leo to the enormous shopping centre across the road. Leo and I took Simone to buy swimwear; Mr Chen and Kwan Yin wandered off together; and Monica disappeared into the supermarket.
    Leo stood inside the door of the shop, on guard duty, while Simone and I tried on swimsuits.
    I showed Simone the solar swimwear and she giggled. ‘This is strange.’
    ‘The sun is strong here, and if you don’t cover up you’ll burn,’ I said.
    One of the staff came over and crouched to speak to Simone. ‘Hello, darling, my name’s Jo. You want to try them on?’
    Simone nodded with enthusiasm. ‘Can you help me while Emma tries on some swimsuits too?’
    ‘Sure.’ Jo smiled up at me. ‘We’ll be just fine. Go and try on some suits, Emma.’
    ‘You sure, Simone?’ I said.
    Simone pushed me. ‘We’ll be fine. Leo can see us.’
    I glanced at Leo. He nodded.
    I shrugged and went to the racks.
    As I tried on the suits I heard the staff asking Simone questions about Hong Kong, and her answering in her sweet, piping voice. I went out to find a smaller size and discovered that she had three assistants helping her. This happened wherever we went, whatever country we were in. She charmed everybody just by being her usual sweet self.
    I grabbed a few more suits off the rack and held them up, one at a time, to show Leo. He shook his head at all of them. I took them into the change room anyway and he snorted with disdain.
    One of the staff checked on me. ‘You okay there? I saw you going in and out a few times.’ She looked me up and down. ‘You an aerobics instructor or something?’
    I looked at myself in the mirror. I was quite muscular from the martial arts work. Nothing tremendously obvious, but it was apparent that I was in good shape. ‘No, I’m just the little girl’s nanny.’
    ‘Nanny and bodyguard,’ she quipped.
    ‘Nah,’ I said playfully, ‘that’s her bodyguard next to the door. The big black guy. See him? Six foot six and massive?’
    She laughed and turned to look, then stopped dead. ‘Bodyguard? Is her father a movie star or something?’ ‘Nope, just a rich guy from Hong Kong.’ ‘So he pays you well then?’ I didn’t say anything.
    She patted me on the arm. ‘Good on you. Good to see people making their way.’ She gestured towards the swimsuit. ‘How about I show you some of our nicer stuff?’
    ‘That would