White Tiger

Monica going home to the Philippines?’
    ‘I suggested it, but she wouldn’t go. She’s arranged to spend time with her sister at her sister’s employer’s apartment on Stubbs Road. The employer won’t be there, so they’ll have the place to themselves. Some other members of the family are coming to see them. Even the sister and brother from Singapore, but I think the sister in the Middle East can’t make it.’
    ‘How many brothers and sisters does she have?’ I said, incredulous.
    ‘I think she’s in the middle of about nine.’
    ‘So it’ll just be the three of us for the entire New Year break.’
    Simone piped up. ‘We’ll be like a family!’
    ‘We are a family,’ he said.
    ‘Yes, we are,’ I said.
    ‘We’re a family,’ Simone said softly.
    A couple of days later Mr Chen tapped on my door. ‘Can I talk to you?’ ‘Come on in.’
    ‘I was wondering if you’d help us,’ he said. ‘Monica’s done most of it, but my study and the Kitchen God still need to be done, and I’d like to take the mats up in the training room and vacuum underneath them.’
    ‘Oh, the New Year clean-out,’ I said. ‘Sure. I’ll take your paperwork, you do the rest of the study, and then we can do the mats together.’
    ‘Thanks. You know why we do this?’
    ‘Something about the Kitchen God taking the annual report to the Jade Emperor, and coming back with the new good luck for the whole year.’ I stopped when Iheard what I’d said. ‘You saw the Jade Emperor yourself not long ago. Is this really necessary?’
    His eyes sparkled. ‘Oh, absolutely.’
    ‘So there’s another god around here that I haven’t noticed—the Kitchen God?’
    ‘You want to see?’
    ‘Sure.’
    He led me into the kitchen. One of the cupboards had an open altar underneath. The interior was painted red and contained an inscribed tablet over the top of an incense pot. The pot and tablet were nearly black with the dust from the incense.
    ‘I’ve seen you put incense in that. That’s him?’
    ‘Yep.’
    ‘What does he look like?’
    He gestured towards the pot. ‘That.’
    ‘You are really annoying sometimes, you know that?’
    ‘Good,’ he said with a perfectly straight face.
    That evening the three of us went out for a vegetarian meal in a restaurant in Wellington Street. Afterwards, we walked together to the pier and boarded Mr Chen’s boat. A cheerful deckhand helped me aboard, and Mr Chen carried Simone. Every boat in Hong Kong seemed to be floating on the Harbour to watch the show, and the promenade on both sides was thick with thousands of people.
    We sat on the cushioned top of the boat and leaned on the soft backrest. One of the deckhands provided us with a blanket and a thermos of tea. The wind whistling across the Harbour was bitter and seemed to cut straight through my jacket.
    Simone sat between us as the boat moved into position. Three barges had been moored in the Harbour to launch the fireworks.
    ‘I’m cold, Daddy,’ she said.
    We moved closer together with Simone between us. Mr Chen put his arm around her shoulders and I pulled the blanket up to her chin. All three of us wriggled down under the blanket.
    He gazed at me and my heart leapt. It was a look that said everything. He smiled slightly and I knew he felt it too. Both of us sighed and glanced down at Simone.
    ‘Cold,’ Simone said.
    I bundled her into my lap. Mr Chen moved closer and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling both of us into him. I didn’t care about anything else apart from the feeling of having both of them so close to me. I nestled against him and put my head on his shoulder. He squeezed me gently and pulled me closer.
    The fireworks began and Simone yelled, ‘ Wah !’
    Her shout was echoed by everybody around the Harbour. The explosions vibrated through the boat.
    Mr Chen brushed my shoulder, then gently leaned over me and pushed his face into my hair.
    I didn’t move. Simone was busy watching the fireworks and didn’t notice.
    I turned my head to see him.
    He smiled down at me. His eyes were very dark and shining.
    ‘Don’t you have to be careful?’ I whispered.
    He moved his mouth next to my ear. ‘I could never hurt my child, even unintentionally. She is your shield.’
    ‘You can’t hurt me while we have her between us like this?’
    He moved his face further down to the side of my throat. ‘No,’ he breathed, and I felt the word more than heard it.
    I gazed into his glowing dark eyes. Our faces were