“Mummy detests that man. The only reason he’s here is because Victoria is still infatuated with him. She’s been like this since their NUS*2 days.”
“Oh my God…how come I never knew this? This explains why she’s always so bitchy toward Mrs. See.”
“Mum, haven’t you noticed that Auntie Victoria is a bitch to anyone who doesn’t have a doctorate in divinity?” Nick chuckled.
As the Jaguar pulled up to the circular driveway in front of the house, Nick could see Eddie Cheng and his brother, Alistair, battling it out with Uncle Taksin and Adam Aakara. Taksin, Adam, and Alistair were casually dressed in shorts and polo tees, but Eddie was dressed completely in white—from his long-sleeved white linen shirt and white linen pleated trousers to his white lace-up wing tips. Nick chuckled as he noticed that Eddie’s wife, Fiona, and their three children were also sweating away under the afternoon sun in white linen outfits with beige cashmere sweaters tied around their shoulders, no doubt at Eddie’s behest.
As Philip, Eleanor, and Nick emerged from their car, the match came to an abrupt halt as the group assembled on the lawn stared at the new arrivals. For a moment, Nick wondered if his relatives were going to treat him differently now that he had been officially banished from Tyersall Park. His cousin Alistair dropped his racket and bounded over immediately. “So glad you’re here, man,” he said, giving Nick a big hug. Nick smiled in relief—he could always count on good ol’ Alistair.
Following behind him came Catherine. Of the four Young sisters, she was the one who had always been closest to Nick’s father, since they were barely two years apart in age and had been sent away to boarding school in England together.
“Gor Gor,”*3 she said warmly, giving Philip a quick peck on the cheek. “Did you just get in?”
“Hi, Cat! I arrived earlier this morning. Is the whole family here?”
“Just Tak, Adam, and Piya for the time being. The other boys are making plans to come down.”
“I see it’s Thailand versus Hong Kong. What’s the score?”
“Five to two. Advantage Thailand. Eddie suggested the match, but he’s not carrying his own weight. Alistair’s admirably trying to hold up his end, but I don’t think he realizes that Tak used to play on the Thai Olympic team.”
“Bloody hell! No wonder he’s kicking my ass!” Alistair groaned.
Catherine gave Eleanor a kiss before glancing over at Nick. “It’s good to see you, Nicky. Been far too long. Is Rachel not here with you? I can’t believe I still haven’t met her.”
“No, it’s just me,” Nick said, giving his aunt a hug. Catherine looked into his eyes, wanting to say something, but Victoria marched up to their little cluster before she could continue.
“Gor Gor.” Victoria nodded curtly at her brother while fanning herself furiously with a carved wooden fan. Then she glanced at Nick and said, “I’m afraid you can’t come into the house. Please don’t take this personally.”
“How am I supposed to take it, then?” Nick said with a wry smile.
Eleanor spoke up. “This is ridiculous! Why can’t Nicky go into the house? He just wants a chance to say he’s sorry to Mummy.”
Victoria winced visibly. Even after four decades, she had never gotten used to her sister-in-law calling her mother Mummy. “Eleanor, tell me what I’m supposed to do? You of all people should know what my mother is like. I’m just following her wishes.”
Philip looked at his sister skeptically. “Mum specifically told you she didn’t want to see Nick?”
“Actually, she told Eddie.”
“Eddie! My goodness! You actually believe him? Eddie has been jealous of Nicky since they were children!” Eleanor scoffed.
Hearing his name come up among the chatter, Eddie sauntered over to the group.
“Uncle Philip, Auntie Elle, let me be very frank. Three days ago, when I was with Ah Ma in her bedroom, I told her that Nicky was on his way home. I thought it would soothe her to know that he was coming to make amends, but instead she got so upset that she went into cardiac arrest. Auntie Victoria was right there when it happened. We almost lost her that day.”
“Well, that was three days ago. I’m going up to see my mother now. She can tell me to my face if she doesn’t wish to see Nicky,” Philip insisted.
“You’re really going to put Ah Ma’s life at risk again?” Eddie said.
Philip stared contemptuously at his nephew, who was drenched in sweat, his clammy skin showing through in large blotches on the most unflattering areas of his white outfit. What a ridiculous boy he was, all dressed up like he was playing in a cricket match at Lord’s. He didn’t trust him for one second. “Eddie, let me worry about my mother. Perhaps you should be more concerned about your own children at the moment.”
“What do you mean?” Eddie swung around and saw his children standing by the ice-cream bar with their cousin Jake Moncur. Constantine, Augustine, and Kalliste were happily licking away at cones topped with double scoops of ice cream, oblivious to the ice cream melting down their hands and dripping all over their white linen outfits.
Eddie broke into a sprint toward them as he began screaming, “FI! FIONA! LOOK WHAT THE KIDS ARE DOING! I TOLD THEM NO ICE CREAM IN THEIR BRUNELLO CUCINELLI LINENS!”
Fiona Tung-Cheng, who was huddled in conversation with Piya Aakara and Cecilia Cheng Moncur, looked up for a brief moment. She rolled her eyes and went right back to talking with the ladies.
With Eddie urgently marching his three children off in search of Ah Ling and the head laundress, Nick took his place in the badminton game while his parents went into the house with Victoria. “She’s really not supposed to have any more visitors today,” Victoria muttered as she led Philip and Eleanor down the corridor toward Su Yi’s bedroom-cum-hospital suite.
“I’m not a visitor—I’m her son,” Philip shot back in annoyance.
Victoria fumed silently to herself. Yes, I know you are her son. Her only son. Mummy’s made this abundantly clear to me my entire life. Her precious only son gets special bird’s nest soup prepared for him every week all through his childhood while we girls only get it on our birthdays. Her only son has all his clothes tailor-made on Savile Row while we have to sew our own dresses. Her only son gets his own Jaguar convertible the minute he returns from university while the girls have to share one miserable Morris Minor. Her only son gets to marry whomever he wants no matter how common she is while every man I ever bring home is deemed “unsuitable.” Her only son abandons her to live out his Crocodile Dundee fantasies in Australia while I’m forced to stay here and take care of her in her old age. Her precious only son.