A Free Life (45 page)

Nan 's face stiffened. "I hope it hasn't implicated our son."

"She's a bad girl and 'played hooky.' "

"I 'played hooky' when I was in elementary school."

"What did you say?" She widened her eyes at him.

"We just fooled around in the mountains, doing kids' stuff."

"That's not what you would do with 'hookers.' "

Nan broke into laughter.

Discomfited, she went on, "This is not funny!"

" 'Play hooky' means to skip school. It doesn't pertain to prostitution."

"Oh, I see." She laughed, then went on, "Still, Livia is a bad girl." She removed the lid from a pot, as the broth in it was about to bubble over.

That afternoon they talked to their son about Livia. The boy had no idea about her disappearance but knew she didn't get along with Heidi. Recently Livia had often complained to him about her mother, who had a boyfriend named Joe. She disliked that man and thought he was just "a smarty-pants." Both she and Nathan tried to dissuade their mother from seeing Joe, but Heidi was obsessed, because, unlike the other men she had dated, Joe would always pick up the tab when they went out. Together they had traveled to Paris and London. Joe was a banker, but in her e-mail to Taotao, Livia had called him "a little jerk." She also wrote: "I never thought my mom was such a cock-tease."

"What that mean?" Pingping asked her son.

Nan explained, "A woman who is too fond of men."

"Something like that," agreed the boy. "That's a gentle expression." "I don't believe you," Pingping said. "Livia is never gentle to her mother."

"I mean Dad's explanation."

"Anyway, she can't talk about her mother like that. She's bad girl and crazy."

That night Pingping phoned Heidi and told her that Livia was angry about her taking a boyfriend. Heidi said someone had seen Livia at the train station three days before. She was worried sick and had reported her disappearance to the police. She didn't mind whatever Livia called her, as long as the girl could return home safe and sane.

TO THE Wus' astonishment, Livia showed up at the Gold Wok two days later. The girl was a foot taller than three years before, almost as tall as Pingping now. She wore a jeans skirt and high heels, her lips thickly rouged, nearly purple. Despite a few flecks of acne on her cheeks, she was handsome, as well as curvaceous. Her frizzy auburn hair was pulled back into a ponytail, giving her the look of a young woman. Both Pingping and Nan couldn't help but marvel at the girl they had never imagined Livia would grow into. Though unsettled by her sudden appearance, Pingping hugged her and said, "I told you you will grow tall."

Livia beamed. "You were the only person who knew me."

At those words Pingping's unease melted, and she called Taotao to the front to meet his friend. The boy came over, and the two of them hugged awkwardly, smiling without a word as if shy in the grown-ups' presence, as if he had known all along that she was coming.

Livia had no extra clothes with her and reeked of tobacco, which she said she'd caught from a man sitting close to her at the Greyhound station. "Anyways, don't think I smoke," she told Pingping. Then she caught sight of the God of Wealth sitting in the alcove and asked Taotao, "Who's this cross-eyed guy? Why offer him so many goodies?"

"He's the money god. We inherited him from the former owner of this place, and my parents don't want to disturb him." "Can he make your family rich?" "I've no frigging clue."

She patted the deity's porcelain belly and caressed his smiling face. "He's so pudgy, a model of obesity. Can I have an orange from this plate?" She lifted one of the fruits Pingping had placed at the deity's feet that morning.

"I'm not sure if you can now. They were was just offered to him."

Pingping said, "We have orange at home. Let's go." She wanted the girl to take a shower and change her clothes. Livia put the fruit back on the plate, and together she and Pingping went out, heading for Marsh Drive.

It was early August, and despite the clear sky, the air was so muggy that Pingping and Livia both opened their mouths to breathe as they walked. The roadside near an intersection was littered with napkins, a squat whiskey bottle, a few chicken nuggets and fried shrimp; the grass had been grooved by a truck's wheels, red mud exposed like festering wounds. Several photos were scattered around, all torn in half. "Whew, it's so humid!" Livia said to Pingping.

"This is Georgia, not Boston. It's not hottest time in summer yet."

"Hotter than this?"

"Of course, it can reach ninety-eight degree."

"God help me! How can human beings live here!"

Pingping didn't respond, but she was glad that her son didn't seem involved with the girl's running away, though she wasn't sure whether Livia had come to stay with them or mainly to see Taotao. In some sense she was pleased that the girl had shown up here, which meant that Livia must have felt somewhat attached to them, and now her mother could stop looking for her.

A snapping turtle appeared ahead of them, crossing the street. At the sight of the creature, Livia let out a cry and bounded over. "Wow, he's so cute!" She patted its dark shell and scared it to a halt, its head withdrawn from view. With her toes she overturned the turtle, whose underside was brownish and rubbery, semitranslucent. Ping-ping bent down, held one side of its shell, and put it back on its stomach. Still it wouldn't move, playing dead. Around them a pair of blue dragonflies hovered, their wings zinging and flickering with sunlight.

"There's lake nearby," Pingping told Livia, "so you can find a lotta bird and animal around here."

Livia tried to lift the turtle, but Pingping stopped her, saying it might snap at her hand if she wasn't careful. Yet the girl feared that a passing car might crush it if it stayed in the middle of the road. Pingping stretched out her foot and gently pushed the creature all the way across the street into the roadside grass. The turtle began crawling away, its beak stretched out again and its eyes clear like a bird's.

As soon as Pingping and Livia got into the house, the girl went to the bathroom for a shower. Pingping put a change of clothes on the lid of the toilet beside the bathtub while the girl stood in the cone of spraying water, shielded by the screen of ground glass. "You can wear my clothing, okay?" Pingping said.

"Thanks a million," said Livia. "Oh, it's so nice to take a warm shower again! I must stink like a skunk."

"How many days you didn't wash?"

"Four."

"Take your time and wash yourself thoroughly. There are orange in refrigerator. You can eat as many you want." "Sure, I'll have one."

Pingping looked at Livia behind the semitransparent screen, but she could see only the contour of that pubertal body. Apparently Livia had grown into a fine, healthy girl, though she still seemed flighty and fragile. Pingping went out to call Nan to discuss what to do about Livia.

At the Gold Wok, Taotao was sitting in a booth and eating a pork bun. His father asked him, "Is Livia your girlfriend?"

"Nah, she's just a friend. Why? Why are you grinning like that?" the boy growled.

"I jahst asked. What's the difference between a girlfriend and a friend?"

"You date a girl, then she's your girlfriend. I don't date Livia, so she's just my friend."

"That's good. She's not suitable for you."

"None of your business! How can you tell if she suits me or not?"

"She's too big, almost like a woman. Look at yourself. You have no hair on your tawp lip yet."

The phone rang and Nan picked it up. Pingping asked him how they should handle Livia. They were both worried that something might happen between their son and the girl, so they had to figure out a way to prevent the two youngsters from being alone together.

Having talked briefly, they decided to let both Taotao and Livia work in the restaurant and would pay them each five dollars an hour. Although business was slow at present, this was the only way to keep the girl in line.

The moment Pingping hung up, Nan called Heidi. Heidi dissolved into sobs at the news. She implored Nan and Pingping not to disturb her daughter, saying she would come and pick her up without delay. "Don't wahrry yourself sick, Heidi," said Nan. "We'll take good care of her. In fact, we're going to hire her to work for us."

"Do you think she'll do that?" came Heidi's concerned voice, broken up by a burst of static.

"Here is not like in Boston, where you have a lawt of places to visit. Livia cannot go anywhere. Taotao will work wiz her too. We hire them as a team so zat we can keep watch on them."

"That's a great idea, Nan. I can't thank you and Pingping enough."

Nan wondered if he should invite Heidi to stay with them, but unsure if their home was too shabby for her, he said nothing, knowing she'd surely make arrangements for her lodging anyway. In the back of his mind lingered a touch of discomfort from having the two juvenile workers at the Gold Wok, because their wages might consume a good part of the profit the business could fetch in a slow season like now. Besides, he'd have to pay Niyan as well and might even lose money this week. He hoped Heidi would arrive within two or three days.

LIVIA and Taotao didn't mind being kept at the Gold Wok. Never paid five dollars an hour before, they followed Pingping's instructions with alacrity and worked zestfully, busing tables, taking plates and bowls out of the washer, peeling fruits, shelling nuts, picking vegetables. Livia did ask Nan what places in Atlanta were worth seeing; he told her that there was the Martin Luther King Center and also the World of Coca-Cola, where you could have a "Soda Safari" and partake of all kinds of soft drinks for free. The girl wasn't interested in either place, and said, "Coke just makes you fat. I quit drinking it long ago." To Nan's disquiet, Taotao mentioned Stone Mountain Park, saying a boat ride on the lake there could be fun, but Livia thought it was too hot to stay in the open air. Nan felt relieved that she didn't want to go sightseeing.

Compared with Livia, Taotao seemed much younger, like a little brother, so his parents weren't really worried about his being with the girl. Yet Nan noticed that with Livia around, Taotao had become more animated and talkative. The boy even tried to ingratiate himself with Livia, who he assumed had come all the way to see him. Nan was certain that if Taotao were a few years older and able to drive, he would have taken Livia to the movies, or Stone Mountain Park, or Lake Lanier, and wouldn't have been willing to work at the restaurant. Maybe it would do him good to have a girlfriend. At least that might teach him how to get along with girls and eventually make him relax when dating a woman. Nan always regretted that he had taken girls too seriously when he was young.

Livia reveled in the free food at the restaurant. She told the Wus that both her brother, Nathan, and she had missed Pingping's cooking. Now there were more choices here and everything was better made, no longer the homey fare Pingping used to cook. Livia kept asking Nan and Pingping, "Can I work here for the rest of the summer? I hate the fishy smell of the Cape."

"In fact, we can't hire you for long," said Nan. "You're underage, and I may get into trahble for exploiting children."

"Nobody will know, please!"

Pingping said, "We have to ask your mother."

As if she were a full-time employee here, Livia would mimic Niyan's manner and even asked the waitress how much she made. Niyan wouldn't tell her and just smiled, amused by the carefree girl. The truth was that there wasn't enough work for the youngsters to do. When idle, the two of them would settle in a booth, cracking spiced pumpkin seeds and roasted peanuts and talking about their schools and the kids they both knew. Now and again they would laugh, which drew attention to them.

Livia leaned forward in her seat and whispered to Taotao, "Do your parents get along?"

"Sure. They've worked very hard. My dad is a real chef now. You see, people like what he cooks."

"I mean, your parents don't fight anymore?"

"Very rarely."

"So Nan won't walk out on Pingping?"

"What makes you still think of that?" The boy stared at her and puckered his brows. "Never mind."

"C'mon, tell me why you said that."

"Are you sure your dad isn't seeing another woman?"

"You have a sick mind. He'll never abandon us."

"Then how come your dad and mom sleep in different rooms?"

"They always do."

"I don't get it."

"My dad reads and writes late at night. He doesn't want to disturb my mom."

"That's odd. So they don't go to bed together anymore?" "That's just your stupid way of thinking. Husband and wife must sleep in the same bed or the marriage is in trouble."

"My aunt stopped sharing her bed with Phil before they were divorced."

"But that doesn't apply to my parents!" the boy flared at her, his eyes sparking.

"There, there, don't be an asshole."

Indeed, Nan and Pingping hadn't slept in the same room since they moved to Marsh Drive. But contrary to Livia's assumption, they did make love from time to time, mostly when Nan sneaked into Pingping's bed early in the mornings, and the marital crisis Livia had intuited long ago had been eased considerably. The couple lived a stable life now, totally preoccupied with their business and their child. When Livia arrived, they had moved Taotao out of his room and let the girl use his bed. The boy stayed with his dad, sleeping on a futon next to the south-facing window. He didn't complain and had surrendered his room willingly, whereas Livia felt it bizarre that Nan would sleep in the same room with his son instead of staying with his wife. In fact, Pingping had asked Taotao to sleep in her master bedroom, but the boy wouldn't do that. Thanks to the girl's presence in the house, he adamantly insisted on staying with his father. Nan was pleased to have him in his room.

But at night Taotao and Livia would watch TV together in the living room and wouldn't go to bed until after midnight, whereas Nan and Pingping would turn in as soon as they got home. One night Nan saw the two children lounging on the sofa and watching a John Wayne movie. Livia kept yawning, while Taotao looked dreamy, his eyes glassy, somewhat clouded over. He didn't respond to his father's sudden appearance, as if he were dozing. His delicate fingers were holding something like a tiny cigarette. Nan looked closely-it wasn't a cigarette but a joint. He shouted, "Damn it, you're smoking marijuana!"