A Thread Unbroken (15 page)

Now pushing her bicycle, because according to the property rules the hired help couldn’t ride inside the gates, she quickly made her way past the rows of identical houses to the one labeled B6. Unlike the rich Chinese who lived in swanky apartments in tall high rises, the foreigners preferred freestanding houses. Like all the others around it, her boss’s home looked like something out of a fairy tale, the concrete painted warm beige and trimmed with a pastel peachy color. The house was two stories high with
tall columns bordering the elaborate front porch. She shook her head and thought again how her entire family could live in just the space the flowers and front bench took up. They could probably house half the people in her village inside the spacious home. After propping her bike against one of the columns, she used her key to enter the home.

“Xiao Wei, is that you?” the woman called from upstairs. The woman had been through several Mandarin immersion programs and still had a weekly session of private tutoring. All her efforts had benefited them both. Though Wei spoke a local dialect, their mutual understanding of the basics of Mandarin had helped them work out a language all their own. Some Chinese and some English—as well as some words that couldn’t be recognized from either side without lots of hand signals—but usually they got the message across and understood each other well enough.

“
Dui
, it’s me. I’m sorry I’m late. There was a bus accident blocking the entrance.” She moved closer to the garage door, looking down at her watch and frowning at the time. It read eight fifteen; she was fifteen minutes late.

“Couldn’t you get around it on the sidewalk?”

Wei sighed. “No,
tai tai
. They ran over some old man and his wheelbarrow of fruit. The police wouldn’t let anyone around until he finished his paperwork. I’ll be back in just a second; let me put my bike up.
Deng yi xia.
”

Wei opened the door to the garage, pushed her bike in, and leaned it against the wall, frowning at the broken kickstand Jun had promised he’d fix and never gotten around to. She turned and went back into the house. At the door, she took off her dusty shoes and lined them up under the foyer bench. From the basket next to it, she selected and put on the ragged cloth slippers that were designated for her indoor use. Moving quietly in case the
big boss had not left for work, she went to the laundry room and got a basket, then climbed the stairs.

Outside the master bedroom Wei knocked gently.

“Come in,” the
tai tai
called out.

Wei shuffled in and went straight into the bathroom and gathered the soiled clothing and towels from the day before. She set the heavy basket at the door and returned to the sleeping area, relieved to see the boss was gone. The missus sat at her computer, still in her pajamas as usual, and didn’t turn as Wei began making the bed behind her.

“Wei, today I want you to scrub down the front patio and clean off the furniture that’s on it, please.”

“
Hao de
, but I usually do that every Tuesday. Is there some reason you don’t want me to wait for tomorrow?” Wei kept a daily schedule of indoor and outdoor tasks and didn’t particularly like to throw it off the usual rotation. The house was so huge it required a lot of work to keep it up and a tight schedule to fit it all in.

“We have company tonight, and I want the front entrance to be immaculate. I’ve got some other things I need you to do, too. I’ll need you to run to the supermarket for some items, and don’t let me forget to show you which wine to buy. I’ll get with you later this afternoon for specific instructions.”

“
Hao de.
” Wei dropped her shoulders in defeat as she plumped and arranged the silk pillows on the bed. It sounded like another late afternoon to her. She hoped Jun would get home in time to pick up Luci from the neighbors before they began their supper. With Chai gone, they had come to depend on their friends next door way too much for her comfort, and she didn’t like to feel indebted to anyone.

Opening the heavy curtains to let the sunlight in, she finished tidying up the bedroom and picked up her basket. The missus
never turned around. She continued to peck on her keyboard as Wei softly shut the door behind her and headed downstairs to start the laundry.

Wei finished cooking the stir-fried spicy pork and turned to grab the platter. The
tai tai
stood behind her, hands on her hips while she surveyed the spread of food laid across the glossy marble counter.

“Great job, Xiao Wei.” She inhaled deeply over the heaping dish of pork. “Oh, this is Jack’s favorite dish. It smells so good and spicy. He’ll be pleased. One of these days, you have to teach me how to cook this.”

“Do you want me to stay to serve?” Wei asked. She dished the beef dumplings out of the wok and arranged them neatly on the shiny plate, then covered them with a lid. She didn’t understand why the family liked their dumplings with beef instead of pork or the many other options, but once told, she had found a way to make them as tasty as beef could be.

She looked up at the clock and cringed when she saw how late it was. She hoped she didn’t have to stay much longer. After washing the laundry, cleaning three bathrooms, mopping all the floors, and using the hose and scrubber to clean the front patio, she was thoroughly exhausted.

She had passed the girls getting off the school bus when she was leaving for the supermarket, what felt like an entire day before. When she’d returned with all the bags of vegetables, meat, and wine, she had spent another two hours prepping and cooking a seven-course meal.

Wei leaned on the counter to take the pressure off of her back for a moment. She just wanted to go home and put her feet up.

“No, no. The girls can help do that. You’re already three hours late leaving. You need to get on home. I appreciate you staying. Why don’t you come in late tomorrow?”

Wei shook her head. “No, I’ll be here at eight. I have some ironing I didn’t get to today, and I need to finish it before more comes out of the laundry. I don’t want to get behind.”

“Oh, Xiao Wei, I stacked some of the girls’ outgrown clothing in their hallway for you to go through later this week. Some barely worn jeans in there may fit your oldest daughter, and there are some smaller shirts for your youngest. Take what you want for your girls, and give away the rest.”

Wei’s eyes filled with tears, and she turned to hide it from the missus.

The
tai tai
inhaled sharply and covered her mouth. “Oh, Xiao Wei, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think! Please forgive me. I completely forgot about your daughter being missing.”

“It’s okay.” Wei began washing the stack of pans, letting her hair drop around her face to hide her tears. She was embarrassed at her lack of control over her emotions, and she blamed her exhaustion.

“No, it’s not okay. How thoughtless of me. How’s the search going, anyway?”

Wei turned around to face the woman. “It’s not. They don’t care anything about our daughter. The police are useless unless you’re rich or know someone in the government.”

The missus wrinkled her brow. “Is that true? Even in the case of a missing child? That’s absurd. Is there anything—anything I can do at all—to help?”

Xiao Wei finished washing the pans and began to dry them, carefully putting each one away as she worked. She hesitated, then put the towel down and turned around. She’d never before shared her problems with the woman, and the only reason the
tai tai
even knew about the situation was because Wei had to give a reason for why she had uncharacteristically missed a few days of work after Chai had disappeared. She reminded herself that even though a year had gone by since Chai disappeared and the woman had not once offered her assistance, this might be Wei’s only chance at doing something to help her daughter. So she gathered her courage and took a deep breath.

“
Tai tai
, if you really want to help, can you ask your husband to put a word in with someone at the precinct? Does he know anyone who can help? The search has all but stopped for Chai. We need a way to push them to take her disappearance seriously. My husband is doing everything he can, and he’s driving himself to exhaustion. Since you’re a
waiguoren
, foreigner, maybe your husband can help?”

The missus shifted from one foot to the other nervously. “Hmm, I don’t know, Xiao Wei. Honestly, Jack doesn’t like to get involved in the epidemic of bribery that goes on around the city, and bribery is exactly what it would take for him to get anywhere. I remember when we first came to China; he had to turn his head quite a bit to ignore what was going on. It was an ordeal just to get all the proper approval and permits to start the construction of the factory. But I’ll talk to him and see what he says.” She patted Xiao Wei on the arm and left the kitchen.

Disappointed but not surprised by the lack of interest the missus showed in helping them find Chai, Xiao Wei finished cleaning up and went to the foyer to pick up her jacket and shoes. She was mad at herself for even asking; she knew the woman
wasn’t really interested in anything that didn’t involve herself or her family. Her concern was fake.

She retrieved her bike from the garage and walked it up and through the gates, then hopped on. All around her, people on other bikes, electric scooters, and cars competed for positioning on the narrow roads as everyone hurried to get home.

Wei stopped at an intersection to wait for the light to turn. As she stood there with one foot on the ground to balance her bike, she examined all the faces around her, as she had every day since Chai had disappeared. She looked at all the girls who had even a slight resemblance to her daughter’s build or hairstyle, and some who simply caught her attention by the sounds of their voices, which reminded her of her carefree child. But so far, the crowds had not produced the answer she searched for.

The young couple beside her laughed loudly at something, the girl almost falling as she balanced herself on the back rack of a bike. Wei remembered when she and Jun had been that way, years ago, before the complexities of life had made them grow apart. She’d hop on the back of his bike and sit sideways, just like this girl, arms wrapped around him as he pedaled them around town.

Wei smiled at the couple’s display of happiness. Their clothing and the shabby condition of the boy’s bicycle told Wei that they were not well off. Unless they found a way to be a part of the select population that climbed their way out of poverty, they had no idea the hardships of life they were in for.

She looked at her watch and imagined what Luci was doing. She knew that the little girl was probably wishing her mother would hurry up and get home. Lately, she felt more and more like a failure, to her eldest daughter and to her youngest.

Her mother had tried to convince her to let the girls come live with her while she and Jun saved some money, but her
mother lived so far away, and they didn’t want their girls to grow up without them. Even if it was normal for grandparents to raise the children while parents worked, they had decided it was worth the effort for them to keep the family together. If she had only known—if she had sent them, her daughter would have never disappeared. Her heart lurched as she thought about Luci waiting, and she hoped again that Jun had gotten home hours ago.

She sighed. Eventually they were going to have to find a way to go on with life without Chai. In addition to the strain on her marriage, she knew that Luci was also suffering from the constant atmosphere of grief she and Jun had created.

She lost her smile when her thoughts about the poor shape of their marriage continued. Admittedly, most of the problems stemmed from the fact that she couldn’t discuss Chai’s disappearance with Jun. Coming from a very traditional family, she’d been raised to suppress her concerns, fears, and even her opinions. The few times she had cried in front of her father still brought back memories of some of the worst beatings she had endured.

Even though her husband was a man who treated women fairly, years of growing up without verbalizing or showing her thoughts had left her emotionally crippled. She loved her children dearly and they knew it by everything she did for them—their favorite foods she cooked, the precise braids she wove, the neatness of their home, and the occasional touch of affection she forced herself to give them as she put them to bed. But actually
speaking
of her love—or of any feelings she had—that was too hard. Jun had always known this about her but he pushed and pushed until she just felt like running away. But she never would. Her girls needed her.

It’s days like this one that I wish I could snap my fingers and be home
, she thought as the light turned, and along with the mass of people around her, she pedaled furiously through the intersection.

“W
ould you like to watch some television?” Chai had just finished giving Mother a sponge bath. The bedroom contained the only television in the house, though the homemade antenna on the roof only brought one fuzzy channel to the tiny box.

“No, it’s not allowed. Neither is reading, so don’t offer.”