"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!"
"Just a little bit."
"It's drugs!"
"Not that much different from tobacco."
The boy gave him a silly smile, his nose quivered a little, and he seemed too dazed to speak more. Nan snatched the joint from him and snuffed it out with his thumb and forefinger. He turned to Livia. "You gave him this, right? Damn you!"
"He-he asked for it. I told him he shouldn't smoke in the house, but he wouldn't listen."
"Still, you're a drug dealer. I'm going to call zer police."
"Please don't, Nan! I just happened to have a little bit of the weed on me."
"Give it to me." He stretched out his hand.
She pulled out of her pocket a white envelope, six inches by four in size and about a third full, and handed it to him. At this moment Pingping stepped in, wrapped in a nightgown, and said loudly to nobody in particular, "You can't smoke in here." She peered at Tao-tao, who looked dumb. "What's wrong with him?"
Nan explained and showed her the stump of the joint. She burst out at Livia, "How dare you teach him to eat drug! I'm going to call your mother now."
"Please, Pingping, don't be mad! My mom knows."
"What, she know you are drugger?"
"I'm not a druggie! I just got a bit of the weed from Neil, who's my boyfriend. My mom chased him out of our house when she discovered it."
Nan broke in, "Are you telling us zer truth?" "Swear to God, I am."
Pingping switched off the TV. "Taotao, how many times do you smoke that stuff?" "Only once."
"This is his first time," put in Livia. "Clearly you're a bad influence," Nan said.
The girl hung her head without another word. After making her and Taotao promise never to do drugs again and sending them to bed, the parents sat down and talked between themselves. Nan wondered if they should inform Heidi of Livia's drug problem, but Pingping believed Heidi already knew. For better or worse, the girl wouldn't lie. Probably she had fled home because she and her mother had fought over this matter. Nan and Pingping decided to keep a closer eye on the two children until Heidi arrived.
15
HEIDI arrived two days later. She looked much older than she had three years before, with more wrinkles on her neck, and her grizzled bangs were almost white now. She had lost weight, though she was still broad in the beam. She hugged and kissed both Pingping and Nan and thanked them for accommodating Livia, who seemed happy to see her mother.
Nan had to cook in the kitchen while Heidi and Pingping were sitting at a table and conversing. Taotao was at the counter, working as the cashier, and Livia helped Niyan as the busgirl.
Heidi had checked in at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Atlanta, where she also had a bed for Livia, but she hadn't mentioned this to the girl, unsure if she'd be willing to stay with her. Heidi, having eaten brunch, took only a beef ravioli from the appetizer platter Nan had placed on the table. Now and then she'd steal a glance at her daughter, who paid no heed to her and was ogling a young man in a maroon silk shirt seated near the window with an Indian woman, whose face was so heavily made up that Pingping couldn't tell her age-probably under thirty.
"Livia's hopeless," Heidi whispered to Pingping. "She started to have trouble with boys last winter and didn't do well in school."
"She is good girl in heart," consoled Pingping.
"If only I could talk some sense into her."
Afraid their conversation might annoy Livia, who seemed to be eavesdropping, Pingping offered to give Heidi a tour of their house. Together they went out to the Wus' passenger van. Usually Nan kept the car's backseats down, using it as a freight vehicle as well, but after Livia arrived, Pingping vacuumed it and put all the seats up.
Heidi was amazed by the Wus' home, not only by the brick ranch but especially by the lake and the immense trees in the backyard. She turned to Pingping. "Now, tell me again, how many years have you been in the United States?"
" Nan is here nine year, me seven and half years."
"Wow, in less than a decade you already have your own business, a house, and two cars. I'm so happy for you, to see you doing so well."
"We just try to manage. Still have mortgage to pay."
"Is it a big one?"
"Not really, about forty thousand dollars left."
"Amazing. This can happen only in America. I'm very moved by the fact that you and Nan have actualized your American dream so quickly. I'm proud of this country."