The Terracotta Bride (6 page)

The First Witch of Damansara

Vivian's late grandmother was a witch —
which is just a way of saying she was a woman of unusual insight. Vivian, in
contrast, had a mind like a hi-tech blender. She was sharp and purposeful, but
she did not understand magic.

This used to be a problem. Magic ran in the family. Even
her mother's second cousin, who was adopted, did small spells on the side. She
sold these from a stall in Kota Bharu. Her main wares were various types of
fruit fried in batter, but if you bought five pisang or cempedak goreng, she
threw in a jampi for free.

These embarrassing relatives became less of a problem after
Vivian left Malaysia. In the modern Western country where she lived, the public
toilets were clean, the newspapers were allowed to be as rude to the government
as they liked, and nobody believed in magic except people in whom nobody
believed. Even with a cooking appliance mind, Vivian understood that magic
requires belief to thrive.

She called home rarely, and visited even less often. She
was twenty-eight, engaged to a rational man, and employed as an accountant.

Vivian's Nai Nai would have said that she was attempting to
deploy enchantments of her own — the fiancé, the ordinary hobbies and the
sensible office job were so many sigils to ward off chaos. It was not an
ineffective magic. It worked — for a while.

There was just one moment, after she heard the news, when
Vivian experienced a surge of unfilial exasperation.

"They could have call me on Skype," she said.
"Call my handphone some more! What a waste of money."

"What's wrong?" said the fiancé. He plays the
prince in this story: beautiful, supportive, and cast in an appropriately
self-effacing role — just off-screen, on a white horse.

"My grandmother's passed away," said Vivian.
"I'm supposed to go back."

Vivian was not a woman to hold a grudge. When
she turned up at KLIA in harem trousers and a tank top it was not through
malice aforethought, but because she had simply forgotten.

Her parents embraced her with sportsmanlike enthusiasm, but
when this was done her mother pulled back and plucked at her tank top.

"Girl, what's this? You know Nai Nai won't like
it."

Nai Nai had lived by a code of rigorous propriety. She had
disapproved of wearing black or navy blue at Chinese New Year, of white at
weddings, and of spaghetti straps at all times. When they went out for dinner,
even at the local restaurant where they sat outdoors and were accosted by stray
cats requesting snacks, her grandchildren were required to change out of their
ratty pasar malam T-shirts and faded shorts. She drew a delicate but
significant distinction between flip-flops and sandals, singlets and strapless
tops, soft cotton shorts and denim.

"Can see your bra," whispered Ma. "It's not
so nice."

"That kind of pants," her dad said dubiously.
"Don't know what Nai Nai will think of it."

"Nai Nai won't see them what," said Vivian, but
this offended her parents. They sat in mutinous silence throughout the drive
home.

Their terrace house was swarming with pregnant cats and
black dogs.

"Only six dogs," said Vivian's mother when Vivian
pointed this out. "Because got five cats. Your sister thought it's a good
idea to have more dogs than cats."

"But why do we have so many cats?" said Vivian.
"I thought you don't like to have animals in the house."

"Nai Nai collected the cats," said Vivian's
sister. "She started before she passed away. Pregnant cats only."

"Wei Yi," said Vivian. "How are you?"

"I'm OK. Vivian," said Wei Yi. Her eyes
glittered.

She'd stopped calling Vivian jie jie some time after Vivian
left home. Vivian minded this less than the way she said 'Vivian' as though it
were a bad word.

But after all, Vivian reminded herself, Wei Yi was
seventeen. She was practically legally required to be an arsehole.

"Why did Nai Nai want the pregnant cats?" Vivian
tried to make her voice pleasant.

"Hai, don't need to talk so much," said their
mother hastily. "Lin — Vivian so tired. Vivian, you go and change
first, then we go for dinner. Papa will start complaining soon if not."

It was during an outing to a prayer goods store,
while Vivian's mother was busy buying joss sticks, that her mother's friend
turned to Vivian and said,

"So a lot of things to do in your house now ah?"

Vivian was shy to say she knew nothing about what
preparations were afoot. As her mother's eldest it would only have been right
for her to have been her mother's first support in sorting out the funeral
arrangements.

"No, we are having a very simple funeral," said
Vivian. "Nai Nai didn't believe in religion so much."

This was not a lie. The brutal fact was that Nai Nai had
been an atheist with animist leanings, in common with most witches. Vivian's
parents preferred not to let this be known, less out of a concern that Nai Nai
would be outed as a witch, than because of the stale leftover fear that she
would be considered a Communist.

"But what about the dog cat all that?" said
Auntie Wendy. "Did it work? Did your sister manage to keep her in the
coffin?"

Vivian's mind whirred to a stop. Then it started up again,
buzzing louder than ever.

Ma was righteously indignant when Vivian reproached her.

"You live so long overseas, why you need to
know?" said Ma. "Don't worry. Yi Yi is handling it. Probably Nai Nai
was not serious anyway."

"Not serious about what?"

"Hai, these old people have their ideas," said
Ma. "Nai Nai live in KL so long, she still want to go home. Not that I
don't want to please her. If it was anything else ... but even if she doesn't
have pride for herself, I have pride for her!"

"Nai Nai wanted to be buried in China?" said
Vivian, puzzled.

"China what China! Your Nai Nai is from Penang
lah," said Ma. "Your Yeh Yeh is also buried in Bukit Tambun there.
But the way he treat Mother, I don't think they should be buried
together."

Vivian began to understand. "But Ma, if she said she
wanted to be with him—"

"It's not what she wants! It's just her idea of
propriety," said Ma. "She thinks woman must always stay by the
husband no matter what. I don't believe that! Nai Nai will be buried here and
when her children and grandchildren pass on we will be buried with her. It's
more comfortable for her, right? To have her loved ones around her?"

"But if Nai Nai didn't think so?"

Ma's painted eyebrows drew together.

"Nai Nai is a very stubborn woman," she said.

Wei Yi was being especially teenaged that week. She
went around with lightning frizzing her hair and stormclouds rumbling about her
ears. Her clothes stood away from her body, stiff with electricity. The cats
hissed and the dogs whined when she passed.

When she saw the paper offerings their mother had bought
for Nai Nai, she threw a massive tantrum.

"What's this?" she said, picking up a paper polo
shirt. "Where got Nai Nai wear this kind of thing?"

Ma looked embarrassed.

"The shop only had that," she said. "Don't
be angry, girl. I bought some bag and shoe also. But you know Nai Nai was never
the dressy kind."

"That's because she like to keep all her nice
clothes," said Wei Yi. She cast a look of burning contempt at the paper
handbag, printed in heedless disregard of intellectual property rights with the
Gucci logo. "Looks like the pasar malam bag. And this slippers is like old
man slippers. Nai Nai could put two of her feet in one slipper!"

"Like that she's less likely to hop away," Ma
said thoughtlessly.

"Is that what you call respecting your mother-in-law?"
shouted Wei Yi. "Hah, you wait until it's your turn! I'll know how to
treat you then."

"Wei Yi, how can you talk to Ma like that?" said
Vivian.

"You shut up your face!" Wei Yi snapped. She
flounced out of the room.

"She never even see the house yet," sighed Ma.
She had bought an elaborate palace fashioned out of gilt-edged pink paper, with
embellished roofs and shuttered windows, and two dolls dressed in Tang dynasty
attire prancing on a balcony. "Got two servants some more."

"She shouldn't talk to you like that," said
Vivian.

She hadn't noticed any change in Ma's appearance before,
but now the soft wrinkly skin under her chin and the pale brown spots on her
arms reminded Vivian that she was getting old. Old people should be cared for.

She touched her mother on the arm. "I'll go scold her.
Never mind, Ma. Girls this age are always one kind."

Ma smiled at Vivian.

"You were OK," she said. She tucked a lock of
Vivian's hair behind her ear.

Old people should be grateful for affection. The sudden
disturbing thought occurred to Vivian that no one had liked Nai Nai very much
because she'd never submitted to being looked after.

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