Father didn’t treat Mother any differently as a result of her injury, expecting life to continue as usual. She accepted a gift of Chinese slippers from Uncle Sam, using them as an excuse to hide her foot in bondage. For weeks, I would catch her glancing at her ankle or fiddling with the bandage, wrapping and rewrapping it. She didn’t return to the tennis court ever again.

角Horn

THE FALL CAME IN FULL FORCE. Mother hated it when summer ended. She talked about how things were dying, how we were forced to witness death all around us. She pointed out the yellowing leaves, the brown, rigid stems of long-gone flowers poking from the dry ground, and the flocks of fleeing birds. Mother said we should migrate as well. When Bea and I revelled in the beautiful array of coloured leaves, carting them inside to press them between sheets of waxed paper, Mother acted like we were undertakers and shunned us like we were bringing unsavoury ghosts into her home. Bea reminded her that things didn’t die, they just went to sleep.

My sister and I loved the crunch of the fallen leaves under our feet. We spent hours in the front yard helping Father gather the leaves into a pile, and then we jumped into them.

As Father indulged us and raked the leaves again, Uncle Sam pulled up across the street after a day of work. A frown crested towards Father’s chin as he waved hello, and then he quickly returned his attention to the pile of leaves. Father’s cold shoulder didn’t work, and Uncle Sam walked towards us. Father was forced to take off his work gloves and shake Uncle Sam’s hand. Uncle Sam loosened his tie and greeted Bea and me.

“Some yardwork?” he observed.

“Yes. This year it feels like the leaves keep coming,” Father said.

“Well, Elizabeth found this great company that hires high school students to do the yardwork. I can pass along their number if you’re interested,” Uncle Sam offered.

“Sure,” Father replied curtly.

“Hilary speaks so fondly of her visits to your house. We should really get our families together more often.”

At that moment, Mother emerged from the house and said, “That’s a good idea. In fact, you should come to a celebration this weekend at the Oriental Palace. You can meet all the other families here in Sparwood. I’m sure Carrie and Ming wouldn’t mind you joining their son’s red egg and ginger party.”

Uncle Sam accepted the invitation in Cantonese, but only after some cajoling and reassurances from Mother that she would secure a proper invite for his family.

“Swee Hua, why did you do that?” Father exploded after Uncle Sam went home. “It’s not your place to invite others to Carrie and Ming’s party.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Mother asked. “Carrie is a close friend, and I know she’s been meaning to invite them. We Chinese are so few here, we need to stick together.”

“He just humiliated me in front of the girls and our neighbours, and you go and invite him to a party?”