“Oh, that was actually her being kind. When I was twenty-four, we went back to Nanjing in China, for what I thought was a funeral for my uncle…guess what happened?”
“There was no funeral?”
“There
was no uncle!” She hollered and I couldn’t help it.
I laughed so hard the tears rolled down my cheeks.
“No uncle. No funeral. Just my great aunts, my mom’s old friends, their sons and me, for this big, weird matchmaking ceremony.”
“Your mother is a savage.”
She laughed. “Yup, a trait I inherited. Since then I’ve refused to keep my hair black and I only speak English whenever I’m around her in protest. Now is just a treat because she almost died. ”
Are all mother-and-daughter relationships a battle of wills like this?
“Which is why Malachi Lord is also my perfect husband.”
“You’ve lost me again.”
“He has everything I like in my guys—”
“You said he was an ass!”
“Exactly!” she replied and now my head hurt.
Shifting onto my side I sighed and said, “Explain.”
“All girls like bad boys. It’s the truth. Howard is nice and all but oh my god, he’s like a puppy—”
“Hey! Puppies are cute!” I pouted.
“Then why did you break up with him?”
I had no response to that and it was annoying. I had broken up with Howard but that was only because I wasn’t sure what I wanted and I didn’t like the idea of just having him on standby. I didn’t want to jerk him around. However, he, didn’t seem to get it and had simply said that he’d give me space…though he still texted me daily.
“Exactly. Cute is nice but sexy is better.” She gloated. I didn’t need to see her face to know she was probably grinning from ear to ear. “Malachi…he’s not a puppy. He’s got that whole mystery to him. Like why does he live in places like Ho Ho Kus, New Jersey—”
“I’m sorry, where?” I asked thinking my mind hadn’t translated correctly.
“Ho Ho Kus, New Jersey. Let me guess, you haven’t heard of it?
The name rang a bell but I had no idea as to why.
When I didn’t speak she continued. “Yeah I grew up there, the Chihohokies Indian tribe say that Ho Ho or the Hohokes…”
“Is that what they call the sound the tree bark makes when the wind blows?”
“Yeah. So you’ve been there?”
No. I hadn’t I didn’t even know how I knew that. Had I read it somewhere? Maybe. But it was a weird thing to remember.
“Esther?”
“Huh? Sorry?” I shook my head clear. “Malachi—hot, mysterious, I’m following…well not really but still I’m here.”
“Are you really that tired?” she asked but before I could once more remind her of what time she kept talking. “Anyway, he’s got this bad boy edge I like, but in reading his books you can tell he’s sensitive. Well…he at least knows how to get a girl going.”