“Lily’s here,” I exclaimed. “Get up, aren’t you going to come and meet her?”
Yi Gor tipped his head against the back of his chair and covered his eyes with yesterday’s newspaper. “I already have a sister,” he said. “One is more than enough.”
If I hadn’t been so excited, I would have flung my slipper at his head. I ignored him and flew down the stairs, racing across the hallway to the front of the house.
Lily was at the entrance, carrying a bundle of books under her arm, a leather satchel slung over one shoulder. “Where’s my mother?” she was asking.
I noted it wasn’t Sai Ma who had brought her home, but the younger maid, Tingting. She was cheerier and gentler than Susu, and I liked her even though she’d practically poisoned us the other day.
“She’s with Madam Kwok at the racecourse,” Tingting replied.
“And my father?”
“In his den.”
Lily let out a loud sigh. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
Her back was to me when I approached. She was short, her nose level with the bronze knobs on the doors. Her straw hat was in one hand, and she wore a pink dress with ribbon rosettes on the ruffles and long lace-trimmed silk gloves.
How elegant,I thought.Just like her mother.
At the sound of my footsteps, Lily spun to face me. Her expression turned sullen. “Who are you?”
“That’s your sister, miss,” said Tingting in a low voice. “Yut Ying.”
“You mean, the bumpkin from the mainland.”
My smile fled, and Tingting winced. “Manners, miss.”
Lily’s gaze was hard. She looked up at me, her dark hooded eyes flicking up and down with the unmistakable rhythm of someone who didn’t like what she saw. After a deliberate beat, she dipped into a shallow curtsy.
“Jeh Jeh, it’s nice to meet you,” she said blandly. “Welcome to Hong Kong.”
I took an awkward step forward. “I wanted to give this to you,” I said, offering my doll with both hands.
I’d sewn her a new dress in yellow, my favorite color, brushed her hair a hundred times, and picked off every speck of dirt, but suddenly it didn’t feel like enough. I stammered, “I’ve... I’ve had her ever since I was a baby.”
“Giving me your castaways already, Jeh Jeh?” said Lily, sparing my doll the limpest glance.
I jerked back, stung. I couldn’t bring myself to explain to Lily that the doll and I had been through the hardest and happiest times. That she was all I had.
Lily took it, then turned to Tingting. “May I go play now?”
“Wait,” I said. “Can I join you?”
Lily finally looked me in the eye. Her countenance was dark. “Yut Ying. That’s a funny name. Why would anyone name you after a shadow?”
I stood straighter. She was trying to unsettle me, but it wouldn’t work. “I was born after an eclipse,” I replied. “My mother was tired from labor, and everyone thought I was going to die at birth, so they didn’t bother coming up with a prettier name for me like yours.”
“My name is pretty because I’m not.” Lily pushed her spectacles up her nose. “Don’t taunt me.”
If she hadn’t looked so serious, I might have laughed. “I think you’re very pretty.”
“Then you’re a liar,” she replied with a glare. “You’ll fit right in here.”
Leaving me speechless, she swerved on her heel and headed upstairs for her room.
. . .
