House of Aunts

Chapter 7

 "Am I in danger?" I asked. We were all eating porridge (gross!) that morning, and all of my aunts went quiet. I think Aunty Seven dropped her spoon into her bowl and had it fish it out. Aunty Jinx smirked at that, but her brows furrowed once she realised that all my aunts were serious.

"It is my decision, and that's final." All of the other aunts shrugged and continued eating, but Aunty Jinx sighed and poked at her food. She did not agree with the decision that Aunty Lotus had made.

"Lianyu, we had a chat yesterday."

"Yes. But I still feel that we have to be extra cautious."

Aunty Jinx sighed. "I know you want to protect Ruyi, but that isn't the answer. Being even more protective just makes things worse."

"Remember, we aren't to discuss this in front of Ruyi," Aunty Blossom said. Aunty Jinx sighed again, and kept quiet. The atmosphere was solemn until I'd finished my porridge. After that, I waved to my aunts and left the house with Aunty Lianyu. Instead of taking a walk to school, we went to the driveway and she unlocked the car with her keys. I opened the door and sat next to her. She drove.

I had to admit that Aunty Jinx was kind of right in a way, because my school wasn't too far--you had to walk past a few streets and stalls, and maybe a closed shopping mall to get to it, so a car seemed really unnecessary. But Aunty Lianyu seemed worried-she gripped the steering wheel and drove as carefully as she could. It was early, and many cars surrounded us. The silence was uncomfortable, but then, she spoke.

"Ruyi, if anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do."

"O... kay?"

"I love you very very much--"

"Very very very much?" I asked, which was a refrain that all of us used. She smiled, but that smile faded quickly.

"Yes. And no matter what, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"What could happen to me?"

"Oh. Plenty. Singapore may be a safe place, but bad things still happen to innocent children like you."

I didn't like to hear about that and I shuddered. I'd watched the crime show on TV that detailed all the murders and kidnappings once, so I knew. Aunty Blossom and Aunty Jinx had gotten into a fight about that, because Aunty B said it wasn't a show that I should be watching, but the other one said that it was OK, because I would have to eventually know about the bad things that happened in the world anyway. Aunty B said that Aunty Jinx's viewpoint was absurd, and huffed off, but they'd stopped because Aunty Lotus was standing at the door. Aunty Lotus scolded them, saying they'd broken a rule by arguing in front of me. Aunty B and Aunty Jinx had to apologise to each other.

I sighed. What could possibly happen to me? The only thing I was worried about was maybe having to give a presentation about my family in front of the whole class. My aunts had called the school and said I'd be exempt, so that should be OK, but I wondered if my teacher would torture me anyway by making me present. Aunty Lianyu arrived at the school gates and dropped me off.

"Be safe. I'll come pick you up after," she said, and waved.

"Bye Aunty. I love you," I said.

"I love you too."