The day brings with it a pleasant sunshine and a sublime drizzle; the same weather--Mother warned--would put many people in danger of catching a cold. "The heat from the sun and the chilling shower makes your body weaker and more vulnerable," she used to explain slowly in Chinese. When I went out on such days, she would hand me a blue umbrella and urge me to take it despite my persistent refusal.
The foldable umbrella was one of 4 in our house--1 for each member of the family. Mother bought the 4 umbrellas differing in color and design hoping that we would take ownership of them. My elder sister was given a pink one; Father chose the black umbrella; Mother took the one with the floral print. At that point, everyone simply assumed that the last umbrella--the blue one with a maroon checker beneath--was mine. In practice, however, apart from my sister who cherished her gift, Father occasionally used Mother's umbrella while the blue umbrella bore little signs of use.
Mother, who is now frail and suffering from rheumatic legs, lives with my sister and my brother-in-law in our old home in Bishan. 5 years ago, Mei Qian, Yvonne, and I moved out of the house due to the 5-room flat being too small to accommodate all the 8 of us including my sister's newborn son, Father, and an Indonesian maid. On the day we moved, Mother placed the same umbrella she had offered me for almost 3 decades in Mei Qian's backpack. According to the 9-year-old, Mother instructed her to pass it to me on rainy days.
In keeping with the same custom, I prepared an umbrella for each member of the new household except for myself. I bought Yvonne a purple umbrella which she came to dislike and gave the one Mother had offered me to Mei Qian. Thus, much to little Mei Qian's chagrin, I relieved her of her much-cherished duty the very moment we set foot on our new flat in Punggol.
"Stella forgot to bring her umbrella again," Yvonne reminds me while dabbing makeup powder on her cheeks, "bring it with you when you go to see her later. The weather forecast says there'll be a thunderstorm, so I don't think the rain will let up anytime soon."
I glimpse at the sky before expressing my doubts, "I think the rain will stop soon enough--the dark clouds are receding. Even if it rained again later in the day, Mei Qian would still be able to take shelter in the school."
She adds the finishing touches of her makeup by applying red lipstick before warning me, "It's better not to take any chances. Remember to take her umbrella with you for Stella's parent-teachers meeting."
"As I've said, Yvonne," I attempt to reassure her, "there's no need for that. You must know that the weather forecast is quite inaccurate. Mei Qian will be okay. Should it rain, she can stay in school to wait it out. And I don't think a little rain will harm the body."
"Just so we're clear, I'm not worried about you," she clarifies, "I'm concerned about Stella. You wouldn't want her to catch a cold, would you? Speaking of which, Stella told me that you said some pretty embarrassing things in your sleep this morning." She opens the drawer of her makeup table and begins putting the tubes of all shapes and sizes, plastic containers, and squeeze bottles into it. This table, though strictly for her use only, is located where the computer table should be--a few paces to the back of the sofas.
"What did she say?" I pause for a moment. "No, wait--what did I say when I was asleep?"
"It's nothing to worry about, really," she speaks nonchalantly. "That is, other than the fact that you gave Stella quite the scare. She'll tell you all about it the moment she sees you." Yvonne looks at herself in the mirror before continuing, "Are you free this evening? I have something to discuss with you. Things that Stella isn't ready to know yet."
"I should be free from 6 pm onwards," I answer after quickly running through today's schedule in my mind, "provided that Mei Qian and I manage to reach home by that time." She stands up and steps away from the makeup desk. Buttoning up the sleeves and adjusting the collar of her white blouse, she gazes at the mirror again. "But Yvonne," I ask, "is there a need to be so secretive about it?".
