CHAPTER
twenty-five 
JOSH AND I agreed to do an evening video chat to keep in touch as his work continued to spiral out of control. We’d never get to connect otherwise, despite living in the same complex. His schedule had flipped to extreme hours; he left early in the morning and returned super late at night. Besides breakfast, he ate all his meals at his desk.
On-screen, he shifted the fast-food bag out of the camera’s eye, but not before I caught the distinctive yellow arrow and red lettering.
“In-N-Out?” I said.
He gave me a sheepish grin. “Good food at a low price point.”
“Maybe you need to eat on a budget. With the hours you’re putting in, you’re probably making below minimum wage.”
“Tell me about it. I don’t have the heart to do the actual calculations.” He edged his bag back into the frame and opened it. “Hope you don’t mind,” he said. “I’m famished.”
I lifted up my own microwaved burrito in camaraderie. “Here’s to a romantic dinner.”
He chewed on a fry. “I confess. I grab In-N-Out sometimes because it reminds me of our first date.”
“Yeah, we’re really living it up with our dining exploits.”
Josh creased the top of the white take-out bag. “I swear we’ll go on a proper date when I get some free time. And, um, after I secure approval.”
“From whom?” I bit into my burrito. The steaming cheese almost burned my tongue.
“Your family, of course. I still need to redeem myself in their eyes.” He ducked away from the screen, and I heard some private munching.
I used the time to take a few big bites of burrito myself. Then I said, “Don’t worry. You’ve got a second chance, because Family Game Night is coming around again.”
His head came back into view. “Really? Let me block out the date now. Can you give me the lowdown of what goes on during the game night?”
I took a few slow bites, chewing as I thought. “Okay, here’s the deal. We enjoy playing the games, but that’s really secondary to the snacks. Getting together is probably an excuse to chow down.”
“Oh, is it a potluck?”
“No.” I looked at the ceiling. “Actually, Ma and Dad always provide the food. Alice and I show up to eat and play.”
“Huh.” He threw a few fries into his mouth.
Was he wondering how spoiled we Lee sisters were? Maybe I should impress him with my latest selfless feat. “Speaking of Alice, guess what? I got her job back.”
“That’s wonderful. Did the school get extra funding?”
“Nope. I outwitted the principal.” I proceeded to tell Josh about her illegal hedgehog and my threat.
He plugged his ears with his fingers. “I’m not hearing this. I don’t want to know about people breaking the law, even in small ways. And I can’t condone blackmailing.”
I sighed. “I’m usually Miss Nice, but sometimes that works against me. I mean, look at the mess I’m in from merely placing a call to the police to help out little puppies.”
Josh rubbed the back of his neck. “You know, I still haven’t read through that entire lawsuit yet. But Tammy’s name did crop up in a different context.”
“How so?”
“My clerk friend told me about a divorce filing he ran across . . . for Tammy and her husband.”
“Oh no.” I left the last bites of my burrito untouched.
“It’s too bad when marriages split,” Josh said. Ooh, he was a romantic.
I wondered how Tammy felt about the separation. Was it a marriage based on money, like Indira had suggested? Or had Tammy believed in the fairy tale—only to have it shattered?
Indira said Tammy had brushed her off at the surgeon’s office. Was it due to the haughty attitude of the entitled? Or did the oversized sunglasses, sniffles, and brittle attitude mask a broken heart?
“Maybe I should see how Tammy’s doing,” I said.
“You’re sweet,” Josh said. “Too late to check on her now, though.”
“Right, but I have an idea where I might find her in the morning.”
We said goodbye and blew kisses to each other.
Afterward, I checked Armstrong Academy’s online calendar. Though the school offered an e-blast, parents must have also enjoyed having duplicate paper copies, because tomorrow’s activity involved stuffing folders.
When I waltzed into the cafeteria, I saw flyers positioned on the long tables. They were stacked in separate neon-colored piles. Three ladies led the paper charge—two collated while the third stuffed the papers into student folders. I didn’t recognize any of the women.
The lady with the folders looked up and squinted at me. “You look familiar. Soo Yi, right?” She enunciated her words. “Welcome to America.”
I suppressed a groan. The woman seemed to have me confused with an immigrant mother. Must be that all Asians looked the same to her.
Although . . . could I use her confusion to my advantage? At least she’d welcomed me into the group. I didn’t correct the woman, waiting to see how things would unfold. She soon waved me over to sit down and help stuff papers.
I copied her movements, wondering how much English my immigrant doppelgänger knew. I ventured forth a word: “Tam-my?”
The women paused in their actions and gave one another snide looks. The collating lady said, “Tammy is sick.”
The other women snorted, and a firestorm of gossip erupted. They probably thought my “foreignness” meant I wouldn’t be able to understand their rapid chatter:
“I knew it would come to this. She hasn’t worn her wedding band in months.”
“That was quick. Didn’t they get married last spring? At least she’ll come out all right. He must make a fortune.”
“Didn’t you hear? He drew up an ironclad prenup.”
“What an idiotic idea she had for a fundraiser. A pet show?”
“That dog was probably the last straw. Rumor has it the pup destroyed his wallet.”
The last lady lowered her voice and muttered, “And I, for one, can’t wait for her PTA presidency to end.”
With that final statement, we finished organizing the papers and folders. The other women set out to deliver the packets to the designated classrooms while I digested everything I’d heard.
Sounded like Tammy had been experiencing marriage woes for a while now and Kale had pushed things over the edge. With all that she had going on, I was surprised Tammy had gathered the mental energy to show up at the surgical center. It must have been important—and I wondered about the heated discussion Indira had witnessed.