Fortunately Boon Leong had not left for his office yet. He, of all persons, must not be left in doubt as to which side she was on. She was ushered into the dining room where the family had just finished breakfast.
“Please forgive me, Mother-in-law!” She went down on her knees.
“What’s this, Choon? Tell me what it is! No need to kneel!”
“Please let me finish.”
As she had expected, Siok Ching almost threw a fit.
“That evil woman! Even in death, she gives me trouble!”
“Mak, please, no need to shout like this.”
“How not to shout? You all tell me! That China woman and her son are out to smear our name! Stop him, Boon Leong! He can’t bury that woman next to your father!”
“Mak, listen. That woman is also Father’s wife. And you know how these Chinamen are. Their clans will fight for her if Tuck Heng asks them.”
“Isn’t there a law to stop him? Do you want people to laugh at me? I won’t bear it! I’d rather die!”
“Mak! Calm yourself. And Sister-in-law, please get up.”
Boon Leong was so distressed that he literally pulled her to her feet.
“Brother-in-law, you’re the only one who can stop my husband from doing this.”
“This is terrible, just terrible.” Kim Neo, her sweet and gentle sister-in-law, wrung her hands helplessly.
“Mak, please have some tea. Forgive me, I’m married to an ingrate!”
When Siok Ching accepted her cup of tea, she was relieved.
“You’ll ruin your health if you cry like this, Mak,” Boon Leong tried to soothe his mother. “Kim, send for my brothers. Tell them to come over as soon as possible. We’ve got to handle this like a family.”
His stress on family pleased Choon Neo. She searched his face for signs of displeasure. But neither anger nor annoyance had ruffled the smooth lines of his regal face. He was speaking to his mother in calm measured tones.
“You won’t lose face, Mak. You’ve said many times that Grandfather chose my father to be his son-in-law. So Father married into your family, not you into his.”
His mother was crying softly now, but she was listening.
“According to custom and tradition, my late father’s wives are my mothers whether my brothers and I like it or not. If we don’t take part in the rituals, people will accuse us of being unfilial and disrespectful to the dead and you of not bringing up your sons properly. And yet,” he put his arm round his mother, “you’re right in feeling wronged. Our father had already said that you’re his first wife. According to the customs of China, only first wives are buried beside their husbands, others are buried in separate graves.”
“The witch is trying to claw her way into the plot next to your father. Over my dead body! Do something, Boon Leong!”
He got up and stood by the window, looking out at the green lawn for a long while before he turned and spoke again. He was waiting till his wife and Choon Neo had calmed his mother down. As he listened to them, it suddenly struck him that the situation was grotesquely funny. Fighting over a hole in the ground! He hid a smile. His own mother fighting with a dead woman! Over who should be buried next to the dead man they’d so reluctantly shared!
“Mak, you’re right to feel outraged,” he lied. “Tuck Heng should be stopped. And yet ...” he paused and searched for the right words, waiting till he was sure that his mother was listening, “if we challenge him, we’ll fall into the very trap he’s set for us. He’ll use the chance to tell people how you’ve used your father’s wealth to push aside a poor coolie woman. People will turn against you. And the gossips will wag their tongues and side with him and his mother.”
“Let them say what they want! I’ve no ears to listen!” His mother burst into tears again.
“But Mak, please consider again. Do you want to give Tuck Heng this victory?” using the one word which would make his mother think carefully. “Do you want Grandfather’s name to be dragged into the mud? And do you really want my brothers and me to fight Tuck Heng?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know what to do any more,” his mother moaned. “My son, I ... I ...” Tears were streaming down her face again and it took all his strength to continue speaking in the calm measured tone he often used in the courts to argue his cases. “The only way to avoid this cunning trap is to be generous and be seen as generous.”
“What? Give in? Let him do what he wants?”
“No. Let big hearts prevail over small ones. Show how gracious a well-bred Nonya can be,” he flattered his mother, adding that it was to his mother’s advantage to err on the side of generosity by not opposing Tuck Heng’s plans. “Treat him as Father’s son, an errant son accepted by you, the long-suffering mother. Offer him Roseville for his mother’s wake.”
Everyone was shocked.
“But Brother-in-law, you’re a Christian! And it’ll be a Chinese funeral!” Choon Neo protested.
“Precisely because we’re Christian, we should be tolerant and charitable towards Tuck Heng, shouldn’t we?”
The enigmatic smile on his face left Choon Neo puzzled and worried.
“I’d rather die,” Siok Ching moaned.