“Then.. What happened to him? Why’d he quit?” She pushed some of her hair out of her face. “He quit because of Alester’s mother.” I frowned. “Why?” she laughed, shaking her head. “Something about how he doesn’t take care of Alester the way that he should have been, but Phil didn’t want to hear it, so he packed his bags and left. But anyways, love. What I was going to get to is um…” She frowned. “Oh! About how Alester likes you.” I shook my head. “I know he doesn’t. Don’t make up scenarios.” She patted my shoulder, and soon leaned close. “I have a feeling you like men.” I felt my face light up red, and started to stutter. “I- I- N-no, ahah.. Don’t m-make things up.” She smiled. “Suspicion is correct, isn’t it?” I frowned, and nodded, my face still a little red. “Ha. Now, you tell me. How, if you could be, and would be, a possible suitor, how do you see him?” I tugged a little at my collar. “U-um, well, he’s nice looking. Like, he, uh, has a nice face. And eyes.. But, uh, I don’t think that means a-anything. He’s got a nice p-personality too…” She was smiling, urging me to go on. I refused that, and kept my mouth shut. “Well, there’s going to be a few parties in the winter. We’ll see if your small feelings grow. And we’ll see what happens.” 

I shook my head, ‘no’. “I don’t want that, Althea. I can’t tell another man that I like him! Are you insane? I’ll get called all kinds of mean, crass, vile, disgusting things!” She sighed. “Alright then. But, you’re going to have to do something if you do like him. It’ll be better to tell him instead of harbouring it, and get it broken worse when he brings in the new missus of the house.” I nodded. “I know. I’ll tell him on my deathbed, or just write him a letter, pack my bags and move far, far away after leaving it on his desk the night that I leave.” She sighed. “Alright, i’ll leave the subject be. Now, do you want to get something from the bakery? A little cake? Bread?” I frowned. “Mm.. maybe. I’ll stop in and see what Mrs. Sergo has.” Althea raised one of her brows. “You know her?” I nodded. “She used to be my neighbour. I gave her some rugs, and she wished me luck.” Althea nodded, and I opened the door for her. “Thanks.” I nodded my head, and we were soon inside. The smell of baking things, and the chatter of people greeted me. “Oh, is that Clemintine?” She called out, and I laughed as I made my way to the counter. “Yes’m.” She gave off a happy gasp, and clasped her old weathered hands together. 

“Oh, you’ve found work, yes?” I nodded. “That’s why I moved.” She soon opened the little gate behind the counter, and gave me a good hug once she got to me. Her cat, Marlo, was perched on one of the rafters. “Oh, oh, oh! It’s so good to hug you again!” I laughed. She was a gentle Chinese woman, with her dark hair caring for streaks of white, and shades of grey. She was obviously shorter than me, but she had a feisty temper to her. “Thank you, nǎi nai.” She pulled away. “Oh! wǒ xiàn zài shì nǎi nai le?” I giggled a little. “Mm, no. Not necessarily. Do you still want me to call you ā yí?” She laughed, smiling. “No, please don’t call me aunty. Makes me feel young, I want to embrace my elderhood.” I laughed. She, to me at least, was a very funny woman. “Clemintine, thank you for the rugs. Marlo loves them.” I smiled. “You’re welcome. Where is the pesky kitty anyways?” She had let go of me now, and scratched the rough part on the side of her apron. Soon, Marlo was out from the rafters, hopped down onto the arch frame, onto an empty table, then chair, floor, and soon had his paws on her apron, reaching up. “There is Marlo!” I scooped him up, and he wiggled himself until he was on my shoulders. 

“You are a true Marlo tamer.” Althea said, laughing. I nodded my head. “He enjoys my shoulders and mewing in my ear sometimes. He’d swat at Winston’s tail a lot when we lived next door to Mrs. Sergo.” Althea watched an Italian man come from the back behind the kitchen. “Hello Mr. Sergo!” I said, and he smiled. “Hello, Clemintine.” His thick accent was husky, as if he had just woken up. “How are you feeling today, sir?” He laughed. “I’m good, and I told you, don’t call me sir!” I smiled, and laughed. “What do you want to grab to eat?” Mrs. Sergo asked, already back behind the counter. Her husband went to grab the few chairs that were either loose or a little broken. “Mm… can we have some of your Almond Jelly and Mango Pudding please?” She gave of a small squeal. “Oh! Finally, someone isn’t asking for a fortune cookie.” me and Althea laughed. “Ah, how much of it? Actually, i’ll send you away with big portions to share with your friends, sūn zi.” I nodded. “Thank you.” She smiled, and handed me the bag of food, and I handed her the money in return. 

“She’s a nice lady!” Althea said, laughing a little. I nodded my head, smiling. “Mm. She’s like a grandma to me. She taught me all I needed to know about the world, and I'm glad in it.” Althea and I walked in silence before she started again when we got to the road where the grand Villa is. “Do you like men?” I jumped, and almost tripped over myself at her question. “Althea!” I looked at her, the smile on her face growing. She soon was laughing. “It’s not funny Althea! Do you want me to get shot in public?” She stopped laughing. “What do you mean by that?” We got into the house, and I had no clue where Alester was. I looked around myself, and soon whispered. “There was a gay man who got shot outside a store a few cities away, a gay man’s house was lit on fire in the U.S., and a few suspected gay people were hanged in Canada.” She went pale. “I- I didn’t know that.” I sighed, and went to the kitchen. “Of course you didn’t. Straight people think of themselves a lot.” 

She sat down at the table, and soon gave a cheerful ‘hello’ to whoever walked in. “What did you get?” Finnigan asked, soon coming up beside me. “Nothing for you, but I did get something.” He frowned. “Aww. But we always share!” I laughed, and pulled out a few plates. “Go find everyone, and then I'll share with you.” Finn nodded eagerly, and left. I was almost done with getting everything into its proper serving size when Finnigan called out that he was back and I better share whatever it is. I was laughing as I placed the kettle on the stove. It was down pouring outside again, so I used it as an excuse for tea. “What are you making now?” Althea asked, and gave a side comment that she’ll help. “Making tea. Can you get the milk, sugar, a lemon, cups and saucers please? Finn, don’t touch that!” I watched Finn’s hand retreat and he went back to the table. “Oh, Clemin! Come on!” I turned around, and looked at him. “Everyone will get some if you wait. If you don’t wait, then it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of us.” He nodded his head, and soon rested it on the table. 

Once the tea was all done, and it was to what everyone liked, I served. “Thank you.” Alester said, and I nodded. “What is it?” Jeremy asked, looking at the cream and orangish red substances, swirled together. “Almond Jelly and Mango pudding, traditional Cantonese dishes. Cantonese is also known as Chinese in case you know which one better.” They nodded. “It’s really good unless you have a nut allergen, then you really are missing out.” They laughed. I sat down, and watched as they happily ate. “I could eat this all day! Where’d you get it from?” I smiled at Finnigan. “I got it from Mrs. Sergo’s place. Her husband makes all the breads and things, but she makes the good stuff if you ask.” He nodded his head, taking in another spoonful. Althea soon looked at me quizzically. “How did you even know she had this?” I smiled, and took a sip of my tea. “I could smell it. I’ve helped her make it before, and it tastes just like how my own nǎi nai would make it. Yé ye made other things, like roasted duck and rich tasting things. He always would hunt for it, even if it meant he would be imprisoned. I still receive letters from him, so I don’t think he’s been caught yet.” I said, laughing a little. I felt homesick now, realising it as I finished talking. “You miss your home, yes?” Alester asked, looking at me. 

“Oh, no. I mean, yes I do, but they are in the Philippines. Even though they are chinese, well, nǎi nai is at least. Yé ye is Filipino. But anyways, they are there, my parents are here. I know I could go back, but I like where I am. Plus, I have Jing-Li to keep me company and be my nǎi nai.” He nodded. “Uh, what are you calling her..?” He asked, curious, but I could tell he didn’t know how to say it. “Nǎi nai? It means ‘grandma’ in Cantonese, or traditional Chinese if you want to ask someone to translate it for you.” He nodded. “And the uh, one that starts most likely with a ‘y’ means grandpa?” I nodded my head. “Good job! You’ve learned a little Cantonese.” He laughed, and shook his head. “I probably won’t use it.” I frowned. “You might.” He looked at me, confused. “How would I?” I frowned a little, thinking. “Well, Mrs. Sergo knows English, but she would probably talk to you in Cantonese. It’d be easier to understand her if you knew it.” He nodded. “But, I’ll teach you another day.” 

We finished up, and I was doing dishes when Althea released Alester back into the kitchen. She told him something. “Clemin?” I turned a little, still scrubbing the plate I had. “Mm, yeah?” He was standing beside me so that I could hear him and focus on my work. “Would you like me to teach you how to dance?” I looked at him, confused. “How do you..?” He shrugged. “I dunno. I’ve just noticed that when my mother was over, and the rest of us were dancing and such, you never really did that. You’d just retire to your room for the night.” I frowned, and scrubbed the dish. “I don’t know if I want to learn..” He handed me the dish rag. “Why?” I dried off the dish, and set it down slowly, clearly thinking. “Because you’d be teaching a man how to dance… and two men dancing together is something that the world does not fancy.” He sighed, running his fingers through his blonde hair. “That is true, but it’ll be in my own home. I don’t think that they would do anything about that. “Teach me in the fall.” He looked at me confused. “Huh?” I looked at him. “Teach me in the fall.”