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brought her with me to apologise to you. What a shame to see you after all these years in such circumstances. I only flew back yesterday and I have come to see you as soon as I could.”
    Nelly came forward. She could see the distress on the lady’s face. “Mei Yin, you should ask your friend to come in and not just keep her standing here,” she said softly.
    “Sorry, sorry to make you stand in the hallway,” said Mei Yin. “Please come in.”
    “Yes, do come in. Don’t stand in the hallway,” reiterated Nelly. She had followed Mei Yin to the door in response to the sound of the doorbell. She too had hoped against all odds that it would be An Mei. She still could not believe that An Mei had left. Hiding her disappointment, she continued, “Come into the kitchen. I’ll make you a cup of tea.”
    “Aunty Mei Yin, I am truly sorry,” said a contrite Casey. Anxious to make amends, she followed the ladies into the kitchen. “I did not know, when I covered up for An Mei, that she was going to run away with Hussein. She told me that she only wanted some time with him to talk before he left. It did not seem so unreasonable. Please forgive me.”
    “How could you do such a thing!” scolded Siew Lin. “You were supposed to look after An Mei, not lie for her.”
    Turning to Mei Yin and Nelly, Siew Lin asked, “So what will you do?”
    “What can we do? Ming Kong won’t let us get in touch with her. He has disowned her. We don’t even have an address or telephone number to contact. We don’t know much about Hussein. Nelly met him just once.”
    “Where is Ming Kong?”
    “Upstairs. He will be down any minute.”
    “I am already down,” said Ming Kong coming into the kitchen. He too had come down in response to the doorbell and the murmured conversation that followed it. “And you? Who are you?”
    “I’m Siew Lin, Casey’s mother.”
    His face grew red, suffused with blood. Two deep ruts appeared in the area between his eyebrows, pushing the eyebrows together. “So what do you and your daughter have to say? I want to have nothing to do with either of you. If she,” he said pointing at Casey, “had not lied, we would not be in this dreadful predicament.” He found it difficult to bring himself to say An Mei’s name. He could not forgive his daughter for leaving without so much as a word when the family was already dealing with so many problems. “
Mo sum kon
. Heartless wretch! And all for a Malay boy! The very people we are fleeing from!”
    Mei Yin went to her husband; she laid a hand on his arm. She could feel the rage coursing through the muscles of his arms.
    “Please Ming Kong, Siew Lin was my very best friend when I was a child. Her mother sent me to school. It was her mother who introduced me to your family. Had it not been for her, I would certainly not have married you. So for that at least, please hear what she has to say.”
    “Yes, yes! Do not come to hasty conclusions. We are all upset and tend to say things we do not mean and will regret afterwards,” cautioned Nelly. “I’ll get you a cup of tea, why don’t you sit down,” she said ushering him towards the kitchen table before rushing to pour out a cup of green tea for him.
    Mei Yin sat down next to Ming Kong. She took his hands in hers, caressing them gently until they relaxed their tight hold. “Remember, when we were young, we too were rash in our actions. The most important thing now is for us to help An Mei, to make sure she knows that she can come back. What would cutting her off from the family achieve? Nothing! Not for her, not for us. Please reconsider. Jenny will be coming soon. Let’s see what she can do. At least through her, we’ll be able to trace An Mei’s whereabouts.”
    Ming Kong looked at Mei Yin and then Nelly. Nelly nodded encouragingly. “We all make mistakes. It is still not too late to persuade her to return.”

Chapter 4
    A n Mei stepped out of the plane into the hot blazing sun. The heat hit her with