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I look at Big Aunt with desperation. If ever there was a time for Big Aunt to stride in and take over, this is it.
Except Big Aunt is staring off into space.
“Er, Big Aunt? Hello?” I wave a hand in front of her face with hesitation.
“Yes!” she barks, making me start. “We can do buttercream flower for cake! No! Problem!” She swivels her head forcefully and stares directly at me. “Xiaoling, you stir the cream now! Hut-hut!”
Only Big Aunt could get even more authoritative when she gets high.
“Big Aunt, it’s me, Meddy.”
She blinks. “Xiaoling, why you not moving?”
Oh my god. What do I do now? “Yeah, okay, Big Aunt. I’ll get the cream going, okay? You just—uh, you just stay here.” I turn to—I don’t know, find a hole to disappear into—but a hand grabs my arm.
“Did you hear them?” Fourth Aunt says, her gaze as piercing as a laser beam.
“Yeah, they’re high. We need to get them out of here—”
“Ssh!” Fourth Aunt places a finger against my mouth. “Listen!”
I stop talking and listen hard. Maybe she’s overheard Ama or Staphanie talking about—
“You hear that?” Fourth Aunt nods and smiles smugly. “They love me.”
“What?”
“The crowd!” She releases me and looks around her with sparkling eyes. “Thank you, thank you, everyone!” Stretchingher arms out, she bows with a flourish. “I’m so honored that you enjoyed my rendition of ‘My Heart Will Go On.’ For my next song...”
No, no, no.
“I think they high,” Ma says.
“I—hang on, you had a glass too. Are you okay? How are you feeling?”
She shrugs. “I okay.”
“But how come you’re—ah.” It sinks in. Ma, who drinks her own concoction every day, probably has built up a tolerance to the marijuana. Which is a relief. Also sort of worrisome. But for now, it’s a massive relief.
“I need you to take them back to the room,” I say quickly. “They can’t be here. They’re acting so weird. I mean, much more weird than usual. People are going to notice. Well, they’ve noticed already. But they’re going to notice some more.”
“Yes, good idea.” But she doesn’t move.
“Ma, are you okay?”
“I think I a bit drunk.”
Fuuuuck. Of course. My mother’s a drug addict, but she rarely drinks alcohol. Of course a single glass of champagne is enough to get her drunk. If I weren’t pumped full of adrenaline right now, I’d cry.
“Hey, is everything okay?” Selena says. Next to her, Seb gives a hesitant smile, clearly worried about my family.
“You guys! Oh god. Please, please, I need your help. My family’s uh—they’re kind of drunk?” We all turn to look at them. “Very drunk.”
“Mm, yeah, wow. Reminds me of my last night at college—” Seb says.
“No time for that,” I say. “Could you guys just, I don’t know, take them back to the hotel, please?”
“Why not the room here?” Seb says.