ANIMATED GIRL SUITE
PART TWO: MEGAERA CHORUS
Sleeping Beauty. Anastasia. They're not the only ones I relate to. There was this movie set in mythological Greece. This dame had been in love before. She risked everything for her man, but he jilted her for some wispy little thing. End result: she was left jaded, and now she had an attitude and a sharp mouth. A new guy came into town. He was big and strong, and he was a nice guy, too! And he loved her. But she was afraid to love him. Yet in the end, he would go the distance for her, and bring her soul back from the dead.
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Faye tossed and turned on her bed. Motherly love, fun in Vegas-on-Venus, and they would pick up Ed and Ein the next day..she was alive again. Yet she still felt some vague angst, some restlessness. Well, she thought. I suppose I'm not over Spike yet. Do all guys think of me like he thought of me? That I'm just some floozy to use, or in his case, reject?
Damn, how could he make me care, but not care himself? He made me feel good things, honorable things. Real love. I thought when that happened, it was supposed to be mutual.
A blurry image came to her. Someone in her elusive past. Like a dream that disappears upon waking, she couldn't grasp who this man was. Someone who had cared. Someone from long ago. Whoever it was, it's too late for us now. But whoever it was, Faye knew he had respected her. Truly loved her. She sighed for this forgotten loved one.
Jet respected her..didn't he? He cared for her. Maybe at one time he didn't, but he did now. She had enjoyed her time with him in Vegas. Yeah. Jet was different. Different from the losers she had entrusted her heart to before.
Lately, when she got restless like this, she needed company. Time to sneak into Jet's cabin again. He'd probably gripe at her. But maybe he'd be asleep and not even know.
Maybe he'd be awake.
That would be even better.
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Jet was awake, his arms folded behind his head, when his cabin door opened. Faye stood silhouetted in the doorway a moment before stepping in.
"You didn't wait until I was asleep this time," Jet noted.
"I didn't want you to miss me," she said flippantly, lying down beside him.
Jet stared at the ceiling a few moments longer, but nothing of interest was going on up there. He stretched his arms, his flesh arm accidentally brushing against Faye's chest.
She giggled.
Jet thought that was an unusual reaction, so he warily put a hand on her arm. She laughed with delight.
The next thing he knew, she had rolled on top of him. "Hi, Jet!" she exclaimed mischievously. She leaned her head towards his. Her lips were upon his—he decided to go with the flow and respond, his arms encircling her back. He liked her taste.
Her hands went to her sports top she wore as part of her nightclothes. "Faye, wait!" She hesitated at the sound of his voice. "Are you sure you wanna do this? Because I won't be able to say no to you."
She smiled impishly. "Oh, I'm counting on that."
"Okay, but if you regret this later, it's your own damn fault!"
"Oh, Jet, you say the sweetest things!"
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So they gave themselves fully over to lovemaking, hoping to find in each other healing. But there are some scars which can never be healed, at least in this lifetime. Still, Jet was so tender with her, that Faye found herself responding with tenderness of her own, both to ease his pain and to acknowledge the bond between them, existing from all their shared adventures and trials, if nothing else.
She didn't know what she had been expecting, but she received more. She received thoughtfulness she hadn't gotten from other lovers. She could hardly believe it—this wasn't just sex, he was really making love to her. How long had he loved her? Why hadn't he said anything? He must have considered himself undesirable compared to a handsome, young buck like Spike. True, Jet didn't have the prettiest face, but he did have a well-built body. There was nothing to be ashamed of in that regard. And he was, deep down, a kind man.
They didn't find the meaning of life, or an end to their sorrows. But they did find love they had never known was there before this, and they found affection that had been missing from both of their lives for so many years.
When it was over, he gave her one more kiss on the top of her head, and out of breath, she leaned against his chest for a few moments. Then, she turned around, so that now her backside was resting against his chest. His flesh arm supported her; his mechanical arm was draped over her. The contraption wasn't as hard to get used to as she had worried it would be—its inner workings kept it at a pleasantly warm temperature. She knew that he himself felt little sensation through it. The rise and fall of his chest as he breathed reminded her of the rhythm of the tides, and was lulling her into a feeling of peace and contentment.
She spoke. "There's something different about you, Jet. Different than those other guys."
"You mean the arm?"
"No, something else."
"A good something else, or--?"
"Yeah, a good something."
"Better than Whitney?"
"Whitney, please! Actually, I was still innocent then, up to the time he ditched me and left me in debt. Then I went wild. But I still wanted real love—I just kept running into insincere guys who swore they loved me with all their heart and soul and then just left when they got what they wanted. So I got jaded. What about you? When was your first time?"
"Prostitute."
"Prostitute? Really?"
"I got impatient," he explained sheepishly. "Then I had Alisa for awhile. I would've married her, but she had a hang-up about official commitment. Now I know why. She says I was too domineering. Sometimes I think maybe she couldn't get used to the arm."
"The arm's not so bad. You ever gonna tell me how you got it? Or where you went that one time you let Ed water your plants, and you wouldn't say anything to us when you got back?"
"Actually, they're both connected…" And he told her the stories, and she told him more of hers. Faye reflected that this had been the most intimate night of her life—not just physically, but emotionally. And, departing from their usual style of conversation, not once did she and Jet argue. Eventually, the conversation waned, and Faye wrapped herself around Jet' flesh arm, clutching it fiercely like a little girl hugging a teddy bear, and she drifted off to sleep.
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Faye awoke gradually, finding herself in Jet's cabin, in his bed, again. She wasn't too shocked at that. Then she remembered everything they had done last night.
It was her fault, she supposed. Well, of course it's your fault! You keep inviting yourself into his bed!She supposed it was a little his fault, too. He hadn't put up much of a fight.
Always she felt guilt the morning after, intertwining with her sense of lingering pleasure. The guilt was, she mused, something to do with religion. Damn—if there was one bad thing about meeting Maybelle, it was that her statement of her moral standards had caused Faye to doubt her own. That, and her increasing glimpses of her past as a good and chaste schoolgirl. If not for those things, Faye probably wouldn't have felt guilty.
Where was Jet anyway? Faye doubted he had left her. She was still on board his ship, after all.
Just then, Jet walked into the room, carrying a tray laden with juice and eggs. "I made you breakfast in bed," he explained sheepishly.
Faye smiled. "Oh, how sweet! No one's ever done that for me before!"
And as she began to dine, she understood maybe it had been wrong not to wait, but at least Jet would stick around.
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Jet tended his bonsai plants, his blissful mood disintegrating into a more foul and disturbed one. You had her last night—that doesn't mean you'll be able to keep her. Soon as some pretty boy with a full head of hair starts looking her way, you'll be history.
He stared at the plants, looking like tortured, twisted souls, growing in spite of all the pain. Like her and me..and Spike. Trying to think lighter thoughts, he mused, Ed wouldn't be a bonsai, though. Hmmm, maybe a Venus flytrap. Yeah, I can see her as that.
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As she wandered the ship in an idle daze, Faye realized she felt altered now. In fact, the very air around her seemed altered. She somehow knew a new era, a third era, of her life had begun. Era one was her old life in Singapore, decades ago. Era two was everything since she had come out of cold sleep. She supposed joining the Bebop crew should count as the start of a new era—maybe part B of era two, she decided. That life had died with Spike.
She sighed, remembering how it was here that she had revealed to Spike that Julia wanted to see him. She had thought she was being magnanimous by doing so. She should have been selfish and never told him.
Jet was in his bansai room, and he heard her sigh. "Spike?" he guessed.
Faye hesitated in answering. "I—"
"It's okay. Neither of us will forget that bastard. That's just the way it is." He rested his chin on his artificial fist. Faye knew he was going to say something, so she waited.
"Last night," he said finally. "Was it just a fluke?"
"No, I—" she began softly.
"Or was it just to forget Spike?"
"Spike's history," she said, stretching her arms behind her head and feigning a yawn. "I got over him a long time ago."
"It's only been a month," Jet pointed out.
"Oh," she said sourly. Then her tone rose. "Why are you asking me this?" she yelled defensively. "What about you? Was it all just catharsis for your pent-up emotions?"
"Are you saying I'm the one who did it to forget Spike?" Jet asked, incredulous.
"It's possible!"
"Look, I just want to be sure we know what we're getting into."
She didn't want it all to be a fluke. She felt that somehow she now knew Jet better than anyone else, and he in turn knew her more intimately than anyone else. Which was most likely untrue, but still, she felt it. She felt warmth. And it was about time there was some warmth on this cold ship. She leaned down and draped her arms around his shoulders. "If it all was just catharsis or a fluke, it'll fizzle out soon enough, and then we'll know. But I was lonely; you were lonely—"
"Could it have been anyone last night?"
This startled her. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Wouldn't you have rather had someone better looking than me?"
"Stop it! Jet, it had to be you. It wouldn't have been the same with some generic 'hunk'. You care about me, and I care about you."
"Do you love me?"
"Huh?" Her cheeks flushed.
He knew she had heard. "Well?"
"I'm not..sure yet. I hope I do."
"Never mind. That's an honest answer, and it'll do for now."
She figured if she had to answer these tough questions, so did he. She stood at his side, running her finger along his face. "Do you..love me?"
He was silent a moment, staring straight ahead.
"Well?"
He sighed. "Yeah."
"I knew it! For how long?"
He thought back. He wasn't about to tell her now—maybe some day down the road—but he believed the turning point in his feelings for her, when he had gone from indifference to crush, had been the rigged dice game that resulted in everything of his belonging to her, including his clothing. True, she had been cold and conniving, but that game had aroused him as much as mortified him. Seemed crazy, though, which is why he didn't want to mention it to her. Then, shortly after, when she ran away to Callisto, and he searched for her like one would search after a lost lover—that cemented his newfound feelings.
"I don't know," Jet said finally. "Certainly not when we first met. I didn't even like you then. But somewhere along the way—before all this happened with Spike getting killed."
Faye felt her heart melt. "Oh, Jet, you're so sweet!" She kissed him.
"Don't you go advertising that to the galaxy," he warned crankily. "Criminals aren't afraid of bounty hunters who are 'sweet'."
"Why, you're bashful!" she exclaimed, noticing his face had turned red. "This is a whole new side of you I'm seeing."
"After last night, there's not many sides left you haven't seen."
"You know, you have a self esteem problem," Faye said with a smile.
"So do you."
"Comes from being used, I guess."
"I know that feeling," he remarked. "We're not that different, you and I. Even though you'd think it at first glance. We work at the same profession; we're tough and jaded. We smoke and like a stiff drink now and then. And we've got a weakness for games of chance."
"Especially the ponies," Faye said with a smile. "You know, we can help each other out with our common problems."
Jet feigned innocence. "How?"
She leaned in closer. "Like this," she said softly, before placing her lips on his.
A signal sounded over the ship's intercom. The Bebop was ready to exit the space gate. Faye and Jet pulled apart reluctantly.
"Time to find Edward," Jet announced.
And her little dog, too," Faye added.
He stood, and turned to go to the control room. Faye stood still for a moment, then caught up with him. "Jet, wait!" He stopped and looked back at her. "This—you and I—this isn't just a passing thing. Maybe I'm not sure yet how much I love you, but..I feel different now." Like an innocent bride on her honeymoon. "Everything's different and we can't go back. I think we can make things work. We know each other well—it's not like we have illusions about each other. I'll give it a go."
He grinned. "Well, I never was one to pass up a challenge, either."
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Edward and Ein had made their way back to the ruins of Singapore. They sat now at the base of the old merlion fountain that had once been the landmark of a proud and advanced city-state. "Look, Ein, there's the Bebop!" Edward pointed. Ein barked as they watched the ship descend.
Edward felt her heart burst with both happiness and sadness. She couldn't figure out her conflicting feelings, so she switched to Françoise. "I hope they will accept me, Françoise, as they did Edward. Yes, that would make me almost happy."
Ein panted and would have wagged his tail if he had one.
The two ran to the ship and waited for Jet and Faye to disembark. Still being Françoise, Edward stood back and let the dog greet the two adults first. Ein was so excited to see Jet that he peed at the man's feet. Jet crossed his arms. "Well, if it isn't the little dog who deserted the man who fed him."
Ein whined, then looked up at Jet and smiled, his tongue hanging out. He held up a paw as his offering a handshake.
Jet leaned down and took the paw with his mechanical hand, patting Ein's head with his flesh hand. "Oh, okay. I never could stay mad at a dog anyway."
SJ came out. The two dogs sniffed each other. SJ growled. Ein barked with authority, and the younger dog whined and rolled over on his back. And that was the end of that.
Faye beckoned the girl closer. "Edward, look at you! It hasn't been too long and you've grown." Françoise self-consciously put a hand over one of her breasts. "You're becoming a young lady." Faye hugged the child, which confused Edward so much that she squirmed out of Faye's hands like a hyperactive puppy.
She quickly became her alter ego again. She made a slight bow to Jet. "Hello, I'm Françoise."
"I know," Jet said. "We've met."
"Françoise hopes she will find a place aboard your ship," she continued in a polite and regal tone.
"Oh, Edward, we've all changed," Faye cooed, wrapping herself around Jet's flesh arm and resting her head against him in an intimate manner. "It's okay."
The girl stared open-mouthed at Faye and Jet.
"What?" Faye wondered.
"Are you two in love?"
"Well…"
The kid didn't wait for an answer. The thought of them being in love amused her so much she instantly bounded back into her Edward persona, and fell on her back, laughing to the sky. She then jumped up and skipped in circles around the two adults, singing that treasured standard, "Jet and Faye-Faye sitting in a tree/K-I-S-S-I-N-G/First comes love, then comes marriage/Here comes Faye-Faye with a baby carriage!" She then launched into her own little ditty about all being fair in love and war. Finally, she exhausted herself, so she plopped down, and patted and prodded SJ. "Ooh, another little doggie."
"Now that's the Edward I know," Jet remarked.
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On board the ship, Edward ran to Spike's cabin, as if to confirm he was no longer there. "Everything's the same." She must have been Françoise for the moment; she said it so solemnly. "Like he'll come back."
"We haven't touched it much," Faye said, coming up behind her and laying a hand on her shoulder. "I suppose that someday we may need the cabin for something else."
"Like a room for your baby!"
"Edward, we have no plans for a baby."
"Ha! Maybe baby has plans for you."
Faye felt a queer feeling in the pit of her stomach. What if Edward was right? She and Jet had acted purely on impulse; they had taken no precautions.
"Do not worry, Faye-Faye! Edward and Françoise will babysit! We'll take turns!"
"Well, that's good to know, I suppose."
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Faye and Edward were in the living room of the ship, but the Bebop had not taken off yet. "Edward, while you've been in town, did you see a wheelchair-bound old lady named Sally Yung?"
"Hey, hey, I'm Edward, you never know where I'll be found," sang the girl, spinning on the floor. "So you better get ready, I may be coming to your town."
"Can I speak to Françoise?"
The girl sighed. "Françoise speaking."
"Sally Yung?"
"Yeah, I know where she is." Françoise stood up. "C'mon," she said tiredly.
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Ed and Faye stopped in front of a stairway and adjacent ramp leading underground. A sign posted out front read in English, Chinese, Arabic, and some Indian script, "Singapore Home for the Aged." "If she be anywhere, Ed know she be in here," Ed proclaimed, delighting in her bad grammar.
"Well, it's worth trying." Faye warily placed a foot on the first step. Ed, meanwhile, sat down on the ramp and tried to slide down it. It wasn't slippery enough, so she scooted down instead.
After telling the woman at the head desk that they were looking for Sally, they were let into a TV room, where several elderly men and women were gathered around. "Why, Faye, you've come back," Sally greeted from the living room. "I knew you'd come back. Didn't I say so, Mei Ling?"
Another old woman gasped. Faye was afraid she had given her a heart attack. Obviously, another comrade of days gone by. Faye would need to be prodded to remember which playmate she had been; she wasn't a child anymore.
The room was silent for a moment, maybe two.
Then the old woman hoisted herself off of the couch and walked slowly over to her. She grasped Faye's hands in her own. "Faye, don't tell me you forget your best friend, Mei Ling?"
"Mei…" Faye began hesitantly. "Mei..Mei..Mei Mei!" Faye remembered. She used to call Mei Ling "Mei Mei" just like Ed sometimes called her Faye Faye.
In fact, Ed started bouncing around the room, yelling, "Mei Mei Faye Faye!" over and over, annoying most of the residents.
"Would you please tell your daughter to quiet down?" demanded an angry nurse.
Faye looked at her quizzically.
"Your sister, then," the receptionist attempted to correct.
"Partner in crime!" Ed shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.
"Ed, be quiet!" Faye ordered. "This is not the time or the place for silliness."
"Is it?" Ed returned.
Faye glared at her. Sulking, Ed—or Françoise—sat down on the floor.
"You don't have much in the way of memories of me, do you, Faye?" Mei Ling asked.
"My memories are coming back gradually," Faye confessed. "A little more each day. I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
" I was hoping you could fill in some of the blanks."
"I'll try my best, dear, but my memory's starting to go just as yours is coming back." The way she gestured with her hand took Faye back half a century, and she saw Mei as a teen, with black hair and unwrinkled face. Dear she had called Faye. Like an old woman talking to a young woman would. Yet Faye couldn't quite bring herself to think of Mei as grandmotherly, when she had known her as a contemporary, peer, and childhood friend. This is like a sci-fi episode where people you know as young age overnight. "There's so much to cover, you know. I don't know what you remember and what you don't. Come, let's go to my room where we can talk in private."
Faye followed the slowly walking elderly woman to a small room, and Ed came along, because she was not about to be left out of anything.
Mei Ling sat down on the edge of her bed, watching as Faye glanced at photos on the wall and placed atop bureaus and tables. An Asian man was with Mei Ling in many of them—Faye gathered that that was her husband. He had short hair, a round face, and a friendly smile. He seemed familiar. "Let's start with him," she decided. "I know him from somewhere."
"Of course you do, dear. That's Ke. You had a crush on him in high school, and in college he was your sweetheart."
Faye flashbacked—her and her schoolmates giggling. "Faye likes Ke!" "Oh, I do not!" Ke stepping closer. "Did somebody mention my name?" Faye blushing and her classmates giggling some more. "Ke—how could I forget! We used to talk about what our lives would be like together! Kids, careers, a home…" Her face was a portrait of regret and disbelief. "I forgot. I forgot all about him."
"Well.." Mei Ling began awkwardly. "I guess that's the effect being unconscious for five decades has. It's not your fault."
Faye said nothing, her eyes unfocused, a sigh escaping her lips.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," Mei Ling said, breaking her out of her reverie. "I know how tight you once were. But I married him."
"Oh, that's okay, Mei Ling!" Faye knelt down by her old schoolmate. "You must have known I would be gone for too long. I'm just glad the two of you have been there for each other for a lifetime."
"He died four years ago," she said. "Too bad—it would have tickled him to see you again."
"Or maybe it would have reopened an old wound."
"Ke never forgot you. It took him awhile to get back on his feet."
Faye sat down on the bed. "When I came out of cold sleep, they gave me the name Faye Valentine. The Faye part is obviously correct, but I don't think the Valentine is."
Mei Ling shook her head. "Valentine. Not even close. That's not even of the same ethnicity."
"So what is my surname?"
Ed, who had been sitting on the floor, scrunched into a dusty corner, looked around curiously.
"Why," Mei Ling answered. "It's Wong."
Ed jumped up. "Wong? As in Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the Fourth? That means Faye is Ed's mother!"
"Ed, I was in cold sleep when you were conceived!"
Ed jumped into Faye's lap. "Read Edward a story, Mommy!"
"No! Now get off of me!"
"What relation is she to you?" Mei Ling wondered. "A friend?"
Faye sighed. "It's a long story."
"And you will tell it all to Ed!"
"Ed, you already know your own story."
Mei, pointing to her head, leaned in closer to Faye and whispered, "Is she quite well?"
"I don't think so, but no one's ever checked."
"Faye is Ed's Mommy," Ed chirped. "And Jet is my Daddy. And real father person Apple Dairy is—is a relative! And Spike is the dead dad..the deadbeat dad."
"How many fathers can one child have?" Mei Ling wondered.
"And Ein is Ed's dog!" Ed put a hand on Faye's belly. "And baby is my brother/sister."
Mei Ling's eyes widened. "You're expecting?"
"Not that I know if," Faye answered. "Ed's just got this idea and she's obsessed with it." Wanting to get off the subject, Faye asked, "Did they tell you—did they tell any of you—when I would be thawed out?"
"They kept lengthening the time—from a couple of years to maybe twenty years. Then you were to be moved to another facility—your parents didn't know yet or didn't tell us which one. Then came the meteor showers. A chunk of moon destroyed your house and your parents were killed."
"Oh!" Faye gasped, as though it had just happened.
"The other Singapore Sisters eventually moved to new worlds. Ke searched for you, and I helped him, but it was useless."
"My records got obliterated in the gate accident. Or so they tell me."
"Even after we were married, Ke would sometimes follow up on a new lead," Mei Ling continued. "So you see, my dear, you weren't forgotten. There are people out there who care for you."
She must have known me well, Faye thought. She sees what I am feeling. "Did I have time to say goodbye to anyone? The last I can remember was being on the shuttle when it had an accident."
"That's all there is," Mei Ling told her sadly. "They were in a rush to freeze you. You were never allowed to awaken or say if you wanted to be kept frozen..to, well, when Hell freezes over."
"And I never saw my parents or Ke again…"
There was silence for a moment. Then Mei Ling wondered aloud, "Why did they wait so long before waking you, Faye? And what have you been doing since then? Where have you gone? Who has been your friends, your family?" Large tears rolled out of both of her eyes.
"Oh, don't cry for me, Mei Mei!" Faye chided, then froze as she again flashbacked. Happy evenings at the dinner table with her mother and father. "What did you learn in school today, honey?" "About keeping healthy. I think I wanna be a doctor when I grow up." Sleepovers with her faithful group of friends, and laughter. Putting all their hands on top of one another: "And we, the Singapore Sisters, will be the best of friends forever." Ke asking, "Will you love me forever, Faye?" "Oh, yes, Ke. Forever. But not a day longer!" She sighed. The values she had once had—she had betrayed them all. She had never even slept with Ke.
"I haven't been alone these past few years!" she continued to reassure. Then she fast-forwarded several years. Whitney: "I fell in love with Sleeping Beauty..No. I'm lying. It's just another lie." Spike deriding her story of her past that she told to Ein, as if it were all one big lie. Like he could care. A thug holding a gun at her head. Spike aiming back, his eyes as cold as ice. And where was Jet anyway? Wasn't he even concerned? Spike refusing to be manipulated by the thug's implied threat of blowing Faye's brains out—instead simply and skillfully shooting the man, splattering blood on Faye's face. Faye liked to think he had come to her rescue. She almost had herself convinced. But she realized that was not why he had come—he had had an ulterior motive. Her life had been so devoid of tenderness, compassion, love…
She found herself sobbing on Mei Ling's shoulder. "There, there, dear," the old lady cooed, patting her back.
"Faye-Faye crying," Ed said, not sounding sure if she was Edward or Françoise at the moment.
Faye looked up at the girl. There was genuine concern in the waif's eyes. Faye's memory called up more images. Ein licking her feet. Waking from her cult-induced trance to find Spike waiting for her. Being held in Jet's arms after making love, talking about anything and everything…He had been so tender with her, unlike any of her callous past lovers. Jet—and Edward and Ein, even Spike—they did care after all, you know. At least they had come to care.
Was it her or were they at fault for all those months of indifference? All those times she had run away. "You were afraid of them betraying you, so you betrayed them. You distanced yourself from the whole thing." Faye thought of how Maybelle had extended the offer of friendship and family. But Faye realized she had to play a part in forging deeper relationships.
Faye raised her head. "I'll be alright. I may be over seventy years old, but look at me—I've still got my whole life ahead of me."
"That's the way to look at it," Mei Ling encouraged.
"I've got Edward, and Ein, and..that other dog. What's-his-face. Oh, SJ. I've got a new man in my life, Sally. He's a bit more rough and tumble than Ke, but…he's a good man. It may be a gamble, but this time I'm gonna make sure everything works out. This time I'm gonna win."
"What's his name?"
"Jet. He's good to me. Tell me…"
"Yes, dear?"
"What was I like back then?"
"You don't remember?"
"I remember some of it, but..how did others see me? How did you see me? I know I was different than the person I am now."
Mei Ling thought carefully for a moment before speaking. "You were alive, vivacious. You didn't hide your emotions. You laughed loudly and cried loudly, and always spoke your mind. You were always into mischief—" Here Mei Mei's eyes themselves took on a mischievous glint. "I don't mean trouble with drugs or sex or crime. You just had a tendency to wind up in a mess. Like the time you kidnapped our rival team's mascot."
Faye, mouth agape, held up a finger. "Wait! Don't tell me…It was a little gray parrot with a red tail!"
"Good, you remember!"
"That thing bit me a dozen times," Faye recalled. "Then it chewed me out. It was hardly worth the effort." Faye drew her knees up so that she was sitting in a cross-legged pose on the floor. "That's what I thought. That I wasn't into stuff like illicit sex or, or petty crime. Oh…I've been bad, Mei Mei! You wouldn't even like me anymore if I confessed half of what I've done."
"Well, you smoke now," Mei Ling said lightly. "My nose told me that. But you've always bounced back. It used to be nothing was impossible for you." She smiled. "'Don't lose, me!' That's a cheer you came up with a long time ago. Do you remember that?"
Faye chuckled. "I do, actually."
"Besides, Lu Ann got busted for red eye possession. Ming-Na got pregnant before marriage. It's not like all the Singapore Sisters remained pristine. I myself had a drinking problem at one time."
"Tell me more. Where did all the other girls go to?"
"Mars, Venus, Ganymede…"
"I'll never see them…" Faye trailed off, staring at a photo on the wall, of a young Ke and Mei Ling, Mei Ling holding a baby on her lap. Ke looked the same in the photo as Faye now remembered him.
"That was when our first child was born. Emily," Mei Mei explained.
Faye put a finger on Ke's face, as though she could reach across time and touch him, let him know she was alright. Ke, what anguish you must have gone through. Choosing whether to get on with your life or not. I can't say you made the wrong decision.
"Faye, seeing you here, as young as when I last saw you—well, it's like time travel!"
"Too bad they don't have a time travel option to go with cold sleep," Faye remarked wryly. "So I could go back and live the life that was stolen from me. Naah, that's foolish!"
"Why?"
"You wouldn't have Ke to marry. Your children and grandchildren wouldn't have been born. And I wouldn't be there for Jet."
"You know, they say that 'all things work together for good'.." Mei Ling walked over to a small chest of drawers. She opened the top one, and pulled out a handful of photos. She leafed through them quickly, then handed two to Faye. "Here. I want you to have these."
Faye looked at the first photograph. It was of Ke, of course, and he was with not Mei Mei, but herself. The younger Faye was dressed in a red formal gown, and Ke in a tuxedo. A school dance, Faye figured. She would remember more later. The second photo had her in a cheerleader outfit, and Ke in a basketball uniform that exposed his well-toned arms. "I would love to keep these, Mei Mei," she began earnestly. "But..I've got to put the past behind me. My friend Spike didn't, and he died for it."
Sally wisely waved the notion aside. "It doesn't hurt to remember and cherish the past. Just don't live in it."
Faye smiled. "Okay. Thank you."
Mei Ling clasped Faye's hands. "This way you'll always remember the boy who never forgot you."