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Okay, that's fine. I think it was your Mom I spoke to last time. Vince nodded at
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her.
Sit down anywhere, Amy made an expansive gesture. You want some tea?
Tea would be nice. Laura tried to smile at her and the girl nodded and
scampered back behind the heavy brocade curtain.
They had barely seated themselves at one of the larger round tables when the girl
came back with a steaming pot of tea and several cups on a tray. An older Asian
man with graying hair followed her. He looked more like her grandfather than her
father, Laura thought as he seated himself slowly at the table across from them.
Amy began pouring and the fragrance of hot jasmine tea wafted gently through the
air. Vince pulled out his notepad and consulted it. Laura sipped her tea, trying to
brace herself for the intense emotions she felt brewing across the table.
Now, according to the notes I have, your daughter Ploi, was last seen here at
around nine o'clock on the evening of the eighth. She left the building, your
restaurant here, and wasn't seen again. But you, he nodded Amy who was
listening with round-eyed attention, found her scarf and two fresh Lepid scales
around the corner some thirty minutes later. Is that correct?
He waited a moment for the girl to translate , which she did in a high, tense voice.
Her father crossed his arms and glared at Vince and then spat something in rapid,
polysyllabic language that sounded like a handful of pebbles hitting the sidewalk.
Laura felt a flash of anger from him like a splatter of hot grease from a pan, it
almost made her spill her tea.
Amy looked back at her father and said something in a pleading tone but he only
crossed his arms and shook his head, glaring.
They watched the exchange like a tennis match. Finally Amy looked back at them
and shrugged.
He doesn't want to talk about it. He just keeps on saying that he has no older
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daughter so why should he care what happens to her?
What? Vince was plainly confused but Laura felt the complex mixture of anger
and sorrow coming from the old man, pouring down her throat like bitter
medicine. It made her feel like gagging but she took a deep breath and mastered
the impulse. She took another sip of her tea and looked at the girl in front of her.
What did your sister do? she asked Amy quietly. To make your father disown
her?
The girl's face twisted as though she was trying not to cry but the almond-shaped
eyes filled up anyway. Laura tasted the tears in her own throat and swallowed
hard.
She ... the night she disappeared she told my parents.... Amy glanced at her
father furtively but he still sat with his arms crossed and his chin raised, his face
like chiseled granite.
What did she tell them? Laura leaned forward although it intensified the
emotional charge and looked at the girl seriously.
Ploi, she was an honors student. Had a scholarship to University of Tampa. Amy
looked down at her own tea cup, speaking rapidly. My parents were so proud of
her. She was going to be a doctor. Then ... then she met this boy. A foreign
exchange student from Germany or somewhere. She thought he was so great.
More important than her future--that's what my Mom said.
Was she going to quit school, move in with this boy? What? Vince asked,
making a note with his light stylus on the pad in front of him.
Amy shook her head. No. She couldn't move in with him 'cause he already went
back to Germany. But, after he was gone my sister found out.... She bit her lip
and glanced again at her father as the almond-shaped eyes filled with fresh tears.
She found out she was pregnant. She was going to try to keep going to school but
she wanted my parents' support. I think my Mom might have listened but my Dad
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started yelling that she was a disgrace-- that she disgraced us all and he never
wanted to see her again. The tears spilled over, down her pale cheeks.
Laura lifted a hand to her own cheek and found she was crying as well.
What happened then? Your sister ran out? Vince's deep voice was gentle.
Amy nodded, tears streaming down her face unchecked. I was busy serving or I
would've gone to her sooner. I should've gone no matter what. She gulped and
wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm. By the time I got around the corner to
where she parked her car she was gone. Just ... gone. Nothing but those big scales
and then I knew ... knew I'd never see her again.
She broke down and sobbed, burying her face in her arms, her thin, bird-like
shoulders shaking with uncontrollable grief. Laura wanted to wail in sympathy.
The girl's pain was so fresh, so new....
Excuse me. She rose on unsteady legs, hoping Vince would understand, and
barely made it into the small, charmingly decorated ladies room in time.
After she finished she rinsed her mouth and ran some cool water over a paper
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