Installment Twenty-Seven

Finally, I received confirmation that life does exist on the other side of the world and it doesn't necessarily have to be screamed at me.

The phone rang early this morning with my so-called BFF in Beijing on the other end of the line. In all this time, she has not communicated with me.

I had stopped trying to get any news out of her when my barrage of e-mail messages went unanswered. I would have phoned but who can afford it? I'm not on skype because I'm still stealing my WiFi signal and I don't want to push my luck.

Sam (short for Samantha) was wondering why she had not heard from me in all these months. I felt faint, overpowered yet again by my own on-going personal existential nightmare over e-mail: I don't know what I don't know. Messages don't arrive and I don't know if they have been sent.

Send in Camus. The clowns are welcome too.

Sam had taken to the phone lines because she had just heard the news that Brian had arrived in Beijing.

"What the fuck is going on, Joelly?"

"Nice to hear your voice too, Sam."

"Seriously, how are you?"

"Never better." Another great ambiguous phrase to add to my list.

Sam then filled me in on the local expat reaction, giving me the dinner party skinny, to Brian's presence in China which can be summed up in one word: delicious. So perfect for good gossip. Then she carried forth on the latest dinner party/ball/coffee morning/cocktail party to the point that I actually felt relief for not having had to attend any of the events.

Martin always insisted we go to everything. Expats, especially in locations where servants come with the house, are not that different from the colonials who lived the high life off the backs of the local culture.

These days, though, China is dramatically different. The nouveau-riche Chinese entrepreneurs are spending their new money like expats had always done on their shores (and offshore too, buying up properties on the west coast of Canada according to newspaper accounts.) Fancy cars had long ago replaced the quaint bicycles; restaurants that once only served noodles offer Asian-African fusion food. Okay I made that up.

"Seriously Joelly," Sam was still nattering at me. "Are you divorced yet? The rumour around here is that Martin plans to marry that girl!"

Thinking of Edna's change of heart regarding her will and Martin's health issues, all I could think was: hurray! She can have him. I held my tongue.

"Sam, I need a favour. It concerns Brian. He's going to live with them..."

"...I know! That's what has everyone buzzing. She is the same age as Brian, right? Or close?"

"Listen to me, Sam," I said, ignoring her last comment. "I need Brian to know he has another place to go if it doesn't work out with the happy couple. Can I give him your number?"

"Of course you can! What are best friends for?"

I could think of a lot ways I could have used my best friend these past months.

Conveniently for any future for our friendship, the line went dead.