Geoff Ryman - Air (or Have Not Have)

Mae sent the form to the Sloop, the telephone engineer in Yeshiboz-kent who had first tried to explain TV to her. He helped her with difficult encoding. For a fee. How was she supposed to make money from this?

Mae sighed and thought about breakfast.

She went downstairs and was surprised to see Siao and Old Mr Chung were up this early and at breakfast. Then she saw the time. It was eight-thirty a.m. Siao had his head in his hands.

Siao held out a paper towards Mae. 'Your brother,' he said, shaking his head.

'What has he done now?' Mae was prepared to be breezy about her brother. He was inconvenient, like burnt porridge and a pan that needed to be scrubbed.

Siao's face curled inward on itself, lips disappearing. 'You will not believe it. He is claiming your business.'

'What! How can he do that?' Mae made the face she got when she shooed midges from her eyes, a squinting and a shaking of the head.

Siao read the letter to Mae. It was a from a city lawyer.

Under section 99.54 of the Worldly Property Act, it is evident that Madam Chung Mae, having deserted her husband, has no claims on the family property. The residence Down Court 2 on Lower Street having been sold, this leaves only the family's business interests. Since Mr Chung Joe has residence in Balshang, plainly the family business in fashion, Net design, and clothes production has been taken over by his deserting wife, who has no legal entitlement to it.

Mrs Chung has shown continual lack of judgement and bizarre behaviour since an unfortunate incident resulting from the Air Test. This has been fully documented; see affidavits from Dr Bauschu, who attests to an induced schizophrenia following the Test.

Mrs Chung's bizarre behaviour has included attacking a village elder with cleavers, desertion of her husband, an illicit love affair, and a complete rejection of her own maiden family, causing her elderly mother great distress.

As male head of her family, I therefore claim immediate control of all these business interests in order to preserve and protect them and to put them under rightful management…

Hatred came to Mae – pure and whole and all-consuming. She sat down with a bump. Ju-mei was very lucky that he was not in the room, for she would surely have picked up her cleavers again.

'I cannot believe this. He can do that?'

'It is an old law. It is to avoid women taking over things. But the law exists.'

'I will kill him!'

'That will just leave you in prison.'

Siao lit a cigarette and looked Mae in the eyes. 'How much do you trust me?' he asked.

Mae blinked at the unexpected question. 'I don't know. I have never had to trust you, Siao.'

He nodded, and his eyes turned momentarily inward towards himself. He had not made himself present before. 'We could say that this is a Chung family business. And that therefore Mr Wang can keep his nose out of it.'

Mae could see why he had asked. 'We could indeed.' And she did indeed feel mistrust. She did not want Joe or Siao taking it over, either.

'I could say it is Chung family business, and that Ju-mei may be a head of family, but it is the wrong family. We could say that whether you are suitable or not, is not for him or his lawyer to say.'

Old Mr Chung shook his head. 'They take everything away.'

'Not if we don't let them, Papa,' said Siao.

'We will need a lawyer,' said Mae. 'Lawyers know people, they know how the government works. Inshallah!' She put her own head in her hands. 'Oh, I do not need this! I tell you, all of this will drive me mad!'

'I should not say things like that for a while,' said Siao.

Mae went to her machine and voicemailed Kwan. Kwan gave her the name of a lawyer, and suggested that it might be better if she, Kwan, wrote the letter.

'Mae, when you get angry you sometimes say things.'

'I never want to see any of my family ever again.'

'That is exactly what I mean.'

Kwan produced a draft in her own name, writing as a member of the Circle. It was the complete expression of a reasonable, ladylike person, setting out a situation in which she herself had rights. The business apparently belonged to everyone in the Circle, including Kwan.

I hope, Mae thought, I am not about to have trouble with her too.

Siao looked pensive. 'That is another line to take, and perhaps even better than saying it is a Chung family business. But consider. It could be that Ju-mei does not do this because he thinks he can get the business. Maybe he just wants a cut.'

'He wants a cut, all right, I'll give him a cut. He knows nothing about Info, nothing about Air, nothing about anything, he is just jealous and always has been.'

'He is those things. You have to accept that. You can't change who your brother is.' Siao knew something about accepting difficult brothers.

Mae said nothing. Siao said, 'Mae, I don't think it's money he wants. I think he wants respect. That is why he is always in city overcoat and city hat. It is why he is an insurance agent up here in the hills, even though none of us can afford insurance.'

Mae was furious. 'I will never talk to him ever again. For me he ceases to live. A toad has more of my notice than that city suit of pretension and jealousy.'

'You and your sister ran the family,' said Siao. 'All he sees is his power-grabbing sister who is always, always, ahead of him, and he yearns, just once, to win. I would say that what he wants is for you to need him.'

' Tuh! Him? You are too nice, Siao. Ju-mei wants success and loot.'

'What a man wants more than anything else, Mae, is to be needed.' Siao's voice was very quiet. 'If a man is not needed he does one of two things. He gives up and becomes quiet and angry. Or he rages and becomes loud and angry. Both are the same.' Siao's eyes said, / know.

And Mae thought: He means himself.

She said, 'Ju-mei has his wife and child to need him.'

Siao shrugged. 'That will not be enough if you are a cloud over his head.'

'So. What do you suggest we do?'

'I suggest you spend no money on lawyers. That is what he wants you to do so that he can go to court and humiliate you.' Siao was thinking. 'You can apologize.'

'What!'

Siao could not help but smile. 'A-ha, you see, you like being right, too. You are both from the same family.'

'Apologize for what?'

'Lying to him.'

'I never lied to him.'

'Did you tell him about your plans for the business?'

'What? No! Of course not!'

'Ah, so you did not tell your own brother the truth. And what is not telling the truth, Mae?'

Mae was flabbergasted. 'But, but, it it it it…'

Siao was starting to chuckle. 'You hid the truth. Hiding the truth is a lie.'

'But it is not like I told him I was not doing any business! What business is it of his?'

'He is your brother. What he is doing is trying to make the law enforce that. Yes, he wants to do it in a way that hurts you, but that's because you have hurt him, and he thinks you must have done it deliberately. I know! You didn't do anything to hurt him deliberately. But you hurt him. What is he looking for here? To be head of family, and to be your brother. He knows in his heart that you married, and are no longer a Wang.'

'Tuh. He knows in his heart he wants money.'

'I know in his heart he wants much more than that. I tell you. Let me write the letter.' Siao could not resist a little joke. 'Women are so insensitive. They cannot understand a man's finer feelings.'

'Nonsense!' said Mae.

Siao touched the tip of the pencil to his tongue to begin writing. Siao enjoyed writing. Mae had never noticed that before.

My dearest brother,

I am sorry to have concealed all my business dealings from you. It was not honest to do so. I have lost much because of this. I have lost your aid and your counsel. Instead you have become my enemy at a time when I most need friends.