Page 190 of The Encore’s Crown

He raises both hands in surrender, then gestures toward the cake. Rithy cuts the first piece for her. Mrs. Chhim takes one bite and closes her eyes.

“Oh.”

Rithy leans across the island.

“Well?”

She chews slowly, making him suffer.

“Very good.”

Kiri takes the knife from him before he can butcher the next slice. He cuts three more pieces with surprising precision and slides one toward me. I barely have time to pick up my fork before Mrs. Chhim reaches into the frosting with one finger. Rithy sees it first.

“No.”

She smiles.

“Nose.”

“Ma. We’re grown men.”

“It is my birthday.”

Kiri sighs beside me with the defeated patience of someone who has fought this battle every year of his life. Rithy points at him.

“You first, golden boy.”

Kiri leans forward. Mrs. Chhim presses a neat dot of frosting onto the tip of his nose. His eyes close.

“Happy?”

“Almost.”

Then she turns to Rithy. He tries to dodge playfully, but she catches his chin and smears a larger dot across his nose. She lifts one frosting-covered finger toward me. I instinctively lean back. Kiri looks at me.

“She’ll chase you. Might as well surrender,” he says, wiping his own dot off with a napkin.

Mrs. Chhim nods seriously. Rithy wipes frosting from his nose with his thumb.

“She’s fast.”

I glance at Kiri.

“What's this?”

His expression softens.

“Ma always said it keeps sweetness in your life.”

She points at him.

“My grandmother.”

Kiri nods.

“When Ma was little, her grandmother used to make num kom. Sticky rice dumplings with coconut and palm sugar inside.”

Ma smiles at the memory.