Kiss and Die

by Lee Weeks

  ‘Mahmud Khan, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of a police officer.’ Mahmud stared at his lap. He was shaking. ‘Do you want to tell me what happened?’

  Mahmud shook his head.

  ‘Let me tell you then. You were caught by one of my officers in the act of escaping. You were found in possession of the assault weapon used to attack police officer Tammy Wang. Is that correct?’

  Mahmud nodded.

  ‘Is this yours?’ Mann picked up the knife; a two-bladed traditional martial arts knife now wrapped in polythene. He turned it over in his hands.

  Mahmud nodded again.

  Mann turned to Ng. ‘What do you think of this, Sergeant Ng?’ Mann and Ng were doing the ‘hard cop, soft cop’ routine. Mann rested his hands on the table and leaned over Mahmud. ‘Sergeant Ng is an expert in weapons and in martial arts,’ Mann lied. ‘He says this is a hard weapon to use, difficult. Don’t you, Sergeant?’

  ‘It takes some skill: double-bladed, serrated edges; it needs a strong arm to wield it. It needs a vicious mind. He doesn’t look the kind to me. He looks like a peaceful type.’

  Mahmud didn’t speak. He stared at the table. Mann slammed the knife down in front of Mahmud. He jumped. It rocked on the table. Mann leaned across and punched his fist, his fingers extended, into Mahmud’s lower abdomen and held it there and pressed into him. Mahmud doubled as the wind was knocked out of him. He tried to stand but Mann held him down.

  ‘Two entry points right here. Her stomach was punctured and her liver is perforated.’ Mann pushed Mahmud’s shoulders back into the chair and lifted his head by his hair. He held him there and looked into his eyes. ‘If she survives, she’ll be on a machine; she’ll need a liver transplant. That’s no life for a twenty-year-old, is it?’

  Mahmud didn’t answer. Mann let him go. ‘But neither is belonging to a Triad organization. They use people like you. Use them to do their dirty work and then they throw them away and get another one – as easy as that.’

  Mahmud sat staring at the knife in front of him as if it terrified him. Mann sat back down opposite him again.

  ‘Why didn’t you run with the rest of them?’ Mahmud didn’t answer. ‘You don’t have to worry, you know.’ Mahmud looked up. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t understand what Mann was getting at. ‘About your gang, the Outcasts. You don’t have to worry about the other members of your gang or the Wo Shing Shing. You don’t have to worry about them or the Sun Yee On either. Shall I tell you why?’ Mahmud’s eyes flicked up towards Mann’s. ‘Because you are never going to see any of them again. You’re not going to see your family either. That wasn’t just a Triad you knifed. That was one of my officers.’

  Mann got up and paced about the room, then came to stand behind Mahmud, just out of his range of vision. ‘Your dad is really proud of you. He says you can read and write Mandarin. He says you will be a doctor someday. What do think of that, Sergeant?’ Mann addressed Ng.

  ‘I think he’s going to break his old man’s heart,’ Ng answered.

  ‘Yes, that’s true. You know why?’ Mahmud didn’t answer but his eyes darted around the room. ‘Because the only medical career you’ll be pursuing is stitching up your own arse when it gets split from having too many hard cocks up it. But don’t worry, you’ll get used to taking it – you’re going to be in there for the rest of your life.’

  Mahmud shifted uneasily in his chair.

  ‘So what made you take the oath? Why become a Triad? Or is your brother Hafiz the one I should be talking to? He was with you that night, wasn’t he?’

  Mahmud shook his head but he looked down at the table.

  ‘What about your girlfriend, Lilly Mendoza? Did she tell you to target the girl? Are you protecting Lilly?’

  Mahmud looked up at Mann, hopelessness in his eyes. ‘I don’t know anything. Lilly’s a friend, that’s all. She’s not my girlfriend. Hafiz wasn’t there. I don’t know how I came to have the knife in my hand. Someone handed it to me, that’s all.’ Mahmud looked close to tears. ‘I hope she’s okay, the young woman, the officer. I’m sorry.’

  Mann turned as Mia stood in the doorway. Her face said it all. Tammy was dead.

  Chapter 60

  Shrimp sat on the mosque steps. Amongst the neon and brashness of Nathan Road whose buildings bulged and leant like collapsing card houses, it was white and beautifully uniform: an oasis on the eye. It was a perfect square, a white dome in the centre, towers at each corner, it had arched windows running along each face.

  Shrimp had got a text from Nina asking him to meet her at lunchtime. He had arranged to meet with David first. David came down the steps from prayer and sat beside Shrimp. He shook Shrimp’s hand.

  ‘Have you brought me any news of my brother?’

  Shrimp shook his head. ‘Not yet, I’m sorry. How are things at the Mansions?’

  David didn’t answer for a few minutes. They sat on the steps and watched the people hurry by. He shook his head. ‘Things are bad. Very bad. My friends and I will have to take action soon. We have no choice now. They are children but they are killers. They meet on the rooftop at night. They wear their weapons openly in the day. No one stops them. They rule the Mansions now. But, they forget, where we come from, we are used to fighting, street battles. We are used to death. We will arm ourselves and fight to live.’

  ‘When they have the meetings on the roof, do you go there?’

  David shook his head. ‘To go there would mean death, my friend. They would eat you like hungry piranhas. But, since we talked I have watched the people very closely. I see a woman come and go, beautiful, in disguise. She keeps her head down so that I cannot look into her eyes but I know she belongs with them, even though she is older. I think that is the woman you talk about. She is the leader.’

  ‘Is she Chinese?’

  ‘I don’t know. She hides her face but her skin is paler than most. She wears nice shoes. I notice things like shoes, it’s what I trade in.’

  Shrimp looked at his watch. ‘I have to go now. Keep watching for me, David, and I will keep looking for your brother.’

  Shrimp left David, crossed the road and made his way up the stairs in block B, fifth floor.

  He stood as he saw her approach. He almost didn’t recognize her. She was wearing jeans. ‘Nina?’ She came down the stairs as he was coming up.

  She smiled nervously. ‘Hello. Thank you for coming. I’m sorry if it’s been inconvenient.’ Her long hair was loose. It fell around her shoulders.

  ‘Of course not; it’s no trouble.’ Shrimp felt his heart hammer inside his checked shirt. He had chosen to wear his vintage American cowboy boots beneath his Levi’s. ‘I didn’t recognize you, sorry. I was really glad to get your text.’ Shrimp felt his face turning red. ‘You look lovely.’

  ‘I can wear jeans sometimes.’

  ‘You look lovely whatever you wear.’

  ‘I can’t go outside the Mansions like this. But I can wear it for you, here,’ she smiled.

  In the ill-lit stairwell Shrimp couldn’t get over her beauty.

  ‘We can sit here, if that’s okay.’ She led him to the stairs. They sat on the concrete stairwell in the shadows.

  ‘Anywhere will be fine. Is everything all right? Your text sounded urgent.’

  ‘My brother, Mahmud? I worry about him constantly. The whole family is distraught. My grandmother cries all the time. My father cannot work without stopping every few minutes to say prayers. We are still hoping that Mahmud will come home any day. How is he? Have you seen him?’

  ‘He’s been moved. I wasn’t there when he was interviewed but he didn’t say a lot. He needs to help himself. But…’ he looked at her face, ‘…I will go and see him for you.’

  ‘We are all stuck in our own way here, but Mahmud – he has everything. He will be someone. He is innocent. He doesn’t need help from Victoria Chan or anyone.’

  ‘Has she promised you things?’

  ‘Yes. She has…she
promised us a lot.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘My father dreams of a beautiful new restaurant. Ali thinks he will be a billionaire before he is thirty.’

  ‘And Hafiz?’

  She shook her head. ‘I know what you’re thinking about Hafiz. But he doesn’t listen to me. Now he talks about these people as his new family. He has a new phone. He has money in his pocket. I can’t blame him wanting more.’

  ‘What about you, Nina, what do you want?’

  They heard doors banging on another floor, music drifting up from below. They heard muted conversations in other languages. Her eyes glued onto his. In the dark stairwell he wanted to reach for her but he didn’t dare.

  ‘I want to find happiness. I want to feel happy.’ She had a package of food for him. ‘I brought you something to eat. Here…’ She unfolded a napkin with two samosas inside; the smell of cumin burst out into the rank air. They sat with arms touching on the cramped stairwell. Shrimp ate the samosas.

  ‘Thanks for the food. You’re a fantastic cook.’

  ‘Thank you. I love cooking.’

  ‘Have you been back to cook curries for Rizal?’

  Nina looked anxious at the mention of it. ‘No. Lilly will have to do it. Is Michelle coming home soon?’

  ‘I don’t know. She’s in a lot of trouble. She’s suspected of having murdered someone.’

  ‘I don’t know what’s happening to the Mansions. They’re falling apart. All the nice people are being put in prison, all the bad ones left out. It’s not right.’

  Nina fiddled with her hair; Shrimp rested his elbows on his knees and struggled to think of what to say. He felt more nervous than he had felt for a long time.

  They turned at the sound of a door banging on the next landing. Nina smiled at his concerned expression. ‘Don’t worry. No one will see me. I know the Mansions well. I was born here. I know the stairwells and the landings; I can get away if I need to.’

  They looked at one another and exchanged an awkward smile.

  ‘Do you live with your brothers?’

  ‘No. I live with my grandmother in a flat on the fifth floor. Do you have a girlfriend, Li?’ She looked away as she asked.

  ‘Call me Shrimp, please, everyone does. No,’ he looked at her and looked away, ‘I don’t, right now; my work kind of takes over most of the time. I like going out though, like a boogie. What about you? Do you get out? Your brother said you were going to be married next month.’

  Nina became agitated. ‘Anything could happen between now and then. The arrangements are being made. I have to go along with it but I don’t intend to go through with it.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  She gave a small shrug of her shoulders. ‘Run away? I don’t know yet. It’s not fair. I am being given to an old friend of my father’s. He’s an old man.’

  ‘Don’t you have a say?’

  ‘No. I should be married by now but when my mother died everything changed. I took over the running of the restaurant. The last few years have been difficult for all of us. I am old to be unmarried.’ She was getting increasingly more uncomfortable. ‘Sorry, I have to go now.’

  Shrimp jumped up beside her. Before he had time to think of something to say, Nina reached up, kissed him on his cheek.

  ‘Meet me here tomorrow, same time?’

  ‘Nina?’ Shrimp called to her as she disappeared.

  She stopped and ran back to him. ‘Yes?’

  ‘I am sorry if I caused offence or said anything wrong. I like you.’

  She giggled. ‘I know.’

  Chapter 61

  Mahmud sat in his cell. He’d come back from the hospital. He was shaking from the shock of having his left arm broken in two places. Not even the Mansions could prepare him for the remand centre. He was inside with so many young Triads who were used to the streets. The gang warfare continued inside the prison walls. He’d been beaten in a race attack, because he was an Indian who had killed a Chinese.

  He sat on his bed, clutching the edge, and stared at the door, listening to the clanging of closing doors and the taunts of the prisoners. He listened to the horrible screams of the abused. He felt terrified to close his eyes in case he was attacked again. He was too distressed to eat. He hadn’t eaten since he’d arrived.

  The prison guard appeared at his door and ordered him to stand. ‘Someone wants to see you.’

  Mahmud cowered. He shrunk back into the corner of the bed. He feared the worst, a trap, a set-up. He feared this time they would kill him. The guard ordered him to march out. Mahmud kept his eyes on the ground as he walked past the people who had beaten him. They taunted him as he went. They told him he would die next time.

  Mahmud sat opposite Shrimp. A guard stood in the room.

  ‘How long will I have to stay here?’ Mahmud was dressed in the prison-issue tracksuit that had seen many inmates before him – one size fits all and it swamped Mahmud. He looked like he’d lost weight. He hadn’t brushed his hair or his teeth. His eyes had taken on the hollow look of one who has lost hope. But he leaned towards Shrimp, eager for any news of help, from any quarter, no matter how unlikely.

  ‘A long time; unless you tell us what happened.’ Shrimp felt sorry for him. He could see how terrified he was. His face was swollen. ‘You took a beating?’ Mahmud nodded. ‘I’m sorry.’

  Mahmud looked through his tears. The last thing he wanted to do was cry. He was terrified. He wanted to open the window and jump out. ‘They broke my wrist. They stamped on my arm. I can’t write now.’ Mahmud talked as if in a dream. He talked as if it didn’t matter. He shook his head. His shoulders slumped over.

  ‘Yeah, the sooner we get you out of here the better, Mahmud. But you have to work with me. As long as you’re not telling us what happened then we can’t help you. You’re not telling us anything new. You were caught at the scene. I caught you myself, you didn’t even run. What were you doing there? Did you give time for someone else to get away? You were with the Outcasts that night, and yet you say you are not one of them. Your dad says you said you were going to study. What took you across town that night?’

  ‘I don’t belong here. I am not a Triad. I hate the Outcasts for what they’ve done to our family. I hate the way they’ve ruined everything in the Mansions. It was always tough but we all looked after each other. We were all a family. It didn’t matter what colour you were. Now it’s like living in hell. Now they are turning on each other.’ He paused. ‘Have you seen my family?’

  ‘I’ve seen your sister. She asked me to come.’

  Mahmud’s eyes glued onto Shrimp’s. The mention of home, of his family was enough to make him well up. ‘How is she? And Hafiz, how is he? My father and Ali? What about Grandmother? How are they all?’

  ‘They are all right. They are worried about you. They want you to come home. They don’t understand why you’re here. Your father wants you to co-operate. Nina wants you back.’

  Mahmud nodded, blinked away a tear. ‘Is she still to be married?’

  ‘I don’t know. I hope not.’

  Mahmud searched Shrimp’s face. ‘Do you know my sister well? Shrimp nodded. ‘Then you have to stop her. You have to help her. Her life will be ruined. Tell her it is not too late. Tell her to run away. I will be okay here, tell her not to worry.’

  ‘Mahmud, listen to me, it is an honourable thing to cover for your younger brother but we will uncover the truth in the end. Hafiz was involved in the fighting that night, wasn’t he? He had a wound on his arm. He ran from the scene, didn’t he? You saved him.’ Mahmud stared down at his hands. ‘Or was it Lilly?’

  Mahmud looked at Shrimp and shook his head. ‘Lilly and I were good friends once, but not so much now. She has changed. She is getting into more trouble every day.’

  ‘You’ve known Lilly a long time?’

  ‘All my life. Her mum has been so kind to us all since my mum died. Nothing was the same after that. Nina had to look after things. Grandma became an invalid. We a
ll had to help in the restaurant. Michelle and Lilly have been like family, until now.’

  ‘Michelle is a hardworking woman. Do you ever help her out?’

  ‘Sometimes, when she needs things doing and Rizal is busy. I don’t mind helping.’

  ‘She’s an attractive woman. Does she ever ask you to join her in the hotel sometimes? Sometimes she entertains guests, alone. They need a bit of something extra? It’s nothing to be ashamed of.’

  Mahmud shook his head and blinked at Shrimp. He didn’t understand.

  ‘What about Rizal? Do you get on well with him?’ Shrimp continued.

  Mahmud flushed with anger. ‘Rizal is a scumbag. He has something going on in every part of the Mansions. He thinks he owns the Mansions the way he struts around, and he abuses Lilly. She’s told me. She hates him. She would kill him if she could.’ Mahmud stopped, controlled his anger and remembered he wasn’t talking to a friend.

  ‘The head of the Outcasts is Victoria Chan, right? What contact have you had with her? Does she come to the Mansions?’

  Mahmud stared down at his hands whilst he considered what to say. He looked at the guard. He was shaking again.

  ‘Sometimes she comes. She came to our restaurant first a year ago. She sat down with all of us. She told us that the time would come when the Mansions would be knocked down. We didn’t believe her. It has been the same for so long. She said we could sign a document that would mean we would definitely have a place in the new Mansions, better, bigger. She made it seem like we were special. She said as we had been there so many years we could expect extra-special treatment. And what she wanted was to help us have a place in the new Mansions. We only had to let things happen: let the Outcasts do what they wanted, let people be murdered every day, let decent people live in fear. She said our family would be okay. But they’re not.’

  ‘What happened that night? If you tell us who organized the fight then we can help you. Was it Rizal? Why should you be banged up in here while he is free to do what he wants on the outside? Mahmud, listen to me…you want me to get you out, I will do my best. Tammy was a friend as well as a police officer. She was young, sweet, so sure she could make it. She had a boyfriend, she had parents. Their lives are ruined now. She was their only child. I want to get the person who did this.’