by R S Holloway
Stretching on the blanket, she realized that Longwei had gotten up earlier, and cleaned up the small courtyard garden. She was almost cocooned in the light blanket, and she smiled, still smelling the scent of him on the fabric. The sun was just peeking over the temple wall, and she checked underneath the blanket. She was still nude, but a glance to her left showed that Longwei had considerately folded all of her clothing within arm's reach. Reaching for her shirt, she pulled it over her shoulders before wrapping the rest of the blanket around her hips like a skirt. The temple was usually empty, and she figured nobody would mind even if they did see her.
Making her way quickly though the hallways, Joy darted into her room just as she saw someone turn the corner of the corridor. Sliding the door shut, she made her way over to the small dresser she had, pulled out normal village work attire of trousers and a t-shirt, and got dressed for the day. Her tennis shoes were dirty and scuffed, but they would hold together a while longer.
Pulling her hair back for work, she stopped when she heard a soft knock on her door, eerily reminiscent of the night before and Longwei. She turned, and felt her heart skip a beat when Longwei opened her sliding door. "Good morning," he said with his normal soft smile. "I'm sorry that I had to leave you on the grass, but there was some work I had to complete before sunup. I didn't want to lift you, you seemed so comfortable."
"Thank you," she replied, coming over and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Tell me, is there any major Chinese custom that says I can't kiss you?"
"Well, no more than an American one," Longwei said. "I'd avoid doing it in front of the village's children, they tend to giggle and tease."
"Then we'll just have to avoid the children for a while," Joy said, kissing Longwei tenderly. "But again, thank you."
"Would you like some breakfast?" Longwei asked, pulling away slightly. Joy chuckled as she saw the slight bulge in his trousers. While part of her wondered if she could get him into bed with her now, she also knew he had duties to perform.
"Okay. While we eat, I'd like to talk about the upcoming months," Joy said, following him out. "I was hoping to give Billy a call today."
"Oh? What for?"
Joy sat down at the table, which already had rice and vegetables on it. "Well, we talked a little about it yesterday, but I want to get some things from my apartment, close up the place, stuff like that. Also, I was thinking maybe I can use some of my money to get some things for the children. I bet they would like some new DVD's."
Longwei smiled as he scooped up a mouthful of rice. "Not necessary, but I will not stop you," he replied. "Would you like me to give you a list of what the children want most?"
"Maybe," she replied. "Let me talk to Billy first, see when he can come out to pick me up. Then we can make further plans."
*****
The road was dusty, but Joy was still glad to have a signal on her cell phone. She reminded herself that she would have to bring back her charger, if only so she could charge it in the school or doctor's office if needed.
The connection rang, and Joy found herself tapping her foot waiting for Billy to pick up. It was kind of funny, how easily some of the old mannerisms came back to her. Finally, just as she was about to hang up and send Billy a text message, she heard him pick up. "Hello?"
"Hey Billy, long time no talk."
"Joy! How's live in the country?"
"Pretty good, honestly. Listen, I need to ask you a favor."
"Sure, what's up?"
"Well, some things happened, and I think I'm going to be staying here long term. And I mean real long term. So, I need to clear out my stuff, and get some things out here. Is there any way I could convince you to come pick me up in your van?"
She could hear Billy humming as he thought, or perhaps he was checking his calendar. "Okay. I can meet you in the village in about a week, I've got a service I am preaching out there. If you don't mind taking an extra day getting back, and then about three days in Shanghai to clear your stuff, I can do it for you."
"That's great, Billy!" Joy said, jumping excitedly in the dirt. "Listen, my battery is almost dead, so I may not be able to know when you are getting close. So, what day are you thinking you'll be in town?"
"Let's say, if everything goes right, a week from tomorrow?"
"Excellent. Thanks, Billy."
Joy closed her phone, and headed back to the village. If she had a week, she and Longwei would have plenty of time to make a list of things she could pick up in her time in Shanghai. Starting with DVDs for the kids and medicine for Yingtai.
*****
Billy was true to his word, pulling up exactly as he had promised, right around lunch time. Joy came out of the village doctor's to greet him. She had been in to visit Yingtai, and with Longwei's help told her about Joy helping out. She was just telling the young woman about what the school children were having for lunch when the puttering sound of Billy's van came through the doorway. Smiling, Joy excused herself before sticking her head out the door, flagging down Billy who was still fifty meters down the road. It was amazing to her how far sound carried when there was so little man made cacophony around.
"Wow, you've gone country," Billy remarked, after giving her a friendly hug. "It looks good on you."
Joy smiled and stepped back. "Thanks. Billy, this is Longwei, the leader of the village. Longwei, this is Long Pao Chin, or Billy as he likes to be called in English."
The two men exchanged greetings in Chinese, before Billy switched back to English. "So, he's the guy, huh?"
"What do you mean?" Joy asked nervously. She was sure she hadn't said anything about Longwei's secret to Billy, but still, she was nervous.
"I mean, this is the guy you're in love with," Billy said with a laugh. At the shocked expressions on both of their faces, his laughter grew. "Come on, Joy. I knew from the moment I met you the only way to pull you away from the reporting gig would be if you found love, and I mean real love. Also, your body language was practically screaming that you wanted me to like Longwei when you introduced us. I'm no police profiler, but I can read people pretty good."
"Whatever the case may be," Longwei said tightly, "there is another reason Joy has decided to stay here for a while."
Longwei led Billy inside the doctor's office, where Yingtai was getting her hand re-wrapped carefully with gauze. "She faces a long and difficult rehabilitation," Joy said sadly. "I've agreed to stay and help Yingtai until she can use her hand again."
"I see. You know, I know a medical supply guy back in Shanghai. I bet I can get some medicine from him if you think it would help," Billy said, smiling and looking at Longwei. "It would truly be my pleasure."
Longwei nodded. "Your generosity is most welcome. However, you must be exhausted, and should rest and be refreshed before you and Joy head back to Shanghai. How about some lunch?"
Over a simple lunch, Longwei and Billy chatted in Mandarin, which allowed Joy to at least follow along, and interject in English occasionally. Thankfully for her, both men seemed to like each other, with only the minimum amount of uncomfortable silences and figuring each other out. Since both men had spent time in university in the United States, they had a common ground to work from. They even had some good natured verbal sparring in the sports area, where Billy's UCLA and Longwei's Oregon had been conference rivals for years. By the end of lunch, while the men couldn't be called friends, Joy was at least happy that they could co-exist peacefully.
Longwei had a somber look on his face as Joy put her bag in the van threw her for a moment. "What is it?" she asked, worried.
"I will miss you," Longwei said. "I have grown used to having my breakfast and dinner with you."
Joy smiled, and quickly kissed him on the cheek. "I'll miss you too. But it's only for about a week."
Longwei nodded, and Joy climbed into the passenger's seat of the van. While the sun was going down soon, Billy could make his other stop on the way back to Shanghai before midnight if th
ey left now. Billy beeped his horn twice and pulled away. Joy watched Longwei's figure disappear in the rear window, until he was too small to see.
Turning back to the front, Joy could see Billy looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "What?"
Billy smiled, and turned on the van's CD player. The heavy guitar of rock music started up from the speakers, as Billy looked back out at the road. "You've got it bad, Joy. Real bad."
*****
Emptying out her apartment in Shanghai was surprisingly simple for Joy. Her landlord, in a show of generosity, was willing to waive the early lease termination fees if she was willing to leave behind most of her furniture. He would be able to rent the space out for more as a furnished apartment than as an unfurnished place. Since the village didn't have electricity in all but the school and the doctor's office, she didn't see the point of keeping most of it anyway. She could take her laptop, her CD and DVD collection, and the clothes that would be useful in the village. She also decided to take as much dry and preserved food as Billy could carry.
More difficult for her was talking to the AER offices. Her boss, whom she had only ever met once as his office was in Beijing, was a bit of a stickler on the rights to her research. Finally, after agreeing that any stories she had submitted but had not had published could be used without her byline, he relented, and she cleaned out her desk. As she did, she saw a final e-mail on her office computer. Curious, she opened it, and was chilled by the contents.
Your lies have injured some very honorable people. If you do not cease your investigations, you will be punished for your actions.
The unsigned e-mail was from an anonymous address, and the spelling errors made her suspect it was from a Chinese source. She was no idiot, she could see the fingerprint of the Triad on the message even if it was unsigned. She flipped open her phone, calling Billy. "Hey Billy, just got a threat from what I think are Triads."
"You worried?" Billy asked back. In the background Joy could hear traffic sounds, he must have been driving.
"I don't think so," Joy said. "The message is a few days old, and seems to be more of a warning to stop my investigating more than a direct threat on me. Since that's happening anyways, I don't think there's a problem."
"All right. Still, if you like, I can be ready to leave town tonight."
Joy shook her head, even though she was on the phone. "No, I think it's all okay. There's supposed to be nothing new coming out with my byline, and if I drop off the scene, they'll leave me alone."
"Okay. So what's your plan for this afternoon?"
"I'm going shopping, actually. There are some things I want to take back to the village with me, and since I'm leaving all the furniture behind, your van will have plenty of space."
"Great. Hey, I talked to the medical supply guy I know, and he said he'll be able to get you some medicine for that girl's hand. He even got most of it for free. Technically you're getting a lot of samples. Most of the rest he's writing off on the company's charity budget. You're only going to need about thirty dollars for the rest."
"Wow. You're a miracle worker, you know that Billy?"
"Not me, Joy. I just work for the miracle worker, remember?"
Joy chuckled. Even though she didn't have Billy's evangelical faith, she could appreciate his goodness anyway. "Okay, Billy. I'll see you in three days, with the cash you need for the stuff you got."
Joy left the office after exchanging goodbyes with the reporters on duty. It wasn't all that painful, she hadn't really liked any of them, and made her way to go shopping. In addition to more durable clothing for herself, she still had to find some DVDs for the children, and she had a few other ideas in mind, including a mini-solar panel charger so she could trickle charge her own computer and cell phone if need be.
As Joy walked, she started to get a weird feeling. Looking around, nothing seemed out of place, but as the feeling persisted, she noticed there were two men who seemed to be following her. They were relatively nondescript, but both were consistently ten meters behind her. When Joy stopped to look in a window, they would stop. When she moved on, they moved on as well.
Joy considered darting into a police station or turning back, but knew either one was useless. The police would do nothing without a direct threat, and even then may have been on the take. By keeping herself in public as much as possible, she minimized the chances of something happening.
Still, knowing the men were following her took a lot of the pleasure out of her shopping expedition, and she took care of things in a utilitarian fashion. In addition to more trousers and underclothes, she bought two pairs of work boots, and a pair of galoshes. In a supermarket, she bought dried goods in addition to coconut oil (one of the few natural ingredients she could find to treat her hair. Chinese ideas of hair care did not mesh with black hair that was for sure). Her final stop was the music store, where she relaxed and found plenty of DVDs for both the school and for Longwei. Departing the store with her bags, she saw the two men, who were waiting outside at a food stall, and she shrugged. As long as they were just keeping her under observation, she could deal with it.
Billy helped her pack her last things into the van. She carried all of her money in cash, a wad of bills that she would have felt uncomfortable with in her childhood neighborhood. Even in Shanghai, it made her nervous. Billy lifted the last sack of rice into the back of his van, and closed the back gate. "All right, that's everything. Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah, I guess," Joy said, looking around nervously. "But let's get going, okay? Having those guys tail me and then to be standing here with all my cash is kind of freaking me out."
As they pulled away, neither Joy nor Billy noticed the man on the cell phone across the street. He nodded a few times, speaking in rapid Chinese. "Yes, they just left," he said into his phone. "She's with that missionary. No, I couldn't hear anything, but from what she loaded into the van, I think she is leaving town."
The man nodded a few more times to the sound of his phone, before a smile spread over his features. "Of course. Getting into the apartment will be easy. I will check it out now."
Ten minutes later, the man closed the door on Joy's apartment, slipping the lock picks back inside his pants pocket. A quick glance revealed that she was definitely leaving, the place had the antiseptic look of a moved out room. The sheets were stripped off the bed, the shelves were empty, even the television and other appliances were unplugged. The man looked around, seeing if he could find any clues about where she was going.
A search of the living room revealed nothing. Joy, if anything, was a fastidious cleaner. The bathroom and bedroom area also were scrubbed relatively clean. Finally, in the kitchen, next to the refrigerator, he thought he found something. A notepad, the type that people used to write down quick messages on the phone or shopping lists. When he picked it up to the light, he could see that it had been used recently, the paper on top still bore the imprints of writing.
Curious to try something he had once seen in a movie, the man took a pencil and knife out of his pocket. He shaved off graphite dust and carefully scattered it over the paper. It took him a few minutes of tapping and work, but he could see English letters start to form over the page. Thankfully, this was why his boss had put him on the job of following the American journalist, his English was better than many of the other Triads.
"Gauze.... rubbing alcohol..... DVD for Longwei....." the man read, the last part catching his attention. He called his boss on his phone, shifting back into Chinese. "Sir? Yeah, it's me. Listen, she's got a name on here, one you told me to keep my eyes out for. I found a shopping list, and the name Longwei appears on here. Yeah? Okay, I'll bring the paper. Heading back now."
The man scooped up the pad of paper and left the apartment. Whoever this Longwei person was that the American was apparently mixed up with, sort of saddened the man. He had been tasked with watching the American since the first of her articles had come out, and had come to appreciate the uniq
ueness of her beauty in a city of Chinese. More than once he had watched her through binoculars at night in her apartment, clad in nothing but light pajamas. Yet, if the boss' tone was correct, he wouldn't be able to see the chocolate skinned beauty again.
She soon would be dead.
Chapter 5
Joy wiped her sleeve across her forehead. She had been tasked to work in the vegetable fields today, and had spent the past four hours working on her hands and knees, carefully weeding in between the rows, making sure the field was as pristine as possible.
She wasn't alone, there were four other people with her. Two of them were members of Yingtai's family, while the other two were older children from the school. Longwei had a policy of letting the children help out in the fields one day a week, in order to let them get hands on practical experience as well as academic learning. "Besides," he had explained to her, "the fresh air and exercise is very useful for their bodies."
Joy didn't know about the educational benefits, but she did enjoy the outdoor work. The villagers had a very unique style, while perhaps not the most efficient in the short term, ensured that everyone moved around on a regular basis, avoiding the dreaded crouching posture that she had seen so many other poor Asian farmers adopt. Few if any of the older women in the village had the bowed osteoporosis laden body she had seen even in Shanghai.
Looking up the row, Joy saw the large barrel on a cart that served as their watering point. The oxen used for pulling the cart were gone, but would be brought back later. She got up off the ground, exchanging waves with the other people in the field. She still had problems speaking much more than basic Mandarin, but she thought her ears were finally becoming attuned to the local dialect. She could understand some of the basic greetings and words, and was grateful to the school children who had sort of adopted her as one of their own. Two of the students, a boy named Dewei and a girl named Ming had worked with her almost every day, slowly and carefully pronouncing words in storybooks and around the classroom for her. She copied, making many mistakes, but was making progress.