The Code War

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The Code War Page 34

by Ciaran Nagle


  In Kowloon the next night, near the Star Ferry Terminal, they came across a kindly man handing out soup and bread to the hungry. Noticing their look of yearning, a look he had seen many times on the faces of those who had gone without nourishment for several days, the man called to them.

  'Come and be saved,' said he 'and while your souls are being rescued come and eat for free. Fill up and be glad for the Lord has poured his bounty upon the Earth and I am his humble servant.'

  The sisters nodded to each other and agreed that this did indeed sound like a good idea. They sat at the man's stall and took his bowls of Cantonese broth and listened to his stories about a certain carpenter who lived long ago in a far-off town.

  'And that's why I provide food for the homeless,' said Wonton Chiang looking the young women up and down. 'Are you homeless, by the way? Do you need a place to stay? Just for a few nights of course.'

  But when the sisters arrived at Wonton's apartment, the mood changed. There's no such thing as a free meal, Wonton said, why, I have to pay for the food. How can I do that on my worker's salary? You must work for me to repay what you owed me when you ate without paying at my stall. What, you are in Hong Kong illegally? Then you must work twice as hard, so I can bribe the police to leave you alone. Not speak Cantonese? Then there are only certain types of work open to you. Luckily, neither of you is too brute ugly for the type of work I have in mind. Just work for me for a year, maybe two and then you will have paid my price and may have your freedom. The carpenter I told you about? Look, I am sentimental sometimes and my good heart gets the better of me. But such stories are for children and the weak-headed. Do not be fooled. You can only save yourself through hard work. You're not afraid of hard work are you? Good. Then knuckle down, do the work that your youth and gender has prepared you for and celebrate the day you met me. Welcome to Hong Kong, Mei-Lien and Mei-Xhen. Your abundant future has begun. Now, please to transport yourselves, with alacrity, into my sleeping quarters two steps hence. Unbutton your blouses, undo your zips and allow me to test the product that I'm going to sell.

  Chopper grunted down the phone several times, listening to the flow of only slightly-accented Cantonese that made its way to his ear.

  'We'll keep an eye out for him,' Chopper said between nut crunches when there was a pause. 'Dan Kelly you say his name is?'

  He listened again.

  'No problem. I will have one of my boys take a photo of him and then send it to the rest of my team,' he said. 'Once we know what he looks like it will be easier to keep out of his way.'

  A pause while the volume from the other speaker increased.

  'It's all right, we won't hurt him unless we have to. I know he's your friend,' said Chopper, reassuringly. 'And don't worry, your next payment is on its way. Your information is important. Thank you Pete.'

  Chopper Kwok replaced the receiver and turned to look at his two skinny sleeping companions. Wonton had stumbled over a good idea, he thought. What a way to find recruits. A charity food stall. Brilliant. But Wonton was weak. Good ideas, but no ambition. Wonton didn't know how to scale up an operation. For that you needed someone with vision. Someone who understood business. Someone like me. Not that soft idiot Fatty Lo and his ignorant English girl. Fatty belongs to a past age, a frightened age, an age when honourable brothers were scared to take on the police. That age is over.

  He rolled towards the nearest sister and pushed his knee between her legs. 'Wake up,' he said. 'I'm horny.'

  Golden Luck Casino

  For three days Nancy did not venture out of her room. The story of her kidnapping and gang rape was quickly relayed by Jenny Ling to Fatty Lo and verified by contact with the men who had taken part in it. These all pleaded innocence, or at least to knowledge of who Nancy really was. Many of them now went to ground in fear of their lives, hoping to hide until the anger abated.

  The bodies of Monkey and Chu were identified by many and added authenticity to Nancy's story. Outrage built throughout the criminal community of Kowloon.

  Fatty Lo came to visit Nancy. He bore gifts of money and jewellery and asked for forgiveness. He had no idea that he was placing her at risk, he pleaded.

  But it was against Fatty Lo himself that much of the anger was directed. He had been foolish to hire an unknown 'gwai poh' and put her into such a senior position so soon, many argued. And it was his misjudgement of the Golden Horse takeover and Monkey's loss of face in that operation that had allowed not just Nancy to be raped, but all of Brother to be humiliated in the process.

  Chopper Kwok, the organisation's second-in-command, made no effort to slow these accusations or mitigate them in any way. Instead he allowed them to build knowing that they were contributing to his game plan to discredit Fatty completely and take over Brother.

  But another contender for the title of Brother of Brothers now emerged. This was Frenchy who had compèred the cockfight in the Blue Diamond Warehouse & Godown many nights before. Frenchy was neither as cunning as Fatty Lo nor as ruthless as Chopper Kwok but for those who thought the latter was just too aggressive, Frenchy represented a middle of the road option. He held out the prospect of stability and continuity, at least until a better contender for the leadership came along.

  With Fatty's continued tenure as leader of Brother seemingly more and more doomed as the hours and days went by, Frenchy and Chopper campaigned and politicked for support amongst both the opinion leaders and the rank and file.

  Outside of Brother, the story of Nancy's rape and the uncertainty surrounding Brother's leadership had radiated out to all compass points of Kowloon and Hong Kong. The situation has to be resolved quickly, said many within the fraternity. If we're going to have a new leader we need him soon, otherwise we'll have defections to the 14K, the Wo Shing Wo, the Daai Huen and many other triads.

  Dan Kelly also learnt of the horrific rape and the effect it was having on Brother. He continued to write up his crime reports and send them to Kowloon Police headquarters in the routine way. But he worried at Pete Richards' lack of return contact. Surely, with something as big as this, Pete would be in touch? Apparently not.

  Members of the Golden Horse who had taken part in Nancy's rape were gradually hunted down by Brother. They were taken from their families in San Po Kong and held prisoner at the Blue Diamond Warehouse & Godown in Yaumati. Sure, Nancy had been personally violated. But the whole Brother organisation had been made to look inept. If a provincial triad gang like Golden Horse could abuse a senior Brother girl and get away with it - regardless of whether her high position was justified or not - it would be open season on all members. Attacks and defections would increase.

  There needed to be some kind of response. But nobody was quite sure what it should be. A massacre of the guilty along St Valentine's Day lines was mooted by some. But that would be messy and invite massive police retaliation. There would be an outcry from the whole population of the Colony.

  Release them, they didn't know what they were doing, said others. But that seemed insufficient.

  Eventually there was a groundswell of opinion among all levels of Brother about the right approach. This new consensus even had the agreement of out-of-favour head Fatty Lo as well as new leadership contenders Frenchy and Chopper Kwok. It only needed one other person to agree. Nancy.

  The feeling among all was that as Nancy had been violated and had suffered the most, she should be closely involved in determining the fate of those who had hurt her. The scene was set and on the fourth night after the events in San Po Kong, amidst utmost secrecy, almost the entire membership of Brother, as well as the twenty or so members of Golden Horse who were there on that fateful night, were gathered in the Blue Diamond.

  Yaumati Police Station

  'I'd happily swap my revolver for a decent typewriter,' said Dan as he hit the 'line feed' lever on the machine in front of him for the second time and nothing happened. Fishing out his pocketknife he probed the mechanism with the small blade and emerged with a bit of ink tape that had
ravelled itself around a cog wheel.

  Dan glanced at the clock. 'Liu Jai, it's 8.30 pm. Know what time that is?'

  'Yes sir.'

  'What time is it?'

  'It's time for your beer, sir.'

  'Wrong, Liu Jai, it's two hours after beer start time. And you know how I hate to be late for an appointment. In fact, Happy Hour has already finished. I'll have to go to that sordid topless bar in Shan Tung Street in Mong Kok to get a cheap beer at this hour, that's how desperate things have got.'

  'Do you mean the bar you took me to last week where you fell asleep drunk while talking to a girl? Monica I think her name was, and I got a taxi to take you home?'

  'I remember a girl, Liu Jai, and I remember talking to her about the impact of the English industrial revolution on farm wages..'

  'That was me, sir.'

  'Huh?'

  'You were talking to me about the industrial revolution. When I woke you up with a coffee after Monica left. And very interesting it was too. I was telling my family all about it at my grandmother's birthday party at the weekend and they all agreed..'

  'Liu Jai, sarcasm does not become you.'

  'Pardon, sir?'

  'I mean, sarcasm is not a Chinese trait. There is no need to get sarcastic just to make me feel a little more at home.'

  'Sorry sir, I just thought it might help…'

  'Let me be clear Liu Jai. We western people, we do the sarcasm. You lot do the food. That's how we get along.'

  'Sorry sir. I'll make a note.'

  'So, what was I talking to Monica about, if not the industrial revolution?'

  'Oh, you were being very funny sir.'

  'I was?'

  'Yes, sir. Monica was laughing a great deal. And the more she laughed the more you liked her and the more drinks you bought her.'

  'Are you telling me I fell for the old trick, Liu Jai?'

  'No sir. I would never tell my boss that he got suckered by the oldest trick in the book. Or that he spent most of the evening looking at a woman's chest instead of her face. I have more tact than that sir.'

  'Well that's good Liu Jai, tact is very..'

  Policewoman Hui Fen burst into the room.

  'Ah Fen, what a pleasant surprise.' Dan looked at his watch. 'Why are you here?'

  'I don't know. Missing this place, I guess.' She looked around at the spartan room.

  'Don't you start,' said Dan, wagging his finger. 'What is it?'

  'One of my contacts came to see me while I was out having dinner with my husband at a stall. He is a member of Brother. He works for Nescafé Mao.'

  Dan butted in. 'Nescafé is the Red Pole Enforcer who sends heroin around Kowloon in coffee jars along with groceries, isn't he?'

  'That's the one,' replied Hui Fen. 'This contact, let's call him Fang, is disappointed with Brother because of the turmoil the organisation is going through right now. He already hated his boss, Nescafé Mao, because of not getting paid enough for a job he did some time ago. But now he says he wants to shop Nescafé. He wants us to arrest him. He's given me information about how we can catch Mao in a warehouse in Wong Tai Sin where they are packaging up red chicken heroin in Maxwell House jars before shipping it to the Island. Thing is, sir, we only have an hour before they leave the warehouse. If you're going to ambush them, it's got to be now.'

  'What does he want in return?'

  'Nothing. Though if I took a guess I would say that he wants Nescafé out of the way so he can set up a similar operation later. Whatever his motives, you have a chance to make an impact on Brother. If that's what you want to do.'

  'You're darned right it's what I want to do,' said Dan, thinking furiously.

  'OK, I want both of you ready to roll in ten minutes. Don't tell anyone else about this, Hui Fen, because Brother have spies everywhere, including in this building.'

  'Sir, begging your pardon,' said Hui Fen.

  'What, Ah Fen?'

  'Sir, I'm happy to go on the raid. But not as a shock troop. I'm not a good shot with a gun. Just in case it comes to that. You need more people with you sir, the three of us are not enough.'

  'I know Ah Fen.'

  'Sir,' said Liu Jai. 'I will call Sergeant Tung. He lives nearby. He did not want to be part of a special Brother investigation team but I know he will join us for a hot mission like this. It's his job and he will do it.'

  'Thanks Liu Jai. OK phone Ah Tung and get him here now. I'm going to the bar.'

  'The bar sir?'

  'I saw Tse Siu Lung, the DDI, and two uniformed inspectors heading for the officers' mess a moment ago. If I'm lucky they won't have had a beer yet. I'll try and get them to join us. Then we'll be seven, including Hui Fen. OK everyone, we leave here in eight minutes, no matter what happens.'

  Six minutes later, just as Ah Tung walked in, Dan began his briefing.

  'Welcome all of you to this impromptu SWAT team. We're going to rush a warehouse in Wong Tai Sin. Hui Fen has the address. We believe there are drugs there but we don't know how many bad guys. We're going in two cars, mine and the DDI's Mr Tse. We'll just have to get there, survey the scene when we arrive and make an onsite decision as to how we're going to make the bust. We have no time to do a recce. Any questions?'

  'I can help,' said one of the uniformed inspectors. 'My name is Cheng, I've just come off shift with Emergency Unit. I'm going into the yard now to round up a few lads. We'll take a Land Rover and follow you. The Land Rover has some axes and crow bars in the boot in case we need to smash our way in. OK?'

  'Brilliant,' said Dan, checking his watch. 'Thanks Cheng, your initiative is really appreciated. OK, to the vehicles everyone, let's go.'

  The Blue Diamond Warehouse and Godown

  There were brothers standing in tiers on boxes and crates. There were brothers lining both of the side walls and brothers had even climbed up to the gantry and perched themselves along its length, legs swinging into the space below.

  Rank had its privileges of course so at the front of the ensemble were current Brother of Brothers, Fatty Lo flanked by Frenchy and Chopper Kwok. Beside and behind these were the other senior men in the organisation with their odd titles: Red Pole Enforcers, White Paper Fan Organisers, 'Forty-Nine' Fighters and even some Blue Lantern initiates.

  The cock pit was concealed with oak beams and covered with rugs as if it did not exist. Sitting cross-legged on the rugs and surrounded by the thick wall of Brother men were the twenty or so members of Golden Horse who had been present on the night Nancy was raped. They looked about them cautiously and awaited their fate with resignation. Whatever would be, would be. Many claimed they had not touched Nancy and had simply enjoyed the brandy, the drugs and the gambling. Few believed them.

  All were facing towards a small area at one end of the godown on which was placed an ordinary fork lift pallet, covered with a sheet of clean dark plywood.

  Lighting was limited to a number of wall lights, installed by Brother specifically to create the right atmosphere for cockfighting nights. Someone with thespian pretensions had helpfully installed a temporary floodlight which rayed down on the pallet. Many were smoking cigarettes but there was no drink. It was not that kind of night.

  The Golden Horse men were sullen and subdued. But they were also frightened. They knew that if the mood turned nasty it was quite possible that some or all of them could be executed. There had been little contact between Brother and Golden Horse before now so there were no fraternal relationships, no joint money-making escapades to reflect on and no shared histories of drinking and whoring to bind them together.

  A low murmur continued around the room as gangsters deliberated with their mates about what would happen next. There was no precedent for this gathering, no guideline. And it came at a time when Brother itself was already riven through with fractures. Cliques of brothers stood with each other, ignoring other cliques. Suspicious glances abounded. All organisations had cliques and politics. Brother's were now bubbling to the surface.

  Outside, tin ma
n tois - royal observatories - stood guard in case of a police raid. Though if it happened, well, they were just a voluntary organisation having a conference, what harm in that?

  Inside, smoke drifted upward and the ubiquitous mosquitoes dived, settled and gorged their fill on the many veins that stood high, blood pumping through them in tense excitement.

  Fatty Lo cleared his throat and the room fell silent. His position as ultimate boss was under threat but until that particular question was resolved he was still Brother of Brothers, Dragon Head, Fraternal Master.

  'Brothers,' he called out in his familiar calm voice. 'We are gathered here tonight because of a shocking event that has befallen one of our own. You all know what happened. In front of us we are joined by the entire membership of Golden Horse who all took part in that event. They inflicted a grievous insult on our ancient and estimable order when they insulted our sister.'

  Here there was a general murmur of approval, tinged with anger. Whilst many of the Brother members in the room had seen Nancy at the cock fight, few of them knew her well and some had not met her at all. The most they knew was that she was an effective casino hostess who had learned Cantonese in double quick time. She had worked her way into Fatty's confidence after performing some unknown, but apparently very difficult, mission overseas. However, she was one of them and that's what mattered. In an organisation that saw itself as besieged by the police, the media, other triads and an unfriendly public, anyone who could be called 'one of us' got a sympathy vote.

  'Nevertheless,' Fatty raised his voice realising that he needed to tone things down before they got out of hand. 'Nevertheless,' he repeated, 'before we rush to judge our colleagues from another band, a band that may still one day become part of Brother..'

  There were mumbles of both agreement and disagreement at this

  '..we must ask the one who was offended to join us. And when she does I am going to ask each member of Golden Horse to stand up and offer their apology. Once that is finished I and the other leaders will gauge the sincerity of the apology and decide the forfeit they must pay.'

 

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