Skeleton Women

by Mingmei Yip

  When I told Big Brother Wang that I had finally succeeded in getting rid of Shadow, I didn’t get any thanks, only a severe scolding.

  My boss seemed to spit out fire as he spoke. “You already spent way too much time fussing with this Shadow! You’d better hurry up and get Lung’s secret bank account numbers, and then get rid of him.”

  “Yes, Big Brother Wang.”

  “You’ve also spent too much time with Lung’s son.”

  “That was to get information about his old man.”

  “That’s a good excuse. What information did you get?”

  “These things take time, Big Brother Wang.”

  “Maybe, but you know you don’t have a lot of time left, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “You already passed your deadline.”

  “I’m so sorry, Big Brother Wang, but we were waiting for his protective star to pass. I swear I’ll complete my mission soon.”

  “All right, I’ll give you one more month, but if you still can’t deliver, you’re no longer needed. I mean it this time.”

  “I will deliver, Big Brother Wang.”

  After I hung up, I had to use all my willpower to stop myself from trembling. I still had no idea how I could eliminate Lung. And he was my lost son’s grandfather. I missed my little son, Jinjin, but was not ready to follow him into the yin world. There was no one I could turn to for advice on such a matter. The only one I could confide in at all was Madame Lewinsky. But she could only advise me on singing and how to live my romantic life. I could hardly ask her about murdering someone.

  But I wondered: Why hadn’t I heard from her after my tragedy? She had always seemed so concerned about me before.

  30

  The Secret Villa

  I believed that Rainbow Chang’s line, Maybe the disaster was but another stunning magic show, saved the event from being labeled a total failure. Heated discussions followed her article. Some newspapers said that the show failed; others argued that it was a big success because Shadow did make her Great Escape. To remain enigmatic, I refused to give an opinion, despite reporters’ relentless urging. Gradually, the public forgot about the disappearance as I went on with my life, singing as usual at the Bright Moon.

  Jinying came by himself a few times to hear me at the nightclub, when his father and his gang were away negotiating deals in Hong Kong or elsewhere. Lung’s absence was a mixed blessing for me. I did not have to flirt and have sex with the old, ruthless, slash-browed gangster. However, if he didn’t show his monkey face, I had no way to finish my assignment from Big Brother Wang. And now that Lung was my son’s grandfather, I had even less appetite for this evil task. But given Wang’s impatience, it was either Lung or me, and of course I would rather it be Lung. But time was running out, and unless I figured something out, it would be me instead of him.

  One day, while I was still agonizing over my mortal dilemma, Jinying called, eagerly telling me, “My father’s away, and he said I can use his place till he comes back. It’s a beautiful mansion. Please come, Camilla.”

  “But there are always lots of people going in and out of there!” I was thinking of Lung’s residence in Junfu Lane.

  “I don’t mean my father’s town house but his country villa.”

  I’d never heard that Lung had another house, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. Now Jinying naively leaked this valuable information as carelessly as someone who forgets to turn off the tap and lets the water run.

  “Where is it?”

  “Outside the city, but it’s too hard to explain. Anyway, I’ll drive.”

  This might be my chance to get Lung’s secrets, such as his account numbers and ledgers of his illegal activities. Maybe this would satisfy Big Brother Wang for a while, while I tried to figure out the rest.

  “Of course I’d love to go there with you, Jinying.”

  “That’s wonderful, Camilla. We will have the place all to ourselves!”

  “But Jinying ... won’t there be bodyguards and servants?”

  “No, it’ll be all ours.”

  “How come?”

  “I’ve given everyone who works there some time off. Camilla, keep this top secret. Only me, Mr. Zhu, Gao, and a few close bodyguards know about his secret hiding place.”

  “But your father knows that you’ll be there?”

  “He gave me the key. He only trusts me because he figures I have no one to tell, since I’ve just come back from America. Promise me you won’t say anything about this to anyone.”

  “I promise. And you trust me enough to let me know?”

  Even though I was Lung’s favorite woman, he didn’t trust me enough to take me there, but his son did. Was it love or naïveté? Probably both.

  But the boss’s son’s answer was simply, “Camilla, I love you so much.”

  I quickly changed the subject. “Jinying, how about you pick me up tomorrow? And we should dress down. We don’t want to attract attention.”

  After my conversation with Jinying, I started to think that this might be a good chance to escape from both Lung and Wang. Escaping from Lung would be dangerous for me, but so would killing him. And maybe his protective star was still shining strong. After all, he’d escaped the other times I had set him up. I was starting to think that, evil as Lung was, heaven did not want him killed, at least not yet, or not by me. And whether Lung lived or died, Wang was probably just as dangerous to me. After all, in these men’s eyes, women could never be trusted. So, given what I knew and that I had served my purpose, as the Chinese say, “When the rabbits are caught, the hounds are cooked.”

  So at this point, escaping seemed the most likely way to prolong my stay in this dusty world. After all, of the famous Chinese thirty-six stratagems, the one universally considered best was: “When you run out of schemes, just run away.” Once I was gone from the Shanghai scene, everyone would quickly lose interest in me. As the saying goes, “When the birds are gone, the bows are put away.”

  At first I thought I would not report to Big Brother Wang the location of Lung’s villa. But I realized that that would be not just be death for me but a lingering and horrible one. If I were away for more than a day, my driver and amah would report to Wang, and he’d track me down. He was probably having me followed at all times, anyway. He’d warned me many times that his men were everywhere, but I had no idea who they were.

  So with great reluctance, I called Big Brother Wang to report. Needless to say, he was more than happy to grant me this “working vacation.”

  “Report back to me right away as soon as you find anything.”

  “Of course I will, Big Brother Wang.”

  Then, to my great disappointment, my boss said, “I’ll send a few men to follow you to the villa and stake it out, in case Lung shows up there.”

  So the next afternoon, Jinying came and picked me up. As he was driving us across the bridge over the Huangpu river, there was a sudden downpour, so there was not much chance to talk while Jinying concentrated on finding our way. I stared out the window, my thoughts as gloomy as the weather.

  I kept looking back as discreetly as I could to see if we were being followed. I was sure Wang’s men must be behind us somewhere, but they did a good job, for I couldn’t tell which was the gangsters’ car. Or maybe there were several, acting as camouflage for each other. After a while, I dozed off, until I was awakened by a warm hand on my thigh.

  “Camilla, we’re almost there.”

  Now Jinying drove off the main road onto a narrow path half-hidden by tall poplar trees. Water was still dripping from the boughs, but the rain had stopped. After another five minutes he pulled to a stop in front of a grand white mansion.

  I looked around and felt great relief that I didn’t see any other car. Had Wang’s men lost us in the rain? I hoped so.

  The two-storied mansion peeked at us through towering trees, shrubs, luscious plants, and exotic flowers that emitted a rich fragrance after the rain. I saw at once that the
front faced the sea, and the back was toward a mountain. Lung must have chosen this place through the advice of his fengshui master. Beishan Mianhai, “backed by the mountain, faced by the sea,” is the best fengshui location. Not only because it brings good luck, but also because the mountain in back protects, and the sea in front can be an escape route.

  Jinying carried our suitcases into the foyer, dropped them, and before even closing the door kissed me passionately.

  I mumbled between his mouth’s attacks, “Jinying ... where’s ... everybody else?”

  He smiled mischievously. “I told you there won’t be anyone here, not even a ghost. We’ll have this place all to ourselves.”

  “Good. Then I’ll make you the world’s happiest man tonight.”

  “Why not every night?” He winked as he lifted me up and gave me a twirl.

  “Every morning, too, if that’s what you wish. Young Master, I’m at your service.” I giggled nervously, feeling dizzy from being swung—and from the possibility of finding secret lists and bank accounts.

  He put me down, his brow slightly knotted. I immediately realized that, for this lawyer who had graduated from a prestigious university in America, it was the confident and independent Camilla he loved, not the submissive and obsequious one who was his father’s mistress.

  “Camilla, you already make me the happiest man just by being who you are.”

  “Sorry, Jinying.”

  “No need to apologize. Just be yourself.”

  Not so easy, since I’d been pretending to be someone else all my life. There was an awkward silence, so I took the chance to look around. By the main entrance, huge urns stood guard. I wondered if they had been used, at least on occasion, to store dead bodies. The foyer alone was bigger than the entire apartment of a poor Shanghai family. A family probably made poor because the father had lost his life’s savings at Lung’s gambling house, where he also smoked the opium that Lung had bought and resold for fifty times what he paid. Lung profited still more when the bankrupted father sold his daughter to Lung’s prostitution house to pay off his ever-increasing gambling debts. So, if Wang succeeded, even without my help, in getting rid of Lung, it would be Lung’s own bad karma, not mine. Or so I hoped.

  “Let’s move,” Jinying said, interrupting my thoughts.

  He took my hand and led me inside the living room. Here, gold and yellow were the dominant colors, accented by Chinese red. Everything was as lavish and expensive as possible: a yellow silk sofa with a gilded frame, Chinese landscape paintings mounted on gold-speckled scrolls, a red cabinet filled with celadon plates and white jade carvings ... everywhere there were expensive curios.

  In a corner behind the sofa stood a white grand piano. Of course this had been purchased for the young master. Even though Lung disapproved of his son’s love for music, he still wanted to show his love by buying him this expensive, ostentatious object. Seeing this, I felt a wave of unutterable sadness. I had grown up without parents to love me and had lost my baby before having a chance to hold him in my arms or even see him.

  The young master cast me a concerned glance. “Camilla, are you all right?”

  “Yes ... I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

  “Because you look distracted and ... sad.” Jinying kissed my forehead. “Camilla, you can sit on the sofa and rest while I take the luggage to the bedroom upstairs.”

  “I can come and help.”

  “I don’t need help. Just relax here, and I’ll be right back.”

  I happily agreed, because now I could snoop around.

  Then he said, “If you’re hungry, we can eat soon.”

  “So are we driving back to the city?” In case Wang’s men really had lost us on the way, I did not want to give them another chance to find us.

  Oblivious of my thoughts, Jinying looked completely happy. “No, we’ll eat here. I’m the cook tonight.”

  “I didn’t know that you could cook.”

  Jinying smiled mischievously, and I felt dangerously attracted to him.

  “There are still a lot of things we need to find out about each other, aren’t there?”

  This last remark gave me a small jolt of anxiety. I wanted to find out more about him and his father, but definitely not the other way around.

  Preoccupied with what Wang’s so-far invisible men might be doing, I was in no mood to hear Jinying chatter about his cooking, but I did my best to look interested.

  “I learned to cook during my years in America. My friends and I alternated cooking for one another, sometimes even gourmet dishes. It’s a lot of fun. I especially love to listen to music while I cook.” He smiled meaningfully. “Camilla, I may have a rich father, but I am not spoiled.”

  Of course, compared to myself and Shadow, he was quite spoiled, but I kept that thought to myself. Though I was curious to know more about his life in America, I wanted to avoid our talk becoming more personal.

  As soon as Jinying went upstairs with our luggage, I went to the windows to look for any sign of Wang’s men. As far as I could tell, there was nobody around. Next I took a quick tour of Lung’s house, starting with his spacious, book-lined library. I was sure the leather-bound books that filled its shelves were only for decoration. There seemed to be plenty of places here where he could hide secret papers. My eyes scanned the room to plan what to search when I had a chance later. I paid special attention to the bookshelves, as well as the paintings and calligraphy hanging on the walls. I also peeked into vases and other receptacles but saw nothing unusual. Next was the dining room, where there was nothing unusual either.

  When I walked back to the living room, I noticed an antique scholar’s table against the wall. On top of it was the usual scholar’s paraphernalia: a brush stand in the shape of a mountain with three hills, a roll of rice paper, a lotus-shaped ink stone, and a set of three ink sticks engraved with the scholar’s “three friends”—bamboo, pine, and plum blossom.

  In the corner next to the table was an imposing grandfather clock. Although I doubted that Lung would notice or care, this seemed not to fit with the rest of the décor. Yet I found it attractive in an odd, ponderous way. Still, it seemed to belong in a Western household rather than here. The reddish brown wood was finely grained and polished so it was as smooth as a young woman’s skin. The polished metal pendulum shone with a mysterious luster. But what I liked most of all was its powerful and mysterious presence.

  Two red scrolls beside the clock were inscribed with a couplet, Ten thousand taels of gold; money rushing in like a river.

  To my exploring eyes, the writing table and the grandfather clock stood out, as they should have been in the library. Moreover, the perfectly arranged scholar’s objects looked more like props than for use. Then why were they here?

  I studied the clock and the table for long moments before I went up to inspect the timepiece more closely. I found myself fascinated by the luminous, mirrorlike pendulum. Then in it I saw Jinying’s reflection behind mine, our faces dyed a metallic bronze, as if we inhabited another world even stranger than this one. For a moment, I imagined that we lived in this pendulum world, so we’d be far away from our present tribulations. Then I realized that the pendulum was not swaying and that this other world had stopped sometime in the past.

  “Jinying.” I turned to face him. “Do you know that this clock’s not working?”

  He nodded. “I told father a few times, but he has never gotten around to having it fixed.”

  “But now it’s of no use.”

  “He said he bought the clock as an antique, and someday he will have it fixed, but he likes looking at it, anyway.”

  “It does look nice.”

  “Yes, I like it, too. Only after he bought it did he realize that it was broken. But because he’s superstitious, he doesn’t want to say so. Besides, he can’t stand to think he was cheated.” He paused, then suggested, “Now let me show you the library, unless you are hungry and would rather eat something first.”

  Indeed I wa
s getting hungry but was more concerned to continue my survey of the villa. So I told him I would rather see the library, not mentioning that I had already looked it over by myself.

  Jinying said, “I really love to come and read here; it’s so calm and quiet. But I don’t have much chance, because this is where my father discusses his business with Zhu.”

  “Does he entertain other guests here?”

  “No,” Jinying answered sharply. “This house is only to relax or discuss top secret business. No one can know I brought you here. If my father finds out, I don’t want to imagine the consequences.”

  “Don’t worry, Jinying, my lips are sealed as tightly as your father’s safe.”

  Yes, he must have a safe, but where?

  As we walked around, I praised the antique furniture and various curios in the spacious room, but what really occupied my mind was discovering where Lung’s money and accounts were hidden.

  When we had finished looking around the library, we walked back into the living room.

  Jinying said, “You must be hungry, Camilla. I will fix us some quick noodles, and then I can show you the rest.”

  31

  The Garden

  Later, after we had finished our noodles and set our chopsticks down on our gold-rimmed bowls, Jinying said, “Camilla, if you’re not too tired, do you want to see the garden?”

  I doubted Lung would hide anything there, but you never know.

  So I feigned excitement. “The garden? Of course, I can’t wait!”

  “Come,” he said, taking my hand.

  Jinying took me through a hidden passageway toward the garden. The secrecy didn’t surprise me, since Lung was paranoid about assassination, and with good reason. I suspected that this must be the route to his most secret hiding place, in case his enemies found out about the villa and pursued him here.

  In a few moments we had exited from the passageway into the garden, where we found ourselves beside a huge tree.