by Ming Cher
“That’s the way! Good for you.”
“I am looking for a new place to get away from here.”
“Then we are on the same boat!” Chai felt he was giving Kwang a lot of face.
“Why not join me at Cheong Pak’s place? He’s a good old fellow, you’re sure to like him.”
“I don’t like his wife, that cigarette woman.”
“That’s easy, just ignore her. Nothing to do with her. Yeow is in control. He always talks highly of you. He likes you. Let’s be brothers on the same boat together.”
“Yah, maybe for temporary.” Kwang stood up. “I talk to Kim about it first.”
“Nah, be a man! Got girls around cannot do anything much. Sit down first, for old time’s sake. Here, have a smoke and wait for Yeow.” So Kwang sat down to smoke for the first time.
• • •
Big Mole and Sachee were having breakfast when Yeow arrived at the house.
“Big Mole.” He squatted in front of them with arms folded. “How are you now?” He had his reasons for trying to be nice.
“All right.” She ate with her head bent. “Not too bad.”
He watched her carefully. “I’m here to ask you just one thing. Are you going to come with me to Chinatown, or fly away here by yourself? Just let me know, okay?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t fool around with me, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Tell me, what is happening here when I am not around?”
“I am not your slave!” she exclaimed, feeling a shiver of fire inside.
“Okay, okay. Do you know who owns this place for you?”
Big Mole refused to answer. She continued eating.
“All I want is answers. Fair?” Yeow lit a cigarette.
Big Mole stubbornly kept her head down and went on eating.
Yeow pressed harder. “You’re dumb or what?”
Big Mole stole a glance at Sachee, who slammed his chopsticks on the table. “You expect us to vomit?” the small boy exclaimed. He stood up with fists bunched, looking comical to Yeow at only slightly above one metre tall.
Sachee was, in a way, a mirror reflection of Yeow himself, so he laughed secretly, stubbed out his cigarette and turned to Big Mole again. “Very well, Big Mole,” he said, gesturing with his index finger. “I won’t bother you anymore. But just remember one thing. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask, okay?” He walked away, leaving the situation delicately poised.
Once he had gone, Big Mole turned to Sachee, “We have to look after ourselves, better follow him.”
Yeow was on his way to buy a new umbrella for Kim before visiting her. Kim was sick in bed with a bad cold, but she sighed with relief at the sight of Yeow. They kissed with even more passion than on the previous night, in spite of her flu.
Sachee knew his work well. He did not climb up to the creaky balcony to peep between the gaps. Instead, he snuck to the back of the house, where he could listen through the open windows. After it was over, he trailed Yeow all the way out to the gambling den, where Kwang and Chai were waiting. Finally, after the three youths boarded a taxi outside of No Nose Bridge, Sachee went home to report his discovery to Big Mole.
17
Money Makes the Devil Turn the Millstone
BIG MOLE WAS chopping firewood, her sarong secured above her breasts, when Sachee got home to report that he had seen Kim and Yeow together. She found the news unbelievable.
“We must tell Kwang at once!” Sachee said, kicking at the chopping block.
“No! We must look after ourselves first!” Big Mole said, striking her axe against the chopping board. “Why make trouble for ourselves!”
She knew she had to play Yeow’s game to survive. Yeow was a smiling tiger who would punish them by isolating them from the rest of the neighbourhood if he deemed they had betrayed him. He did just that to any of his boys who rebelled. The thought made Big Mole even more determined to be independent. She hit the block with so much force that her robe fell away from her breasts.
“How?” asked Sachee, quietened by her rare fury.
Big Mole retied her sarong. “Yeow can destroy people bloodlessly. Better to pretend we don’t know anything.”
“What to be scared about? We tell Kwang first, he’s not scared of Yeow. He’s on our side!”
“Nobody’s on our side. I think Kwang is going to Chinatown to live with Yeow and Chai. He didn’t leave anything behind.”
“What about Kim?”
“Same thing, play dumb. But I will try to be nice to Ah Seow, he still has a lot of money. I think he likes me, so you must not laugh at me if I am nice back to him, you agree?”
“Ah Seow likes you?”
“Maybe. Why not? He tried once on me already. I will use his money to start fish business with him. We have to be smarter now, you understand what I mean?”
“Yah, yah.” Sachee nodded and made a show of shutting his mouth tightly. “Smarter than anybody first, right?”
“We go to Chinatown now. We still have a lot of friends there who secretly don’t like Yeow. See what they say behind his back. I also want to buy new clothes for myself to look nicer, you agree?”
“Sure!” Sachee excitedly gathered the chopped firewood and brought it into the kitchen. He was fierce beyond his years and he continued to dream of starting his own business.
On their way out of the village, they met San coming back from school. San was sucking on a sugared ice ball. “Sachee, Big Mole! Where you all going?”
“Chinatown,” Big Mole replied before Sachee could answer. “Going to the movies, didn’t see one for a long time. Come with us?” She was practising being friendly and persuasive, so that she would make more friends and ensure that she survived.
“I have to go home and eat first, okay?”
“It’s all right, we will wait for you.”
“What about Ah Seow?” San asked. “We should all go together?”
“Yah, good idea,” Big Mole agreed, with new cunning.
When all of them arrived in Chinatown, Big Mole was deliberately nicer to San than to Ah Seow. She even sat between San and Sachee in the movies, separated from Ah Seow, because she suspected that Ah Seow would like to hold her hand and wanted to make him feel jealous. She was right. Like his parents, Ah Seow had started to love at a very young age. Big Mole’s moves made him feel bad, but he was careful not to show his feelings. He wondered why she bought new clothes and presented a new image. He could not help noticing that she asked San for his views, while all the time ignoring him.
“What you think of this? And this? You like it? You think it will look nice on me?”
He overheard Kim’s and San’s discussion about starting an aquarium. “Where do you think would be a good place?” she asked.
“Better ask my father first, he know a lot of things like that. I can talk anything to him, same for you.”
“That is a good idea. He is a very nice man.” Big Mole reminded San that his father was the only person in the village who had helped Kwang’s mother start her business. She wanted him to feel even prouder of his father.
Then she turned around to Ah Seow and asked in offhand voice, “What about you? You dare to spend your money and join us?”
“But that is what I always want to do!” Ah Seow said, jumping at the opportunity.
“Easier to talk than do,” Big Mole replied. “Do business need big capital, how much you have to talk like that?”
“I have more than one thousand from fifty dollars at the games!”
It was more money than Big Mole had all together, and she badly wanted it, although she felt she should also be honest with Ah Seow.
“Woh! You are my boss with all that money! Buy more shares than I can.”
“More shares, less shares, don’t matter.”
“If you agree, then we work together?”
“I like that very much.” Ah Seow agreed meaningfully, trying to catch her eye.
>
“Shake hands first!” Sachee demanded, stretching out his hand to seal the deal.
“Okay lah.” Ah Seow grabbed it.
“What about me?” Big Mole extended her thin, brown arm.
Ah Seow grabbed Big Mole’s hand even more enthusiastically. “A word is a word!” He was so pleased that he forgot to let it go.
“San, you be witness,” Big Mole said, removing her hand.
“I witness for all of you,” San promised. “And good luck too!”
“To all of us!” Big Mole laughed happily. “When can you talk to your father?”
“Tomorrow, after school.”
“Can I come too?”
“That is the way to do business!” San affirmed generously.
That night, San discussed his new plans with his mother, as he knew that the final approval would come from the warm-hearted woman. Indeed, before going to bed, Wong said, “Well, Rice Woman, if you agree...” and he waited. The assent was given.
“Then it is decided. I will go all the way to give the three of them a hand.”
• • •
The next afternoon, Wong clicked on his abacus before the excited young entrepreneurs, who sat on the cane settee in his office.
“Open your ears,” he advised, wagging his finger at them. “To do business you must have a proper plan. First, remember to keep a smiling face for all your customers.”
The three nodded attentively.
“Who is going to keep the record book?” Ah Seow raised his hand.
“Who is going to sit in front of the shop?” Big Mole raised hers.
“Who is going to keep the money and buy the goods?” Sachee quickly put his hand up, but Big Mole smacked it. “Me,” she said, and asked, “But how to find the place to start?”
“I have an old friend. He has an empty shed next to his chicken-incubating shop in Geylang Serai. Tomorrow, I will bring you all for a chat with him. As for the fish and tanks, I will ask another friend in Toa Payoh who breeds his own stock in the countryside for wholesale. Happy, everybody?”
“Yes, we are very happy. Thank you, Mr. Wong,” Big Mole answered politely on behalf of all of them.
“Then don’t waste my time! Come back tomorrow.” It was time for him to go opium smoking with the blind man at Kuan Yin Temple.
Geylang Serai was a mixed ethnic area, and there were more Malays than Chinese living here. Big Mole, who looked Malay, fitted into the multiracial neighbourhood perfectly. The Malays were curious because she could hardly speak their language. The Chinese were fascinated by her ability to speak Chinese like them. Fascination draws a crowd. Crowds attract even more people. Their business prospered that day because of Big Mole.
With Chai’s help, Yeow managed to persuade Kwang to stay at Cheong Pak’s place. After tasting Kim, and with the powerful Ng Koo behind him in his secret affairs, Yeow’s loyalties started to be divided. One day, at Santeng, he took Chai aside and said quietly, “You are the only one who knows my place in Katong. Don’t ever dare drop in there without ringing me first, okay?”
“What’s the big secret, Yeow?” Chai asked, gesturing with his hands wide open. “Why not let it out between us?”
“Because you have a big mouth,” Yeow growled. “Do you expect me to tell you how long is my cock? Guess for yourself!”
“I don’t get you,” Chai replied dumbly. “You mean you have some girls hanging around? I won’t come over at all, if that’s the case.”
“That’s better. At least you know what I’m saying.” He scowled to make sure that Chai remembered to keep away all together from his love nest.
At Katong, he waited constantly for Kim, who phoned him often. They also spent more and more secret time together. Yeow paid for all her taxi fares. He taught her to swim. He took her to air-conditioned restaurants. They walked Katong Beach at sunset, went to the movies, made love in different ways in all the rooms. Their intoxicating time together seemed to roll on endlessly, making Kim feel she did not want to go home. She saw less and less of Kwang.
Cheong Pak and his wife reminded Yeow not to rush Kwang into anything. “Watch him closely first. Be patient with him,” they say. “Money makes the devil turn the millstone. Let him waste all his money before we catch him.”
• • •
As he had planned, Kwang bought a new bicycle. He was busy as he travelled around Singapore to meet other spider boys, who regarded him as their hero. As Cheong Pak had predicted, his cash started to run out and he began working on Shoot Bird’s trucks as a labourer, delivering goods to markets. At fifteen, he was slim and of average height, and his muscles were hardened from all the physical work he did.
One day, he dropped over at Big Mole’s fish shop to check on his brothers. “Sit down first,” Big Mole said from behind the counter, smiling as she pulled out a chair. “Your little brothers are fine. How are you?”
“Not bad.” Kwang grinned so as to make light of everything. “Still working hard for Shoot Bird.”
“That’s why long time no see? How is Kim?”
“Don’t know, hard to say. Kim don’t like the place I stay. Where is Sachee?”
“Out buying threadworm for the fish.”
“So how is business? And you yourself?”
“Good, very busy. Too far to come and go from Bukit Ho Swee every day. Sachee and me moved out to live somewhere around here in Geylang. Saves a lot on bus fare.”
“What about Ah Seow? Does he help much?”
“Only after school, and then what can he do? All he wants is look at how much money we make.”
“Always greedy for money! You should run the business yourselves.”
“That’s what I said to him the other day. He didn’t like it and wanted to pull out his cash, tried to threaten me.”
“Short-tempered bastard. So?”
“But you are right. I offered to buy him out.”
“He agreed?”
“Why not? He made good profit. He put out a thousand and got back five hundred more. What about you? Are you happy with your work? It must be hard.”
“Yah, tough, but okay for five dollars a day. Shoot Bird is good to me, he gives me the chance to learn to drive a truck.”
“You should start a business like this.”
“No, I’m no good at sitting in a shop.”
“I heard Chai earns ten times more than you doing bully job for Yeow. Is that right?”
“I don’t know. I don’t like to interfere with their business. They very give face to me, so I give face back to them. That’s all.”
Big Mole was sad to see that Kwang had changed, but felt that he was gaining inner strength in the same way that his body was growing stronger. “Chinese New Year is coming soon. By then Sachee and me will have a nicer place to stay. Come and celebrate with us.”
“Okay lah, I see how first.” Kwang stood up to go. “Another time!”
“Stay longer for coffee when you do, Sachee misses you!”
Big Mole watched as Kwang rode away. He now wore pants instead of shorts; he had become a young man whose sense of optimism had died with the uncertainty of what the future would bring for his relationship with Kim.
• • •
Time went by and things changed. Shoot Bird died suddenly of a heart attack and the Spider Olympic Games died with him. Playing with wrestling spiders no longer seemed as exciting. During the same time, the whole nation was in an uproar. Throughout Singapore, people were restless for independence from the British, with many declaring, “We must eat the white man raw!” There were frequent labour strikes, which affected business at the ports and rubber factories. Many communist leaders were put in jail.
Then Kwang lost his job. Yeow, who saw his desperation, lent him money freely.
“Just use it first,” he smiled widely each time he handed money over to Kwang, and the latter finally felt shy about accepting any more.
Eventually, Yeow made his move, saying casually, “Why not go and see Bi
g Mole? You say she is doing well. She should be able to fit you in. She will probably welcome a hand from you.”
“She already asked me to join her,” Kwang admitted.
“So why worry? Why don’t you accept?”
“It’s her hard-earned rice bowl. The place too small for three. There’s just enough for her and Sachee.”
“I suppose you’re right. What about all those other spider guys who give you face all over the place? At least some of them should be able to score something better for you?”
“What can they do? They’re all trapped, with no proper job.”
“If that is the case, how do they find their money?” Yeow said wolfishly. “I can’t understand. Surely they must have some opening?”
“Most of them steal for the thieves’ market in Sungei Road. Some eat easy targets, rob taxi drivers or couples at night around Jalan Besar Stadium and at reservoirs, those kind of places. They ask me to join them but I can’t do it. That kind of stuff is not for me.”
“Yah, there is no dignity in it.”
“Crawl like a worm to hit the weak for small change, I’d rather rob the bank or kidnap the rich if I have the contacts.”
“You are right. This is a dog-eat-dog world. There’s no justice.”
“I know.”
“Sometimes we just have to close one eye to get somewhere.”
“True.”
“With you and me together, we should be able to team up on something and get more reserve for the days ahead.”
Kwang knew that Yeow was not revealing his real thoughts. “I am stuck,” he said. “If you have any contacts, draw it out lah!”
“The picture is rather complicated,” Yeow began, pretending to be reluctant. “I can’t think further on an empty stomach. I’m hungry, let’s go for food together before we have a proper talk. Satay okay?”
At the promise of good food, a double temptation next to money, Kwang simply could not resist any longer. They caught a trishaw to Queen Elizabeth Walk and, along the way, Yeow tested Kwang’s feelings, “Did you see Kim lately? I did not notice you and her together for quite a while.”