by Ty Marshall
“Get the fuck out of my house!” Mr. Lieu screamed.
“Please, Daddy, I have nowhere else to turn. You are my last resort.” China dropped to her knees, pleading her case to him as tears poured from her eyes and snot dripped from her nose. China’s soul ached, the emotional strain had taken a toll on her, and she had resorted to begging.
“Get up off your knees, China. I’m not one of your little thug boyfriends, that doesn’t work with me.” The level of disrespect didn’t end there. Mr. Lieu reached in his robe pocket and tossed a few twenties at her. “Here, hope this gets you where you trying to go.”
His words pierced her heart and soul, killing the small ray of hope she had left for them. She was defeated and crushed. She slowly rose to her feet to leave just as Bree burst through the door.
“What the hell is going on? Who is he?” China’s father bellowed with rage, seeing Bree enter his home unannounced and uninvited. “What the fuck is he doing here?”
China was just as shocked to see him appear seemingly out of nowhere. “Bree!” she shouted, rushing toward him, seeing the fury in his eyes.
“This was all part of your little plan, huh, China? You come here begging for money so you can run off with this piece of shit. I see the more things change, the more they stay the same. You have some nerve bringing this thug to my home.”
“No, Daddy, I didn’t—”
Bree had had enough of her father’s lack of respect, cutting China off before she could finish. “You don’t have to explain yourself to him, ma. It’s obvious he don’t give a fuck about nothing you got going on. But what he’s not gonna do is continue to disrespect you in my presence.”
“Is that right? And who are you supposed to be, Captain Save a Ho?” China’s father snapped, hurling one insult after the other.
“Old man, you lucky I don’t bury you where you stand, speaking to my woman like that,” Bree fumed.
“It’s okay, Bree, let’s just leave. This was a bad idea,” China conceded. It pained her to accept it, but it was clear that her choices had caused the destruction of her father’s affection for her. The level of disdain he held in his heart for her was on full display, and all she wanted to do was get out of that house as fast as she could.
“Woman?” Her father posed the questioned to Bree. “That don’t say much about you as a man. Sending your woman in here to beg for money. What kind of man can’t handle his own and take care of his woman? China, get the fuck out of my house and take this little boy with you.”
“Let’s just go!” China pleaded with Bree, trying to quell the ire she felt surging up in him.
“Boy? I gotcha, boy,” Bree said, pushing past China and landing a crushing two-piece on her father’s chin.
The man quickly dropped to the floor, but that didn’t stop the onslaught. Bree struck him repeatedly with his fist, turning his face into a crimson mess. Blood spattered with every blow landed. China cried out for Bree to stop, trying to grab him, only to be knocked back onto the ground. Bree’s rage had bubbled over, and there seemed to be no end in sight. China’s father did not fight back the entire time Bree pummeled him.
“Nooo! Stop!” China cried out, finally crawling over to him, using her body to shield him from the attack. Her battered and bruised dad laid stretched out on the bloodstained marble, one eye swollen shut and his robe half off.
“Where you think he keeps the money in here?” Bree questioned as he stood over them. “Get up and help me look,” he ordered, then repeated himself sternly when she didn’t move fast enough. “Get up!”
China had never seen that look in Bree’s eyes before, and it scared her. So she did what she was told and began searching the house for anything of value. After a few minutes, Bree descended the spiral staircase, where he found China tending to her father’s wounds.
“I found some cash and jewelry and the car keys. Let’s go,” he called out to her.
“China, if you leave here with him, you’re dead to me,” her father spoke through swollen lips, barely audible.
China didn’t want to leave her father all beat up and bleeding. She didn’t want to leave at all. Even after the way he had spoken to her, she still couldn’t find it in her heart to hate him. Underneath the glamorous façade and rebellious attitude, she was still a daddy’s girl. Seeing him like that crashed her. For a split second she considered telling Bree to leave without her. Her life was spiraling out of control. It had just exploded in her face, and the shrapnel had hit her father. “I love you, Daddy. I’m sorry this happened to you. Why couldn’t you just hear me out? Just this one time?” China spoke to her father in a pleading tone. She wanted to apologize for Bree; she knew his overreaction was out of love. He didn’t know the demons she had forced her family to deal with. He couldn’t understand that verbal attack from her father was well deserved. Bree had only done what any man would do for his woman. “I’m sorry, Daddy, but I love him and I have to go with him. He loves me.” China’s tears poured down her face while she spoke. Taking her time to pull away from her father, she knew in her heart it would probably be the last time she ever saw him.
“Let’s go, China,” Bree repeated.
Tears continued to stream down her face. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be, none of it,” she tried explaining to her father, barely able to keep it together, feeling her heart crumbling in her chest.
“Let’s … Go … Now!” Bree shouted, causing her to jump from his voice booming through the house.
“If you walk out that door, that’s it, China. You’re dead to me and I’m dead to you,” her father said once again.
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me one day,” she said, turning away in shame, slowly walking over to Bree. She looked over her shoulder one last time, taking a picture for her memory, then exited the house hand and hand with Bree.
Chapter 7
The surge of adrenaline was still pumping through Bree’s veins as he accelerated hard, weaving the black BMW through traffic. He had defended China’s honor, and he was beaming with pride. On the inside he felt vindicated. All the love and loyalty he had poured into China had been reciprocated in the choice she had just made. Choosing him over her father told him everything he needed to know about where her head and heart were. They were definitely where they needed to be. He asked for her all, and she had given that and more.
For China, the feeling couldn’t be more different. She sat despondent and dejected, slumped in the passenger seat crying silently. What had started off as a reunion of sorts quickly went left, and the guilt was killing her.
“Whatchu crying for?” a surprised Bree asked, looking over at her, seeing the tears racing down her face. Bree kept glancing at China, then back at the road. “I know that’s not how you wanted it to go down, but your pops brought that on his self.”
“Yeah, but he’s still my father, or at least he was. He’ll probably never speak to me again,” she sobbed.
“I know he’ll never speak to you like that again. He’s supposed to be your father, but he has no respect for you. And he is questioning my manhood? What kind of man is he? If I had a daughter, I would never talk to her like that. It should be crystal clear who cares more about you when it comes to me and him. You should save those tears for somebody who is worth them.”
Although what Bree was saying was right, China didn’t want to hear it or acknowledge it at the moment. She was lost in a sea of hurt. Only she knew the depths of what her parents had suffered through with her, the many times she had violated their trust and made herself hard to love. She understood why her father felt such disappointment over her. Bree couldn’t possibly understand. She had been living outside of her truth for so long, her lies were all he knew. To him, the disrespect of her father was unwarranted and unjust. “You don’t get it, Bree,” she said.
“Get what?” he snapped back. “Nah, you don’t get it. I keep trying to tell you, we all we
got, ma. Don’t nobody give a fuck about us but us. Your pops just showed you that. We ain’t got time for you to be out here feeling sorry for yourself or nobody else. Cinco’s wolves ain’t gonna show us no sympathy,” he reminded her. “You gotta toughen up, pull it together, shit’s real out here, ma. But one thing you need to know is I’m not gonna let anybody hurt you or disrespect you. Pops or no pops, I don’t give a fuck. I love you, China. You my heart. I’m gonna always protect you, even if I have to lay in the sky to do it.”
China could feel his passion as he spoke, and she believed every word. But it did little to soothe the anguish and grief she felt. She had found her Clyde in Bree, and she had become his Bonnie, but the accomplishment didn’t give her the satisfaction she sought. The gain was minimal compared to what she had lost back at her father’s house. It was like a black cloud was over her. She could only imagine that this was what it felt like to attend the funeral and burial of a parent. The sense of loss left a gaping hole in her heart, one that not even Bree could fill. China kept replaying the vision of her father beaten in his own home in her mind. More painful were the words he spoke, the deep-seated aversion he had for her and complete disownment he threatened. Each insult blared loud in her ears. China accepted that she hadn’t been the best daughter possible, a host of painfully bad decisions ruining her relationship with her parents. But she never wanted to see either one of them hurt physically; she had done them both enough damage emotionally to last two lifetimes. China knew Bree meant every word, he was all she had left to hold on to. Her father surely wouldn’t have anything to do with her ever again. So she pushed him out of her mind and let the appreciation of what Bree had done for her sink in and take over.
“You hear me, ma?” Bree asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. “I love you, and ain’t no-fuckin’-body gonna disrespect you. Not while I’m still breathing.”
“Yeah, I hear you, baby,” she said, sniffling and wiping her tears. “I love you too, and thank you for everything.” China ran her fingers through his curly Mohawk and smiled. Satisfied and willing to ride it out with Bree to the end, she was finally at peace, accepting their fate, good or bad, as long as it came jointly. She turned up the radio, breaking the silence that had overtaken the car, and they cruised up the highway.
We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special report. Police are looking for two suspects. One male, one female, both African American. They are wanted for questioning in connection with a body found at an Arizona truck stop. They have yet to be identified, but police have offered a ten-thousand-dollar reward for any information leading to their capture. They are believed to be armed and dangerous.
China’s heart sank in into her stomach, and her mouth fell open in an O of shock. “That’s us, they’re looking for us.” She panicked, wondering how someone had discovered the body so fast.
“They don’t know who they looking for. You heard the report,” a much calmer Bree explained. “They have yet to identify the suspects. We just need to keep it moving,” he said, just as a soft chime rang out. Looking down at the dashboard, he saw the red fuel light blinking and realized they were low on gas. “Damn, we need to find a gas station quick.”
“I saw a sign for one coming up, get off at the next exit. I gotta pee anyway,” China told him.
Bree steered the car into a dimly lit gas station off to the side of the road and pulled up to the pump. They both hopped out of the car.
Bree reached in his pocket, handing China two twenties. “Here, bring me back a soda.” He leaned against the car, admiring her as she entered the store. He watched as she paid the clerk, then disappeared into the bathroom. Bree lifted the pump, pressed the button, and began pumping gas into the car. Staring into the backseat at the jewelry he had taken from China’s dad, Bree figured once they got out of the state, they could hit a pawnshop and hock it. That would give them more than enough to get to Canada. Bree noticed a pair of headlights pulling into the gas station, and looking up, he saw a police car pulling up to the pump right next to his. Bree remained calm, turning his back to the police officer as he exited the car. Bree’s heart was pounding in his chest. The report on the radio had him on edge. He pretended to fix his shirt, only to keep his hand close to his gun. He would shoot it out with the cop, if necessary, anything to avoid getting captured. He stared at the numbers on the pump as the scrolled up, wishing they would hurry up and stop. “She needs to come on,” he mumbled to himself, wondering what was keeping China. His breath stopped momentarily as he heard the cop call out to him.
“Hey,” the officer said. “Hey, you,” he repeated, trying to get Bree’s attention.
Bree slowly wrapped his hand around the handle of the gun and pulled it out of his shirt. The cop had no idea what was about to happen, his vision blocked by the car between them, and Bree had the drop on him.
“Hey, you,” the officer called out again. “What year is that BMW?” he asked just as Bree turned to face him, prepared to lift his weapon and shoot.
“Two thousand fifteen,” China intervened, seeing the killer look return to Bree’s eyes. He hadn’t noticed her exit the store, but she knew what he was thinking, spotting him as she walked across the lot.
“That’s a nice car,” the officer admired. “Must have cost you a pretty penny.”
“Wedding gift,” Bree answered with a smile, slipping his gun back in his waist before hanging the pump up.
“You have a nice night, Officer. Be safe,” China said, before sliding into the passenger seat.
“You folks do the same,” the officer replied.
Bree cautiously pulled away from the gas station. He continued to check his rearview mirror until the cop and the station had disappeared out of sight. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, happy he didn’t have to use his gun. Killing a cop was the last thing he needed at the moment, but he wouldn’t have hesitated.
“What’s the plan?” China asked.
“I think we should hit Vegas. It’ll be easier to get rid of the jewelry there. People are always pawning shit to gamble. It won’t cause any suspicion.”
China nodded in agreement. “I know a place out there where we could get some fake IDs and passports too.”
* * *
The trek north up the highway had them pulling into Las Vegas just as the scorching desert sun began to peek over the mountains in the distance, transforming the blue sky into a beautiful burnt orange and bringing with it golden rays of morning light that lit up the elegant hotels and casinos. Vegas looked so different during the day. No bright lights or glitz stripped some of its glamour. But it didn’t stop the people, the strip was already alive. Yellow cabs and charter buses went up and down both sides of Las Vegas Boulevard as the casino billboards displayed pictures and videos. Bree found a low-key hotel at the very end of the strip, pulled in, and got them a room.
China stretched across the bed, happy for the opportunity to rest some. She closed her eyes and sank into the comfortable mattress. Bree sat in a chair, taking inventory of their resources. He counted the money they had and estimated what they could get for the jewelry. He was trying to determine the best way to reach their destination and still have bread when they got there. A flight would be the fastest way to travel, but with the cops looking for them it was too much of a risk.
Bree sat back in the chair, frustrated. He snatched the remote up off the coffee table and pointed it at the TV. His eyes grew wide and round in a state of utter shock as a picture of China stared back at him from the TV screen. “Oh, shit, ma, look,” he called out to her as he increased the volume on the TV.
The young woman you see here is China Lieu. She is wanted in connection to a dead body found early this morning at a truck stop in Arizona. She is seen here standing outside of the truck, then here again on the convenience store camera purchasing gas at a station about one hundred miles outside of Nevada. It is believed she is traveling with this unidentified man.
A grainy photo of Bree exiting the truck
, followed by a clearer one of him pumping gas, flashed across the screen.
Authorities believe that they could be in or around the Las Vegas area and are considered armed and dangerous. There is a ten-thousand-dollar reward for any information leading to their arrest. Police ask that you do not approach them if spotted, just dial the number at the bottom of your television.
China sat up on the bed in a panic, teary-eyed and shaken. The air in the room suddenly became thicker to her, making breathing harder. Terrified, she sat frozen, staring at the TV with her mouth wide open. She could hear herself screaming in her mind but couldn’t manage to make a sound, just continued sitting there in disbelief. She was now wanted for murder. Not only were Cinco’s people after them, now so were the police. The walls were closing in on them fast, and she didn’t see how they were going survive. Drowning in quicksand with no end in sight, their mission had just become harder. How was she supposed to get across the border now with her face plastered all over the television? She felt more trapped than she ever had.
“We gotta get out of here, ma,” Bree announced, jumping to his feet.
“We need new identities,” China asserted. “We need to become ghosts, like ASAP.”
Bree agreed. “You right.”
China jumped up off the bed and headed straight to the bathroom. “Give me ten minutes,” she said, then slammed the door and locked it before Bree could object. China searched the bathroom until she found a shaving razor and ripped it open. She knew the game had just drastically changed, and she needed to get smart fast. She had no time to feel sorry for herself like she had been doing. Things were getting worse by the minute, and the chances of being caught had increased dramatically. She didn’t just need Bree anymore; they needed each other. With Cinco and the law chasing them, there was no time for bad moves and irrational decisions. China looked at herself in the mirror. It was time for a change. She grabbed a fistful of her long locks, then went to work, sniping, shearing, and cutting them until she was satisfied that she had achieved her goal. All her pretty long hair lay in the hotel sink. China didn’t care, she had a new look and attitude. The choppy short cut felt weird as she ran her hand through it; it would definitely take some getting used to. She needed to fly as low under the radar as possible, especially with her face plastered all over the news. China took a deep breath, then tucked her hair behind her ears and swung open the bathroom door. She braced for Bree’s reaction to her dramatic change.