by Pip Granger
‘What would you like?’ Sugar asked after we’d claimed a table.
‘Something non-alcoholic,’ I answered. ‘I want to keep my wits about me and take all this in. It’s the first and probably the last time I’ll be here.’ I looked around me at the splendour I’d suddenly found myself in. Here I was, in a borrowed dress held together with some hasty stitching, one or two small safety pins, a lot of whalebone and a great deal of prayer, in one of the poshest hotels in the world. For a moment, I couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed. What would my mother and the aunts say if they could see me now?
‘Right you are, I’ll get you a citron pressé. In fact, I think I’ll join you. I’m going to need what wits I’ve got as well.’ He smiled and turned towards the bar, then his expression froze. I followed his gaze. Two Chinese men had entered the room. I wondered which one was Sugar’s lover. Both were handsome in their evening dress. When I looked harder, I realized that they could even be brothers. Recognition was niggling at the back of my mind, and I strained for a better look in the dim lighting. I heard Sugar’s sharp intake of breath. Standing in the doorway behind the two men was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.
She was tall for a Chinese woman, slender and elegant in her straight, black evening dress. Her thick, glossy black hair was piled high to add some more inches, and peeping from the shiny coils were diamond pins that glittered in the lamplight. Her slender feet were encased in gold, stiletto-heeled shoes and she clutched a small gold bag. The woman looked slowly around the room, then moved forward to stand beside one of the men and murmured something to him.
The man glanced at our table, and nodded very slightly as he saw Sugar. It was then that I recognized him. It was Mr Chang. I felt an army of geese crawl right up my spine, pushing their famous bumps before them, until it felt as if my hair must be standing on end. I had just enough time to gather myself together when the beautiful woman drifted towards our table. She moved as if her feet made no contact with the thick pile of the carpet. Sugar did not move from his spot. He simply waited, wearing a complicated expression that I couldn’t read.
‘Mr Flaherty, such an unexpected pleasure,’ said the beautiful woman in perfect English. Her voice was so soft it sounded like the sigh of a gentle breeze. Her eyes were fixed demurely on a spot at Sugar’s feet and her slim hand was outstretched towards him. Sugar bowed slightly and took the proffered hand, with its immaculate long, scarlet nails. It was a hand that had never seen a sink full of washing up, dragged sudsy sheets over a washboard or hefted a duster; had I been a gambling type, I’d have put a week’s wages on it and thought the money safe. Sugar lingered for a moment, the little hand clasped in his large one. He bowed his head over it, kissed it in a courtly manner and finally, a shade reluctantly it seemed to me, released it.
‘Madam Chang,’ he said. ‘Always a pleasure. May I introduce Elizabeth Robbins, a good friend of Bandy’s and of mine.’ He turned to me. ‘Lizzie, may I introduce Madam Chang.’
I stood up and shook her hand. Madam Chang had a surprisingly firm grip. She smiled and inclined her head. ‘A pleasure, Mrs Robbins.’ I wondered how she’d known I was a Mrs rather than a Miss. I hadn’t worn my wedding ring since I’d split up with Sid. With a start, I heard Madam Chang ask whether we would mind if she joined us for a moment or two, while her husband and his brother discussed some tedious business. So they were brothers.
‘Certainly. Please sit.’ Sugar pulled a seat out for her and she sank into it like a feather drifting to the ground. ‘May I order you a drink?’ I had never seen Sugar so formal or stiff, but then he was talking to the wife of a rich, powerful and – if rumour was right – very dangerous man. It didn’t seem to matter which Chang brother was her husband, they were probably both dangerous. Of course Sugar would be on his very best behaviour – it stood to reason.
‘A champagne cocktail would be very nice, thank you,’ she said graciously, and he went to order the drinks at the bar.
I decided to make small talk while Sugar was away, but found it difficult to think of a thing to say. In the end, I plumped for something safe. ‘Cold for the time of year, isn’t it?’ I said lamely.
Madam Chang smiled wider. ‘Perhaps, but it is still only early spring,’ she pointed out gently. She leaned forward suddenly. ‘Quickly,’ she said, although her expression of benign amusement didn’t change. ‘Come to the ladies’ room with me and tell me what has Sugar in such a flap. I don’t have much time. He can give me any extra details when he gets back from the bar.’
I followed Madam Chang towards the table where her two companions sat. She stopped briefly, said something rapid in Chinese, then turned to me. ‘Mrs Robbins, may I introduce my husband, Mr Douglas Chang, and his brother, Mr Henry Chang.’
‘How do you do,’ I said politely. Neither man replied, although both nodded their heads briefly. I noticed, too, that neither of them had stood up at the approach of a brace of ladies. Perhaps it wasn’t usual in China.
It was in that instant that all became clear to me. If Douglas Chang was Madam Chang’s husband, then she must be Brilliant! Brilliant Chang, the woman who had taken on something of a fascination for me the moment I’d heard her name. I stood open-mouthed like an idiot, while she slipped the attendant a pound note to make herself scarce for a minute or two. There was no one else in the room, and Madam Chang asked the woman to try to keep it that way until we came out, promising another crisp note if she managed it. The woman slipped the first pound into a capacious pocket in her uniform and strode purposefully towards the exit.
I looked around me at the large room that glittered with mirrors and discreet lighting. It was the first time in my life that I had come across a Ladies that had a kind of salon attached. I was almost overwhelmed by the sheer luxury of it. There were elegant, upholstered chairs, a settee and a chaise-longue, in matching silk brocade, with a motif of sprigs of pink flowers on a café-au-lait background.
Mirrors lined one wall, and beneath the mirrors was a long dressing-table affair, with a series of mirrors and a chair at each. Each place was laid with a dressing table in coffee-coloured glass to match the chairs. Various bowls contained balls of white, fluffy cotton wool, soft, goose-down powder puffs and loose pink powder, so that you could simply dust a shiny nose. There were even perfume sprays made of cut glass, with silk-tasseled bulbs. I was dying to try them, to see if each held a different fragrance, but Brilliant’s tone was so urgent that I concentrated on the business at hand.
‘Right. Now we’re alone, explain everything as quickly as you can. Time is very short.’ Brilliant Chang was used to being obeyed, I could tell.
I explained as succinctly as I could. Her eyes narrowed as she listened, but she didn’t interrupt. ‘I see,’ she said when I’d done. That was all she said for a while. I kept quiet too.
‘You must tell Sugar that I will look into it and shall report back tomorrow,’ she said quietly. ‘I fear that this could be far more complicated than anyone thinks. It is a matter of great delicacy.’
‘But Lucky seemed to think that time was very short and that Peace should be rescued urgently,’ I explained, ‘before she can be shipped out to Hong Kong on the next boat.’
‘I understand, but I must urge you to wait,’ insisted Brilliant. ‘The situation is very difficult, very delicate. It involves powerful interests that you cannot understand. I must consult with my people, and you must not act before I report back to Sugar.’
Reluctantly, I agreed to convey the message to Sugar, Bandy and T.C. I wasn’t entirely happy, though. I had seen how frightened Lucky had been.
Madam Chang smiled at me, her head to one side. ‘Tell me, are you another of Sugar’s lovers?’
I was shocked. ‘Certainly not,’ I spluttered.
Her laugh tinkled around the room. ‘Don’t be so shocked! Sugar is a beautiful lover.’ Her grin widened. ‘And he has the most enormous penis, like a donkey almost. You should try him. He will spoil you for any other man.�
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She laughed louder at my wide-eyed expression. ‘Truly, you should try him,’ she urged. ‘It’ll be worth it, believe me.’
Was it possible? Could Brilliant Chang be Sugar’s lover? I could hardly believe it. There must be some mistake. Everyone knew that Sugar preferred men – didn’t they?
Although, the more I thought about it, the more I realized there had never been the slightest evidence pointing either way. No one had ever seen or even heard of him being entangled with anyone, except his mysterious lover, the one nobody had ever seen – except Bandy, and until now she’d kept very quiet about it. Brilliant Chang. Who’d have thought it?
‘I don’t think he’d co-operate,’ I managed to say, caught between astonishment and merriment. ‘I think you’ve spoilt him for anyone else. He seems to be a one-woman man.’
It was Brilliant’s turn to be shocked. ‘Really? Is that true?’
I nodded.
‘How touching. How very touching,’ she said as she glanced at her watch. ‘We must go. We’ve stayed too long.’
Back at the bar, Douglas Chang looked up as his beautiful wife re-entered the room. He spoke to her sharply in Chinese as we approached the table and she stooped and whispered something into his ear. Goodness knows what it was, but his expression cleared and he laughed quietly, then gave me a strange look.
‘I told my husband that Sugar is your demon lover with a huge member to keep you satisfied,’ Brilliant tinkled as we joined Sugar. ‘He was very interested.’
She stayed long enough to finish her cocktail and then abruptly stood. ‘My husband and brother-in-law have finished their talk, I must rejoin them.’ She bowed graciously to us both and said, ‘It has been very pleasant. Thank you.’
The Chang brothers stood as one, and a few pleasantries were exchanged, judging by all the bowing and smiling. Then the trio left the bar. Sugar and I watched them go.
‘So what happened?’ Sugar asked the minute we were safely in the taxi heading back to the shop so that I could change out of my borrowed finery. ‘On second thoughts, keep it zipped, even cabs have ears.’ We rode the rest of the way in silence.
It wasn’t until we were safely in the workroom at the shop and I was dressed in my own clothes, brewing a cup of tea while Sugar unpicked the frock and tacked it up again to its original dimensions, that he finally thought it was safe for us to talk about it.
I tackled him head on. ‘Brilliant?’ I spluttered. ‘Your lover is Brilliant Chang?’ I was still having trouble fully grasping the idea.
‘Yes,’ said Sugar simply. ‘Yes, Brilliant’s my lover, but you mustn’t tell anybody, not even the two reprobates you work for. Nobody knows, not even Mrs Wong.’
‘Brilliant!’ I said again, nonplussed. ‘But I always thought your lover would be a man.’
‘I never said I was that way inclined,’ said Sugar with mock severity. ‘Not that it would matter if I was; it’s just that I never said.’
‘But the dresses, the jewellery, the false eyelashes, the wig?’ My voice rose to a squeal of disbelief.
‘Just because I’m a transvestite,’ said Sugar with some dignity, ‘doesn’t mean that I like to roger men. No, darling, I’m a hetero right down to my false tits.’
‘Well, I never knew!’
‘That’s because you never asked,’ Sugar answered, and I suppose there was no arguing with that.
When the frock was safely stowed on its hanger once again, Sugar and I strolled back to the club. I was too shaken to say much. It had been quite an evening for surprises. What I didn’t know was that there was more to come.
33
The walk back to the club was the calm before the storm, and in those peaceful moments, I was able to tell Sugar everything that had taken place in the Ladies at Claridges. Except, that is, Brilliant’s endorsement of Sugar’s special asset and talent; I found that I was far too embarrassed to bring that up.
We had reached a companionable silence as we entered the alley and made for the door that led down to the club or up to the flats above it. We were on the threshold when it became obvious that there was an argument in progress down below. Sugar and I exchanged brief, questioning looks and then hurried down the stairs.
Lucky was standing in the centre of the room, apparently surrounded by hostile forces, all of whom seemed to be talking at once. He looked so frail standing there. It wasn’t that Lucky was unnaturally small for a Chinese, because he wasn’t, but he was very slender. His shoulders looked so narrow as he tried to stand up to the barrage of questions, opinions and recriminations that were raining down upon him.
Sugar took pity on him and bellowed at the top of his considerable voice, ‘What in hell’s name is going on here?’
Everyone turned to the doorway, and I jumped as a familiar voice behind me said, ‘And I second that!’ It was T.C., whose arrival had been masked by the hullabaloo that had greeted us.
Bandy, Malcolm, Bobby and Pansy Bristowe and several others stared back at us for a moment, then all began to speak at once. Sugar raised a large hand and yelled, ‘Belt up, the lot of you!’
‘Perhaps just one of you should begin?’ T.C. suggested into the resulting hush. He smiled encouragingly at Lucky, who, although obviously terrified, was standing his ground.
‘And you must be Lucky Wong?’ Lucky nodded slightly and T.C. continued, ‘Maybe you’d like to give us your side to begin with, then we’ll hear from everyone in their turn. How about that?’
T.C. didn’t wait for a reply, but ushered Lucky, Bandy, Sugar and me to a corner table. Impressively, even Bandy went quietly. Everyone else returned to their tables, except for Bobby and Malcolm, who were manning the bar. Although they tried to hide it, eyes kept straying to our out-of-the-way table and you could almost hear the creaking of a dozen sets of ears or more, as they strained to listen in.
Instinctively, I noticed, Lucky turned to T.C. ‘A ship is due in from Hong Kong very soon. My friend says that they plan to take Peace to Liverpool. They are setting out before first light tomorrow morning, so that she is ready to go on board as soon as the ship arrives there.’
He looked around the table at the rest of us, his eyes pleading. ‘We must rescue Peace straight away, before they can take her away. It will be too late if they get her on the ship. We’ll never be able to get aboard. I’ll never see Peace again!’
‘And whose bloody fault is that, I’d like to know? If you’d left the gal where she belonged, none of this would have happened.’ Fury and fear made Bandy’s voice tremble slightly and her eyes flashed.
‘Getting your dander up won’t help, Band. Quieten down and let’s think about this,’ Sugar urged.
‘What’s there to think about?’ I asked sharply, much to everyone’s surprise, including mine. ‘We’ve got to rescue her and it sounds to me as if the sooner the better. We haven’t got time to debate the pros and cons of the situation. In a few hours, Peace will be gone, way beyond our reach.’
‘But my friend said to wait,’ Sugar reminded me. ‘Because the situation was delicate and there were forces at work that were beyond our understanding.’
‘Is your friend referring to who I think?’ Bandy asked enigmatically, strain sounding clearly in her voice.
Sugar nodded grimly. ‘I think so, yes.’
‘Oh bloody hell!’ Bandy spat, then turned her venom on poor Lucky. ‘If you had left my niece where she belonged, then we wouldn’t have the fucking Triad breathing down our necks! What the hell have you unleashed on us, you little bastard?’
Lucky’s downcast eyes snapped upwards and he glared at Bandy, full in the face. I knew from Peace that to stare an elder full in the face was insulting behaviour for a Chinese, and there was no doubt that Bandy knew it too. The fine bones of Lucky’s face made him look as if he’d been sculpted, and his blue-black hair shone in the lamplight as he held the look but said nothing.
T.C. took control of the situation once again, before more insults could be hurled about and t
ime wasted. ‘It would be useful to know exactly what we’re walking into,’ he said in a placating tone, ‘before we attempt anything.’
‘But Sugar’s friend isn’t due to report back to us until tomorrow, and that will be too late. I, for one, refuse point blank to stand by and let someone take another child away from me. I just won’t have it!’ My voice was shrill with tension. I turned to Lucky and said, with far more resolve than I felt, ‘It’s time we went. Show me where they’re keeping her.’
I began to walk towards the door. T.C. grabbed my arm to restrain me. I shook him off. Fury bubbled up out of nowhere. I hardly recognized myself. ‘We can’t just stand around and let it happen, T.C.! Someone’s got to do something, and I am going to try!’
T.C.’s voice was very quiet. ‘You don’t know what you’re taking on.’
‘But I can’t just stand …’ I began.
‘I know, I know, you can’t just stand by and let it happen. In that case, if I can’t talk you out of it, I’ll have to come as well. Any other volunteers?’ T.C. looked around the club.
‘Are you mad?’ Bandy roared.
‘I’ll come,’ Sugar said softly, ‘although I think you’re off your trolley. But I agree, we can’t just let Peace be dragged off against her will. That’s all there is to it. Bandy, I want you to stay here,’ he said firmly.
‘Balls to that,’ Bandy replied, thrusting her chin out defiantly. ‘If Lizzie feels obliged to help that bloody niece of mine, then I am duty bound as well. I couldn’t live with myself if I sat on my arse and waited.’
T.C. held up a hand to stop the argument. ‘Actually,’ he said, ‘I think we should keep the number who go to an absolute minimum. We can’t have hordes of us milling about in the dark. It isn’t weight of numbers that’s going to win this day; it’s how sneaky we can be. And sneaky’s easier with just a few of us.