After Rebecca heard the story of how Eric was abused, she made of point of making sure that he always had new pairs of those canvas blue high tops he loved to wear so much. With his active life, big swimmer’s feet, and constant wear, Eric would go through a pair in about six months. So not only were her gifts thoughtful, they were practical too.
After opening the package of new shoes, Eric turned to Rebecca and gave her a long hug and kiss. “You always are so thoughtful of my needs, Becky’” Eric told her. “I will think of you every morning when I lace these babies up!”
In the distance, they could hear the school bell ringing. “I have to go to practice now, but I can’t wait until our study session tonight!” Eric said enthusiastically.
“I think that the only thing I want to study tonight is you, Eric!” Rebecca said, giving Eric another hug.
“That’s what I was counting on!” Eric replied. “See you then!”
After the jazz band rehearsal ended, Daniel quickly put his guitar and amplifier away. He wanted to bolt out of the room as soon as the bell rang, so he could be with Diana during lunch. Diana had promised him a wonderful lunch today, partly as a thank you for the song he wrote. Sunday afternoon and evening, Diana kept sending Daniel text messages describing what a great luncheon she was putting together for the two of them.
When the bell rang, Daniel hurried over to the wing of the school where Diana had her fourth period English class. As Daniel was hurrying over there, Diana was walking down the all, having just left the classroom. In her hand was a medium sized satchel containing the food she brought.
After they met and briefly kissed, Daniel asked Diana where she would like to go for lunch. Diana suggested the lawn in front of the school. “I have brought along a very thin plastic tarp we can spread out and sit on, and be away from other students.”
“Sound good to me,” Daniel replied. “Lead the way!”
Soon the two of them were seated on the lawn and beginning to enjoy Diana’s luncheon. She had packed a thermos of cold lemonade, cold vegetables strips with a cheddar dip, and some sesame flatbread for the first course. Then she had made roast beef sandwiches with lettuce and tomato on some of their homemade bread. And for dessert, Diana had a box of homemade Valentine shaped cookies. The cookies were made of shortbread and were frosted with pink frosting.
As he was eating his food, Daniel raved, “This is so good, Diana. You can make me lunch any time!”
“I wanted to make you something special after you sang that song for me,” Diana replied, smiling at Daniel’s compliment. “It always makes me feel good when you tell me that you like the food I prepare for you and others. There is no greater compliment than that for a would-be chef!”
“They say that the road to a guy’s heart is through his stomach,” Daniel said smiling back at Diana. “If that’s true your road is a freeway!”
The two turned to each other and kissed. They then held hands and looked dreamily into each other’s eyes.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Daniel said after about a minute of silence.
“I was thinking about how nice it would be if you could sing that song you wrote for me again. That was such a special moment for me,” Diana replied.
Daniel’s whole face lit up when he heard her request. “I have just the solution for that!” Disentangling himself from her arms, Daniel turned and opened his backpack, which he had placed over on the edge of the tarp. He opened the backpack and took out a thin, small square package. “For you,” he said as he handed the gift to Diana.
Inside the package was a CD recording of Daniel’s song “Diana”. “Now you can hear the song whenever you want and upload it to your phone and mp3 player. The band made this recording at our rehearsal yesterday afternoon. It’s still a rough mix and all, but I think it came out pretty good.”
“This is the best possible gift I could imagine!” Diana exclaimed. “Thank you, thank you,” she said turning to give Daniel a kiss. “And thank Eric, Nick, Tim, and Jonathan also!” Diana then got an envelope out of her backpack. “This is for you, Daniel.”
Inside the envelope was a valentine. Diana had written this inscription inside:
“Dear Daniel, The more I get to know you, the more I realize what a special person you are, so talented as musician, so brave when you go to help others in trouble or need, and so considerate of me and your other friends. Best of all, I love your passion — your passion for life, your insistence on righting wrongs, and your love for me. I am so happy whenever we are together, Love always, Diana.”
After reading the card, Daniel put his arms around Diana and gave her a long kiss. “This has turned out to be a Valentine’s Day to remember, Diana. I love you too! Now I really would like to go on one of our bike rides again, maybe after school?”
Diana smiled back at him and replied, “I think I have a better plan. Mom said that she would probably be out at some business appointments this afternoon. She is meeting with a couple of corporate clients who are planning events they want her to cater. She said she would be meeting with them to discuss the menu and decorations, and to look at the rooms where the events are to be held. So instead of a bike ride, perhaps you could give me a ride home after school.”
“My limousine is at your disposal, Miss Miglione,” Daniel said. The two then packed up the remains of the luncheon, folded up the tarp, and began walking hand in hand to their fifth period classes.
“I will be thinking about you all through my next two classes,” Daniel said as they arrived at the door of Diana’s fifth period class.
“Don’t daydream too much, Daniel,” Diana replied. “You need to keep your grades up for college!”
“Don’t worry about that, Di,” Daniel replied with a laugh. “My parents would seriously ground me if I let my grades slip. With both of them working out of our house, that would be a serious grounding!”
“I know I will be thinking of you during my classes, love,” Diana said as she turned to enter the classroom. “I can’t wait to see you again after school.”
As Daniel quickly walked away so he wouldn’t be late to his math class, he was replaying the song “Diana” in his head.
* * *
Jason and Laura also had arranged to meet at lunch. They did have one class together and with Jason involved with the basketball team and Laura participating in planning school activities, often their lunchtime was taken up with meetings, both formal and informal. But today was special, and with both of them having after school responsibilities, this was going to be their private time today. Both had decided to bring bag lunches from home, so that they wouldn’t have to spend time in the school lunch line.
Jason and Laura’s English teacher was one of the main faculty sponsors for student activities. Her classroom was usually open for students to drop in during lunch. It was warm and cozy inside the classroom, so during the winter months, Jason and Laura would end up eating there several times a week. The only stipulation was that they had to make sure everything was clean and neat when they were finished eating. Today there was only one other student in there, taking a makeup test. Laura and Jason went to one of the back corners away from the other student and sat down together.
While they were eating their food, they talked about the party last night and what was up for the week. The Merriam High School basketball team had an important game Thursday evening. If they won the game, they were assured a place in the league playoffs. But to do so, they would have to defeat one of their school’s main rivals, Pleasant Valley High.
“You are going to be at the game, aren’t you?” Jason asked Laura.
“Of course, Jason. You know I like to watch you and the others play. When everything is clicking you guys show great teamwork and camaraderie. It’s fun to watch you play.”
“That’s my girl,” Jason said, holding Laura’s hands. “Your support means so much to me!”
“I know that we already gave each other gifts over the weekend,” Jason c
ontinued but I do have a little something else for you.” Jason opened his backpack and took out a large manila envelope, which he handed to Laura. Inside was a caricature drawing Jason had made about their relationship. The picture showed them walking along a pathway in a park that was about to split into a Y. Jason was pointing at the divide in the road, and saying, “No splitting up for us, babe!”
Laura looked at Jason with surprise. “You drew this?” she wanted to know. “I didn’t know you were an artist, too!”
“I like to draw little doodles every now and then,” Jason answered. “After our great time on Saturday I got inspired to draw that.”
“Well, it’s more than just a little doodle. It’s very good! I am going to frame it and put it on my bedroom wall. Thank you!” Laura said giving him a kiss.
“Now I have something for you, Jason.” She took out a small package and envelope from her purse. Inside the package was a framed photo of herself, signed “For Jason, Love you always, Laura.” Inside the card Laura had written, “I know you have many important things to do in your life, helping others in your brave and selfless manner, but I hope you will always remain the ‘kickback Jason’ I love so much. Forever yours, Laura.”
“That is so sweet of you, Laura. What you have been saying to me lately is so awesome!” Jason turned to see if the other student was still in the room, but he had left. He then held onto Laura and the two kissed and hugged. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Laura,” Jason said with some emotion in his voice. “I love you, babe. There is nothing I would rather do than kick back with you!”
Everything was sweet and romantic for Jason, Laura and their other friends on Valentine’s Day. But soon events would make them confront the uglier side of life once again.
Chapter 13
The Growth of Jian-heng
(February 19)
Although Jason had been preoccupied with the romantic events of Valentine’s Day weekend and the Merriam High School basketball team’s drive to the league playoffs, he still hadn’t forgotten about young Jian-heng Chen. It infuriated him whenever he thought about the cruel way the boy had been treated, kidnapped, bound and gagged with tape, bundled into a burlap sack, and left alone in that dark utility closet in Chinatown. Jason had vowed to do something about it at the time, and with nine days off from school for the President’s Week winter break, now was the time to act.
Jason had been in contact with his Whatever Foundation staff regarding this case, and had them do research on human trafficking, especially as it might apply to the San Francisco Bay Area. On Friday Jason had stopped by the foundation office to pick up print-outs of the research that they had completed. That evening, after dinner with his parents at home, Jason had gone over to Daniel’s house to spend the evening with his best friend, do some brainstorming on Jian-heng’s situation, and eventually play some video games together to relax and let off steam from the extremely intense past several weeks.
Daniel had set up the white board that they used after Jason’s kidnapping to write down everything they knew about Jian-heng’s case, and possible leads that would come from their research and legwork over the next week. Both Daniel and Jason had cleared their days for this work during President’s Week. Daniel’s band had planned to do rehearsals and recording sessions in their studio at Tim’s house all week, but had scheduled them during the evenings. This way the band members could be free to do whatever they wanted during the daytime hours when it was light outside.
When Daniel greeted Jason at his front door Friday evening, first he congratulated him on the lopsided victory that the Merriam High School basketball team had the previous evening. Jason smiled his big smile remembering that game in which the team had clicked on all cylinders. The team members could sense that they were playoff ready, and were looking forward to the March madness to come.
Soon the two friends were into their detective work, writing down everything that they knew about what had happened to Jian-heng and his two older sisters. Eventually they came to the conclusion that they had probably intervened in the nick of time for the young boy. It didn’t make sense that Jian-heng would be grabbed in the port of Oakland, along with his older sisters and the other occupants of the large shipping container, yet be driven separately all the way to San Francisco and left in that Chinatown utility closet unless it was a drop off point. There was too much risk involved for Jian-heng’s kidnappers if leaving him there was not part of some transaction.
“My gut feeling is that these human traffickers had already made some sort of deal for Jian-heng, probably selling him off to some predator who had evil plans for the young boy,” Jason concluded. “It gives me shivers to think that he was probably within an hour of having his whole life ruined!”
“Sad to say, I think you are right,” Daniel agreed. “But it does give me some satisfaction to think of what the expression had to be on that pervert’s face when he went to open the closet door and found that Jian-heng was gone!”
“Well the good news is that he is now safe, staying with the Lius,” Jason went on. “I wish we had a way to track down the predator or whoever was supposed to pick Jian-heng up. My first thought was that maybe it was someone living in one of those apartments. But then why would the boy be left in the closet when he could be delivered to the person’s actual apartment. My next thought was that someone who worked at the apartment building as a janitor or maintenance man could be responsible. Or it could have been someone who had worked there previously and kept a copy of the key.”
“All of those things would be hard to track down, because there was no actual pickup made,” Daniel replied. “The only actual crime committed, other than a possible conspiracy, was the kidnapping of Jian-heng. Now that he is safe, that type of investigation would only bring unwanted attention to him and his situation. Probably the last thing we want to do at this time!”
“Clearly the key is to find the human traffickers who are responsible for this whole situation in the first place, the people who brought the immigrants into our country illegally to be domestic slaves or prostitutes. Those low-life scum have all of the answers to our questions.” Jason began pacing around the room as he was making these last comments.
“Well I am committed to helping you try and find them this coming week,” Daniel said with resolve in his voice. “And tomorrow we will visit Jian-heng, see how he is doing, and find out if he can remember any more useful information that might help us locate where his sisters were taken. Now it’s time to take your mind off this case and concentrate on some good gaming. We both need some fun and relaxation!”
Jason walked over to Daniel and gave him some knuckles. “Daniel, did I ever tell you what an awesome best friend you are?”
“Never enough times, Jason!” Daniel replied with a smile. “I need to hear you say that so that I will forget all of the tight situations I have ended up in due to these cases we work on.”
“You are not having doubts about our work are you?” Jason asked giving Daniel a quizzical look.
“Come on, Jason! Do we have to go through this routine again? You know I will always be there when you need me. I’m the one who pushed the start button on our teenaged detective routine.”
“Daniel, did I ever tell you what an awesome best friend you are?” Jason repeated, ducking as Daniel threw the plastic game case at him.
* * *
Saturday, Jason and Daniel went over to the Liu’s house in the early afternoon. In the morning Daniel had done his usual workout routine with Eric at the Y, and then they had worked on band business for a couple of hours. Jason had spent the morning doing some chores at home and then going shopping with his mom first at the mall and then at the grocery store.
As soon as they rang the doorbell, they could hear footsteps running to the door. Richard Liu opened the door. Right behind him was Jian-heng with a big smile on his face. Daniel and Jason shook hands with Richard, who greeted them and complimented Jason on the basketball team’s victory Thur
sday night. Then Jason and Daniel went to say hello to Jian-heng.
“Hey, little buddy,” Jason began. “It’s good to see you again. How are you doing?”
“I am doing fine,” Jian-heng replied in very good English. “I am happy to see you again, Jason. I am very much enjoying the new clothes you got for me, especially these fine red Chuck Taylor sneakers!” Jian-heng pointed to where his pair of chucks were by the door. “I wear them every day now.”
“Wow, you have really picked up on the English language, Jian-heng!” Jason said with some amazement in his voice. “I’m very impressed.”
“Mom has been working with him every day on it,” Richard explained. “It seems that he has a natural gift for languages. Not only is he learning English, but he has picked up on much of our dialect of Mandarin that we speak around the house. He also learns from watching programs on TV.”
Daniel then leaned down to shake hands with Jian-heng. “Hello, Daniel,” Jian-heng said in greeting. “How is your work on the guitar coming along?”
Daniel smiled and said, “I’m doing well, and hope to do some recording next week.” Jian-heng looked a little confused at Daniel’s response until Richard explained in Chinese what Daniel meant.
“So you are going to make a CD with music on it?” Jian-heng asked.
“Yes, that’s right,” Daniel replied.
“Then I hope to hear your music someday,” Jian-heng said enthusiastically.
“I would like you to hear my band perform live sometime,” Daniel followed up. “Then you can actually see how we make our music.”
Jason and Daniel took off their chucks and left them on a mat by the front door, as was the custom at the Liu’s house. They then went into the living room and sat down. By this time, Richard’s parents had heard Jason and Daniel’s arrival and come into the living room to say hello.
Days of Destiny Page 10