by Alana Terry
Jae gnawed on a discarded bone. The sauce was sweet and made his throat even more parched. Yanji was a filthy city, with its outdoor garbage heaps stinking up the air, bright lights polluting the night sky, and half-clad women parading like gaggles of geese. It was getting late, and with each passing hour, the costumes of the girls passing back and forth grew more and more ridiculous. Jae clenched his jaw and resolved to find Sun even if he had to eat trash in the alleyway for a year.
He didn’t look up when an old man squatted down next to him and poked through the garbage with a stick. Jae almost gagged at the scent of human waste mixed with cheap beer. “Gimme your bone, boy.” The man pointed to the leftovers in Jae’s lap.
Jae found no reason to hide his disdain. “If you had teeth enough in your mouth to chew, granddad, I’d consider it.”
The old man chortled, revealing two yellowing incisors. “Where I comes from, boy, a kid gots respect for his elders.” The man’s words were slurred, from drink or from his toothless gums, or maybe both.
Where I come from, old men like you are the first to starve. Jae left the thought unsaid and tossed the ancient beggar one of the bones.
“The others, too.”
Jae ignored him. The man reached out, but Jae slapped his hand away. “Watch it, granddad.” Jae turned his back and picked more at his dinner.
The old man sniggered again. “You gots to watch yourself, river hopper.”
Jae set his jaw. He wouldn’t be baited. Koreans swarmed all over Yanji, outnumbering even the ethnic Chinese. There was no way a half-blind hobo could prove Jae was from across the border. The old man poked at the trash pile one last time. “Something I say upset you, then, did it?” he wheezed. “Just hold on to that temper of yours, or it might gets you in trouble, river boy.”
The old man’s gummy smile took away all that remained of Jae’s appetite.
***
Old Joo sniffed the night air, a pungent mix of restaurant compost and stagnant water, and sauntered down the sidewalk. Even his encounter with the fat foreign woman in the long skirt didn’t upset him like it might have some other night. That boy in the alley was an alien, all right. And the police paid handsomely for help catching the illegal immigrants. If only he were young again, Old Joo wouldn’t have to split profits with anyone else.
He shook his head. These river hoppers thought they’d blend in with the rest of the Korean-Chinese population in Yanji. Didn’t they know Old Joo could single them out from half a kilometer away? Shabbily dressed and bone-thin, they stood out based on their stunted height alone but were even more recognizable by their eyes, their haunted, vacant, famished expressions. It didn’t matter if they were twelve-year-old boys or fifty-year-old grandmothers. Old Joo could sniff them out. And the police were always happy to reward him for his particular set of skills.
Of course, he couldn’t just tell the police he found an illegal alien. He had to bring him in. That’s why he needed help. Fortunately, there were always strong young men willing to come to his aid, especially this time of night as they passed Old Joo’s little corner on their way to the hotel district, their anticipation heavy but their pockets light.
He had learned from experience how to pick his brutes. He had been cheated more times than he cared to recount. The ideal candidate had to be strong, obviously, and calloused enough to turn in another human being, but also dumb enough to still share profits with Old Joo once the mission was complete.
He kept his eye on the river hopper in the alley while scanning the passing crowds for the right business partner. The man who stumbled by was tall, broad across the shoulders but not too bright in the eyes. He was drunk, too. Old Joo slid up to him and flashed his most winsome grin.
“I don’t have any money,” he grumbled.
“No, but you could.” Old Joo sniffed loudly. The stranger’s sweaty odor overshadowed the scent of beer. His nails were incrusted with dirt, and his body reeked of soil. A manual laborer with a weakness for drink. Yes, he would do the trick. “I gots a little business proposition for you. What’s your name?”
***
Even drunk, Benjamin found the old man repulsive. Age and squalor masked the true color of his hair, and his stench was so strong Benjamin was surprised there were only two flies circling his head instead of a whole swarm.
“It’s like this.” The old man leaned in toward Benjamin, assaulting his nostrils. “There’s a young man I’ve gots my eye on. One of them river hoppers.” Benjamin nodded. The only reason he himself wasn’t instantly mistaken for a refugee was that the Party had given him international food aid packets and forced him to eat double allotments every day.
“You look like a man who knows how to watch out for hisself.” He scratched his beard, and Benjamin winced, wondering what kind of critters might have found a home in that mess of mange. “He’ll be worth about eight hundred yuan to the police. How about we splits it halfway?”
Benjamin frowned. “Halfway?” He raised himself up to his full height and glared down at the bearded vagrant.
The old man shrugged. “I could always hire another brute.”
“You paying up front?”
Old Joo lifted up his hands. “Can’t give you what I ain’t gots. But you catch him and bring him to me, and I tell you what. We’ll go and see the police together and split the money right then and there. Fair-like. Old Joo’s good for his word, I promises that.”
Benjamin looked down the alley at the refugee hovering over the trash pile. He didn’t look like much of a threat. Benjamin turned back to the old, toothless hobo. “Deal.”
Old Joo cackled and rubbed his grubby hands together. “So you goes and gets him out of the alley. You bring him here to me at this bench, and we take him together to the police. Then we split the money.”
Benjamin scrunched his forehead up. “Might run.”
A dribble of drool ran down from the side of Old Joo’s mouth and trickled into his beard. “He won’t be nothing for a big strong man like you. You coulds probably wrestle him to the ground in your sleep.” He cackled once more.
Benjamin didn’t deny it. “Shame if he ran away.” He scratched his jaw. “Better take him out aways. Knock the fight out.”
Old Joo squinted. “And how’s do I know you ain’t gonna take him and lug him off to the police yourself and keep that reward money?”
Benjamin shrugged. “Meet me at the police. I won’t sneak by.”
Old Joo reached out a gnarled finger and scratched his beard. “You sure you ain’t gonna try to run off with him?”
Benjamin nodded. “Just making it easier.”
Old Joo squeezed one eye shut. “Positive?”
“Yup.”
CHAPTER 25
Jae’s limbs ached from exhaustion, but he couldn’t sleep yet. Sun was somewhere in this city, at least if his sources were reliable. There might be dozens of brothels, but he hadn’t traveled this far to give up. If he ran out of money, he’d beg or cheat or steal. It didn’t matter how long it took. He was here for his sister, which was all that mattered.
He stretched his back, ready to set out, when the streetlight was blocked by a looming shadow. He reached for his stick, but the massive stranger gripped one end and jerked it out of his hands. He leaned down and growled in Jae’s ear. “Walk with me. Now.”
Jae sized up his attacker. What did he want? Money? Jae would kill with his bare hands before he gave that up. His sister was only kilometers away. He darted his eyes back and forth, looking for a route of escape. The brute clenched down on Jae’s wrist almost hard enough to crush the bones. It looked like he could outrun Jae, even if he outweighed him two kilos to one. His best defense was the rope in his back pocket. He needed to be ready to grab it as soon as he got the chance. He didn’t know what the stranger planned to do to him, but by the way things were going, one of them was about to die.
Still, Jae refused to show his fear. He was quick, and he was experienced. He had worked for the Chongsong pol
ice for three years, and before that had held his own in numerous village scrapes. What he lacked in body mass, he could make up for in dexterity. And he still carried the rope that had come in so handy at the captain’s house.
Jae was completely lost after countless twists and turns down unexpected side streets. Instead of leading him to some remote alley, the brute dragged him through the heart and into the outskirts of the city, into the neighborhoods where the houses grew increasingly larger and more impressive. When they reached a row of mansions with wrought-iron fences and massive gates, the man stopped. “I won’t hurt you.” He kept his voice low, its bass coming out in a surprisingly melodic tone. Jae tensed and let his free hand crawl closer to the rope in his pocket. The man grabbed Jae’s arm in an instant and twisted his wrist backward. “You deaf?” Jae stared up into the hard-set face. He could smell the liquor on the man’s breath. “I work there.” The man gestured with his head to the largest of the houses on the block. “They help refugees.”
Jae twisted in an attempt to run. Refugee? How could he have known?
The giant hardened his grip. “I said they help.”
Jae wasn’t going anywhere, at least not until the stranger released him. “I don’t need charity,” he finally muttered.
“Suit yourself.” He shrugged. “But you need new clothes. Police’ll have you by morning.”
Jae eyed the mansion and wondered what was inside. His stomach growled.
“I’m not sticking around,” the man stated. “Do what you like.” With that, he turned away. Jae stood staring long after the figure disappeared into the shadows. The entire scenario reeked of a setup. Jae wasn’t gullible enough to believe the man would have led him here if there wasn’t something insidious going on. What it could be, he could only guess.
He thought of all the questions he should have asked. He was stupid for letting the man get away. Jae hadn’t known of anybody back in Chongsong who would risk their safety to help someone else like that, not without expecting something pretty substantial in return. What game was this man playing? And what would happen now Jae found himself a pawn in it?
He studied the estate. What was the worst that could happen? He could get deported. But not if he was able to wield his rope and escape first. He glanced down at his rags, the only clothes he brought with him across the border. Maybe the stranger was right. Maybe it was time for a wardrobe change. And if the people there were wealthy, maybe he’d find a solution to his financial problems, too.
He inched up the walkway, never taking his hand off the rope in his back pocket.
CHAPTER 26
With the chance the Chinese government was censoring her emails, it was hard for Juliette to tell Kennedy what was really going on. She slouched behind her keyboard at her writing table and plunked one key at a time. She was a slow typist, but that was mostly because it took her a while to think of what she wanted to say.
We haven’t heard from our guests since they went back home, so we’re assuming they’re doing just fine. We hope so, anyway. Juliette spent the next several minutes staring out the window at her garden before continuing.
Dad’s busy as ever with the printing. Benjamin’s working on that gate in the back yard. It’s hard to know what to do with myself. She stopped again and rested her head in her hands.
“Are you all right?” It was Eve. She was so light-footed, Juliette hadn’t even heard her come into the room.
“Just tired, that’s all.”
“It’s getting late.”
Sometimes Juliette wondered if Eve thought the Sterns hired her so she could take care of them, instead of it being the other way around. “You’re right. I’ll be getting to bed soon.” Juliette clicked off her monitor. She’d finish the email in the morning.
“How’s Kennedy doing?”
Since Eve never really got along with Kennedy, Juliette wondered if she was hoping to hear good news or bad. “She’s doing quite well, thanks.” When Eve first came to live with the Sterns, she and Kennedy had quarreled, some dispute over a boy Roger took in or something like that. Their relationship had been strained ever since.
“Will you be going to Mr. Stern’s office again tomorrow?” Eve asked.
Juliette frowned. “Maybe.” When Eve still didn’t leave, Juliette sighed and turned around in her chair to face her. It wasn’t the girl’s fault that there was no one else to talk to anymore. “There’s still a lot of work left to do there. You know how Mr. Stern is when it comes to keeping track of things.”
Eve smiled but didn’t laugh at Juliette’s attempt at humor. It was just as well, Juliette figured. It probably wouldn’t be appropriate for Eve to giggle at her boss’s tendency for clutter. Figuring the conversation probably wasn’t going to get any better from there, Juliette pushed her chair back and stood up from her writing table. “Good-night, then. Thanks for your hard work today.” She wondered if Eve would follow her upstairs like an imprinted duckling when someone pounded on the front door.
Eve reached out and took Juliette’s arm. “Who’s that?”
Juliette couldn’t blame the girl for being nervous. “I’ll see. Why don’t you go get Benjamin?”
Eve dug her fingers into Juliette’s fleshy arm. “He’s out.”
“That’s right. Well, go get Mr. Stern. I think he’s in the den.” Juliette lowered her voice. “And then stay there. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
Eve nodded and went toward the stairs. Juliette took calm, stately steps to the door. She should wait for Roger, but the pounding persisted. The inside latch was locked, so she straightened her spine and opened the door an inch or two, just as far as the metal chain allowed. Her husband would come down any minute. “Can I help you?”
The man was short, his hair disheveled and his clothes filthy. His torn shirt would have screamed refugee if his hollow cheekbones hadn’t already given him away. “I met a man who told me to come here.” He kept his eyes on the ground and mumbled into his stomach. “He said you might have some better clothes I could change into.”
Juliette nodded and unlatched the inside chain just as Roger appeared behind her. He shoved one hand out to the frame and placed the other firmly on the door. Before she even looked behind her, Juliette sensed Roger’s fury boring into her back. She ducked under his arm as he stood physically barring the entrance. “I’ll take care of this,” he snarled at her in English.
Juliette lowered her head. She should have waited, but the refugee on the other side looked so weak, even Eve could probably have tackled him single-handedly if she needed to.
Roger glared down at the young man. “What do you want?” he growled.
Juliette watched her husband until his expression softened just a touch. Once she was certain Roger wasn’t going to just throw the poor boy back out in the street, she went upstairs.
“Never slows down around here, does it?”
“Did you say something, ma’am?”
She looked up at Eve, who was standing in the open doorway of her bedroom. “Oh, never mind. I was just talking to myself.”
Eve put her hand on the doorframe, leaning inside Juliette’s room but keeping her feet outside the threshold. “Who was at the door?” she asked in a timid voice.
Juliette plodded out of the closet, wiping her hands on her pants legs. She still hadn’t changed for bed yet. “Another refugee by the looks of it. You should probably go ask Mr. Stern if he wants some refreshments. The boy looked half starved.”
“It was a young man, then? Was he traveling by himself?”
Juliette looked down over her glasses at her housekeeper. “Why does it matter?”
Eve bowed her head. “I just wondered how much food I should prepare. That’s all.” She turned to go.
Juliette reached her hand out toward the Eve. “Just a minute.”
Eve stopped. Juliette had never let anyone see her hidden supply of cash. Roger would be furious if he knew about it, but then again, he was annoyed at just about everyt
hing she did these days. She thrust her hand into one of the smaller closet drawers and pulled out a small wad of bills. “If Mr. Stern sends him away tonight,” Juliette whispered as she held out the money, “try to find a way to give this to him.”
Eve hesitated for several seconds before reaching out to take the cash.
“Oh, one more thing,” Juliette added, adjusting her glasses and studying the housekeeper.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Don’t mention the money to Mr. Stern. Ever.”
***
Jae glanced up at the Westerner and took a step back. The woman had been about to let him in, but her husband didn’t seem so easily persuaded. His light hair made him look just like the American soldiers in those paintings from the Peninsula War. Jae kept his gaze downward. “I’m looking for my sister.”
The Westerner set his face and kept his arm across the doorway. He was over a head taller than Jae. “It’s late.”
Jae bowed his chin to his chest, trying to forget the pale-skinned villains from the propaganda posters. “It’s my sister, sir. I’m told she made it to Yanji. I only want to bring her home.”
“At this hour? Most folks are getting ready for bed by now, if they’re not asleep already.” The man’s Korean was heavily accented, but his meaning was clear.
“I apologize, sir.” Jae lowered his voice. “I met a man downtown, a big guy. He told me to come here.” Jae kept his eyes to the floor. “He said you might be willing to help.”
The Westerner paused before he stepped out of the doorway and nodded. “Come in.” He took Jae lightly by the arm and shut the door behind him. “You’ve traveled a long way, I imagine.” There was a hint of a question in the remark, but Jae didn’t respond to him. The man crossed his arms. “And your sister? You followed her here?”
Jae unclenched his fists deliberately, but he kept his body alert and ready to run at a moment’s notice. “My sister is very young.” A muscle near the veins in his neck spasmed. Jae swallowed and tried to breathe evenly.