Year of the Golden Dragon (11 page)

Chapter 9

The Cousin Camouflage

Hong Mei walked back and forth
between the entrance and the exit of the Star Ferry in Kowloon. She had told herself that she would see the Wongs by 9:30, then 9:40, then 9:50. Now, it was past eleven o’clock and there was still no sign of them. She’d bitten her fingernails so short, two of them had started bleeding.

In between chanting healing words for her arm and fingers and pacing from one end of the terminal to the other, she would stand still. As people swept by, oblivious to her distress, Hong Mei tried over and over for new insights. She needed another vision, but nothing came.

Where were the Wong brothers?

Finally, at 11:30, Hong Mei’s painfully long wait was up. She spotted Ryan and Alex. Her heart raced when she saw they were alone and walking together away from the ferry terminal. Where were they going? She moved quickly to follow them. There was no way she would lose them again.

They were only a few hundred metres from the Star Ferry when she watched Ryan and Alex enter a McDonald’s. Under normal circumstances, Hong Mei would jump at the chance to order some chicken nuggets and fries. She had a small stash of money she’d saved for when she went to Beijing and could stop at a McDonald’s. But she wasn’t in Beijing, and these were definitely not normal circumstances.

Hong Mei stood by the door to the street and watched Ryan and Alex leave the counter with their food. Ryan had a drink of some kind, but Alex looked as if he was starving. He wasn’t halfway to the door before he’d torn the wrapper off his hamburger and taken a giant bite. Weren’t they going to sit down? Did all foreigners eat this way?

Ryan and Alex walked toward where she waited. They were younger than she was, but they seemed so confident. According to Madam Ching, Ryan was nearly fifteen and Alex only twelve, but they acted as if they knew exactly what they were doing. They didn’t look nervous at all to be in a huge city like Hong Kong.

Hong Mei was terrified, but she stopped herself from thinking about it.

As they got close, Hong Mei lost her nerve and quickly turned away. She could feel her heart in her throat.

Ryan, the older one, held the door open to the street and motioned for Alex to follow.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything else?” she heard Ryan ask.

“No,” Ryan said, taking a sip of his drink. “Just hurry up. You can eat that on the way.”

Alex shrugged and took another bite. “What’s the rush? It’s not like they’d ditch us here in Kowloon.”

Hong Mei clenched and unclenched her hands. These two spoke so fast. She’d never spoken with native English speakers. All of her English teachers were Chinese. What if they hadn’t taught her well enough? What if she hadn’t listened properly? What if the boys didn’t understand her?

Ryan walked out and let the door swing shut behind him. Alex crammed the rest of the hamburger into his mouth and tossed the wrapper into a garbage can. He pushed through the door with Hong Mei at his heels.

She was just about to speak when she heard, “Hey, dudes. Aunt Grace told me to look for you here.”

Oh, no!
Hong Mei watched in dismay as an older teenager strutted towards Ryan and Alex. He looked about nineteen or twenty. Who was
he?
What was he doing here? She stood off to the side but still close enough to hear what the two brothers and young man were saying.

“Wai-gong’s not feeling so good, so everyone’s gone back over to Hong Kong,” Winston said. “They decided to catch the last ferry.”

What? They’d been left on their own? wondered Hong Mei. How could she be so lucky?

A second later, her heart sank when Ryan asked, “What do you mean by the
last
ferry?” His voice was steady, but there was an edge to it.

“The Star Ferry runs only until midnight,” said the young man nonchalantly.

“They
all
went back?” Ryan asked, his voice squeaking, “Even Aunt Grace and Uncle Peter?”

“Yes, but –” the young man started to say when he was interrupted.

“I told you we should have waited for them,” Ryan snapped at Alex. “You and your stupid ideas!” he nearly shouted.

The young man looked from Ryan to Alex. “Relax. It’s no problem! Wai-gong’s old. It’s normal for him to get tired. He’ll be fine.”

Hong Mei listened closely. He had said “Wai-gong” for grandfather. Ah, he was the boys’ cousin.

“Besides,” the young man coolly cocked one eyebrow at them. “I thought you guys might want to hang out in Kowloon for awhile.”

Hong Mei held her breath as she watched Ryan frown. “It’s getting kind of late, isn’t it?”

“This is Hong Kong! C’mon. What would you guys like to do? Do you want to go shopping? What about karaoke? There are tons of karaoke bars around here.”

“Karaoke?” Alex’s face broke into a toothy grin. “We’ve got one of those machines at home!” He stopped smiling and his face grew serious. “But aren’t karaoke bars for adults? Don’t we have to be eighteen or something?”

“Nah,” the young man said. “As long as you don’t order alcohol I can take you in with me. There are a couple of places that I go to all the time. They’ll let you guys in.”

Hong Mei stuffed her hand into her pocket and felt for her jade. Why hadn’t she talked to them in McDonald’s? Just when she thought she’d got a break, she had to deal with this guy.

“How are we going to get back over to Hong Kong Island?” Ryan asked.

Winston shrugged. “We can take the mtr – the train – for another half-hour or so, or take a taxi. We could even stay in a hotel.” He waved his hand vaguely in the air at the streets teeming with flashing neon lights. “There are plenty to choose from.”

“Come on,” Alex said to Ryan. “We’ll be okay with Winston. It’ll be cool!”

Ryan’s eyes blazed at the younger boy. “You are so incredibly thoughtless,” he said. “Yeye could be dying right now, and all you can think about is you.”

“Nothing’s wrong with Wai-gong,” Winston interjected. “He was just overexcited. I promise you, he’ll be fine.” He pointed to a 7–11 shop a few steps away. “Look, you two decide what you want to do. I’m going to get something to drink.”

Hong Mei watched the Winston-man disappear into the convenience store. She heard Ryan say to Alex, “As soon as Winston comes back, we’ll get him to take us to Yeye’s. Uncle Peter and Aunt Grace would
freak
if they knew we were even
thinking
of going to a bar.”

Her knees shook as she stood watching the two brothers. It was now or never. Hong Mei took a giant breath and stepped toward them.

“Oh, I am so happy to find you!”

Both boys frowned at Hong Mei, then glanced around to see if she was really speaking to them. “Are you talking to us?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I am Lily. Your cousin.”

“Cousin?”
Ryan said, grabbing Alex’s arm and backing up toward the convenience store. “We don’t have a cousin named Lily.”

Alex looked nervously over his shoulder.

“Yes! I am from Beijing,” Hong Mei said. She was feeling way too hot. The new jacket she had bought was much heavier than the burnt one. She could feel tiny beads of sweat forming on her upper lip.

Ryan narrowed his eyes and studied her face.

Does he recognize me?
This was not going well.

Hong Mei saw Winston inside the shop. He was coming toward the door. She needed to work fast or she was going to ruin this chance. Silently, she chanted an ancient memory charm.

Look deep into your mind,

bright new memories you will find.

Winston stepped out onto the sidewalk and took a swig of his beer. He looked at Hong Mei, then at Ryan and Alex. “Hey, who’s your –”

Hong Mei quickly recited the chant again, her gaze focused on Winston. She held her breath.

After a few seconds Alex said, “Are you our cousin from Beijing?”

“Yes.” Hong Mei said, looking back and forth between Ryan and Winston.

The two older boys slowly nodded their heads.

“Right,” Winston murmured. “I’d nearly forgotten about you.”

“I’m Lily,” she said, allowing herself to breathe again.

Winston took a slow drink before saying, “So, what are you doing here?”

“Oh,” Hong Mei stammered. She must not mess this up. Gripping her jade, she said slowly and deliberately, “We came to Hong Kong to celebrate with you. It was late and we could not find a hotel in Hong Kong, so we find – found – one here on Kowloon.”

She swallowed and pointed toward some buildings. “Mama and Baba and I were sleeping when the parents of Winston called. I came to tell you. They said Ryan and Alex should stay at hotel with us.”

“Stay with
you?”
Alex asked. “Why? We’re with Winston.”

“Yes.” Hong Mei gave Winston’s can of beer a long stare and said, “Your Uncle Peter and Aunt Grace said they did not want you going with Winston. They said it would be best if you come to our hotel.”

Ryan shook his head slightly as if his head was heavy. “Well, I can see them not wanting us to go to any bars, but I think we should just go to Nana and Yeye’s. Can’t we just take the mtr or whatever it’s called?”

“We are to…” Hong Mei stuttered, tripping over her words. Madam Ching’s instructions had been very exact. She had to get them alone and tell them about the jade. Ryan stared hard at her. She steeled herself. “No, your aunt and uncle were happy to know my family is close to Star Ferry. Your aunt and uncle do not want you out after such a long trip.”

She saw Alex roll his eyes and sigh. “They’re worried about the jet lag thing,” he said to Ryan.

Hong Mei cleared her throat and spoke very carefully. “Hotel is very close. Just there,” she said, pointing to one of the many buildings surrounding them. “We have two rooms. We can telephone them when we get to hotel.”

She could tell she nearly had them convinced.

“I know you are worried about your grandfather,” she continued, facing Ryan. “You can telephone him. Okay?” She forced a smile to her lips.

Hong Mei wondered how she was going to get them to Beijing if she couldn’t even get them to a hotel.

“Well,” Ryan said slowly as he looked worriedly over at Winston, who was taking another giant gulp of beer.

A red taxi suddenly pulled up just beside where they stood. Three people about Winston’s age jumped out.

“Wei,
Win!” A young man said.

“Wei!”
Winston exclaimed back, smiling widely at them. “What’s going on?”

“We’re going to karaoke. You coming?” the young man asked.

“Nah, I can’t,” Winston said, nodding toward Ryan, Alex and her. “My cousins are here. I’ve got to take care of them.”

Hong Mei saw one of the girls run her fingers through her long wavy hair and pout at Winston. Hong Mei turned to see if Alex and Ryan had seen the same thing. Ryan obviously had since he turned to her and rolled his eyes before his expression turned into disappointment.

Hong Mei felt relieved, but sad for Ryan. She glanced at Alex. He seemed curious about the newcomers as he looked them up and down, but pretended not to. She watched as Ryan pulled his shoulders back and moved towards Winston.

Ryan said, “Look, Winston, I guess Alex and I better go with Lily. Alex’s pretty tired. You know what I mean.”

“Oh,” Winston said, not even trying to hide the smile he flashed at the pouting girl. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“No,” Ryan said, shrugging. He turned to Alex and lowered his voice. “I guess we don’t have much of a choice.”

Hong Mei relaxed, but only a little bit.

A moment later, all seven of them started walking, with the older foursome in front. Hong Mei, Ryan and Alex followed behind them.

After only a few steps, Winston and his friends stopped at a small door. A few people were mingling about outside. Through the doorway was a narrow staircase leading down. The thump of music flowed up the staircase and through the concrete.

Winston looked over at Hong Mei. “Well, we’ll see you there tomorrow then. You’ll take good care of them, hey?”