Tangled Vines (11 page)

“No, Erik. I can’t leave Jojo out here!” She jerked her arm away and Jojo stirred in his sleep. She didn’t trust Obi, especially when it came to her son.

Erik bent down next to the car door and put his mouth close to her ear. He grabbed her upper arm and his fingers were like a vise. His hot breath sent a chill down her spine, and not in a good way.

“Li Jin, I’m not asking you. I’m telling you. Jojo will be fine here with Obi. Now you either get out of the car quietly and you’ll be back before he opens his squinty little eyes, or I’ll pull you out and the little bastard will wake up and be scared shitless. Your choice.”

He backed away from her and stood up, glaring down at her. Across his shoulder she saw he carried his familiar yellow Nike bag. It was bulging with something, and she felt sure it wasn’t just clothes. The glint in Erik’s eyes scared her and she shivered. This wasn’t the man she’d fallen in love with. This man—he was evil.

Li Jin resisted the urge to rub away the sting on her arm. She looked down at Jojo and then up at Obi as he watched from the front seat. He winked at her in the mirror and she felt sick. She knew she’d have to do what Erik wanted. He had no qualms about following through and causing a scene, and she didn’t want Jojo to be a part of it. She couldn’t believe their relationship had come to this and that this same man was the one she’d thought she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

She gently eased out of the car, pulled her sweater from the floorboard and bundled it up, then slipped it under Jojo’s head. She gave him one last look, then quietly closed the door and turned to face Erik.

“Now what do I have to do?” She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She prayed it wouldn’t involve touching anyone.

Erik put his arm around her and guided her to a small bistro table in front of a bar called Whiskey Jacks. He pushed her into the chair and took the one across from her. At the table next to them, a couple of girls giggled and fed a stray dog a piece of meat off a stick purchased from a street vendor. The smell wafted over to Li Jin and her stomach rolled in revulsion. She realized she hadn’t eaten all day, but still she wasn’t hungry.

“Now listen very carefully to what I’m about to tell you.” Erik spoke in a low voice from across the table. “Tonight you can do this the easy way, and go home with me and Jojo, or you can screw it up and never see your son again.”

Li Jin knew by the steely look in his eyes that he was one hundred percent serious. She sighed. It had come to this. So much for believing in happily-ever-afters, because the reality was that life was kicking her in the teeth again. She wondered how she could have misjudged his character so completely. Why hadn’t her mother’s instinct kicked in to keep her from allowing this man to be a part of her and Jojo’s life?

Her shoulders slumped and she looked up at Erik.

“I’m listening. Let’s get this over with.”

The gleam in his eyes told her that he’d had no doubt she would cooperate with him. His arrogance made her sick to her stomach. With a quick snicker, he leaned in and began giving her hushed instructions.

Inside the dimly lighted bar, Li Jin did as she’d been told and tried
to be as inconspicuous as possible while she walked through. Even so, several men had immediately noticed her and given her raised eyebrows or inviting smiles. She’d ignored them all and continued through the room until she found a small table in the corner.

She pulled the Nike bag from her shoulder and set it on her lap under the small table. Her eyes watered from the heavy layer of smoke that filled the room. That, combined with the stench of sweaty bodies and cheap perfume, was enough to make her stomach cramp. She watched as Erik entered and made his way to one of the taller tables and high-fived a few of the standing foreigners.

“
Qingwen,
what do you want to drink?” A waitress bumped her to get her attention, then repeated the question louder to be heard over the music. She set a small bowl of popcorn in front of Li Jin.

Li Jin locked eyes with her and felt a moment of kinship. Dressed in the usual skimpy shorts and high heels, the waitress looked tired and miserable, like she didn’t want to be there. Li Jin had worked in bars before Jojo was born and it was far from the glamorous position many girls thought it.

“Oh,
bu yao
. I don’t care for anything.”

“You have to drink if you want to sit,” the waitress insisted, impatience replacing her previously polite tone.

“Oh. Sorry. Please bring me a cola.”

“Twenty reminbi. You pay first.”

Over the girl’s shoulder she watched as another waitress quickly made her way to Erik and placed a tall glass in front of him, then poured from the pitcher on her tray. Li Jin knew what it was. She’d seen before how the bars sometimes provided expats with the rum and bottled tea mixture for free. It was good business to have the foreign devils choose their establishments, and the rich-looking ones were treated like VIPs. In his Chinese tailored shirt and slacks, Erik fit in well at the table full of men who looked like they’d just left an important business meeting. Li Jin wondered whether the other men were married and if so, whether their wives knew where they were. She’d forgotten the hospitality in these parts didn’t extend to locals, only to handpicked foreigners. It was quite ironic that the poor were forced to pay and the rich got so much for free.

The girl nudged her again and Li Jin fumbled in her purse for the money. She couldn’t believe they charged twenty reminbi for a Coke when she could buy them in the grocery store for less than five. But she dug the bills out and laid them on the table. The waitress took the money and walked away, tucking the bills down into her apron as she skirted around the crowded room.

Linnea waited on what Erik said would happen next.

Around her the room pulsed with the beat of the music and the bright flashing lights of pink, purple, and blue. Onstage a small Filipino guy stood at the microphone, belting out a strange version of the Eagles’ “Desperado” song. Li Jin thought he looked ridiculous with his tight jeans and leather vest over his bare chest. But the crowd seemed to like it—either that or it was the three backup singers dancing behind him in short skirts and hooker boots that got the place so hyped up.

Li Jin jumped when a tall blond guy walked up and put his arm around her.

“
Ni hao,
little China doll.”

Though he butchered the dialect, she could understand his greeting and winced at the strong alcohol smell that wafted over her from his breath. He was American, she could see that from his signature big nose, and like most of them she’d met from Meiguo, he looked as if he thought he was the world’s greatest catch. She discreetly peeked at Erik and knew this guy wasn’t the one. Erik was glaring at her like she’d screwed up. She knew she needed to get rid of the guy fast.

“Uh, hello. I’m sorry, but I’m waiting for someone.” She shrugged his arm off her shoulders and resisted the urge to wipe away his invisible germs.

“Well, wait no more, baby. I’m here.” He grinned at her and moved closer, putting his arm back around her. Li Jin almost sneezed. His cheap cologne was overwhelming.

She wished once again she were at home on the couch, snuggling Jojo against her. Anywhere but here, with vultures hanging around her, hoping to snag a one-night stand with any Asian girl up for grabs.

Li Jin shivered as she felt the man’s clammy fingers graze her arm. She shook him off her again and gave him a steely look.

“
Zhende,
I’m serious. My boyfriend is on his way, and if he comes in and you’re over here, there’ll be trouble.”

The guy sneered at her. “Oh, don’t tell me. You have a five-foot-tall Chinese guy that’s going to coldcock me?”

Li Jin rolled her eyes at him. “He’s taller than five feet and he’s definitely not Chinese.”

That got his attention. He obviously wasn’t enamored enough to fight another foreigner over her. He jabbed his middle finger in the air and walked away. Li Jin watched him stop at another table where two girls laughed uproariously at a drunken Chinese guy who had jumped onstage and was grabbing the stripper pole as if he knew how to use it. The foreign men egged him on, pumping their fists in the air and yelling their encouragement. Li Jin was disgusted that the local didn’t understand he was really being made fun of, not admired.

When she looked up again, Erik had his head bent close to a man beside him, talking seriously. He looked up and nodded at Li Jin, and the man started across the room toward her.

Li Jin felt sick suddenly—so sick she worried she might actually vomit. She fought to get the feeling under control. She knew what she was supposed to do and she’d do it—for Jojo—but she couldn’t wait to get out of there and back to her son and eventually far away from Erik. She offered up a silent prayer to the gods that the exchange would go smoothly.

The man was dark skinned and his eyes even darker. Li Jin guessed he was also South African by the way he strutted across the room as if he owned it. Like Erik, he was a snazzy dresser. His outfit looked to be worth more than her entire wardrobe, and it was just a white ruffled shirt and dark black pants set off by shiny biker boots. Unlike when she’d met Erik, she knew right away this man was trouble. He didn’t even try to hide the calculating look in his eyes. Li Jin tried to appear nonchalant, just as Erik had told her to do.

He approached the table and sat on the stool next to her. He put his hand on her arm and she fought a wave of revulsion.

“In five minutes I’ll get up. Wait two minutes, then follow me to the men’s room.” He spoke quietly, looking into her eyes as if they were having a friendly conversation.

Li Jin couldn’t really hear him over the music, but she read his lips and nodded her understanding.

The man waved the waitress over and ordered a Jack and Coke. The waitress slapped a napkin down in front of him, then scurried back toward the bar. Li Jin watched as she leaned over it and gave the bartender the order, then waited while he sloshed
an inch of whiskey into the glass, then popped the top off a can of Coke and added it. He slid the glass over to the waitress, and she put it on her tray and made her way back to their table. She told them she’d start a tab and she sauntered off to the next customer.

He looked at Li Jin and nodded. Then he got up and maneuvered his way through the crowd to the back wall where a short hallway led to the restrooms. Li Jin watched him go and then looked over at Erik.

He still watched her. He laughed along with others at the table and even held his glass up for another
gambei
toast, but all the while his eyes kept darting over to check on her. She had no other alternative. She got up and slung the bag’s strap over her shoulder, then headed for the back hall.

In the hall there was a line for the ladies’ room. Li Jin ignored the probing eyes of the two girls waiting and instead pushed against the door labeled 
MEN
.

Inside there were two stalls to her right, two urinals on the wall to her left, and two sinks in front of her. The room was filthy and she tried to keep her elbows and hands close so she didn’t touch any surfaces as she looked around.

Li Jin at first thought the man hadn’t come in but then she saw his shiny boots under the door of the stall nearest the wall. She approached it and tapped lightly as Erik had told her to do.

The man quickly swung it open and stepped around her. Hearing a loud click, she realized he had turned the lock on the door leading out. Then he turned back around to face her.

“Where is it?” he asked coldly, pulling at the bag over her shoulder.

He took the bag over to the sink and unzipped it.

“Wait. Erik said you’d give me the money first.” Things were not going as planned and Li Jin felt beads of sweat dot her forehead. Erik would kill her if this guy somehow cheated her.

“I see the goods first. Then I pay.” He didn’t even look up as he continued to rifle through the clothes in the bag.

Li Jin stood still and watched him. She didn’t know what to do. Erik had told her to make sure to get the money first. What if the guy didn’t pay? What if someone knocked on the door? Surely someone else would want to use the bathroom soon?

The guy pulled a clear plastic bag out of a sock from the duffel. It was full of tiny squares of folded papers and he looked pleased. He held it up, seeming to weigh it. Then he took it and, pulling his pants leg up, he tucked the plastic bag deep into his boot. Then he pulled another plastic bag out of a different sock and did the same thing on the other side of the boot. Twice more he pulled out socks and plastic bags until both of his boots were full all the way around. He tucked his pants back down over the loot; then he tossed the duffel back to Li Jin. He turned around to wash his hands and grinned at her in the mirror.