Tangled Vines (12 page)

Li Jin still stood frozen.

“Now you pay me? Right?” She hoped she didn’t sound like she was begging. She was also shocked, as the substance didn’t look like
dagga
to her. The tiny square packages showed her it was clearly heroin and Erik had been lying to her. Heroin was a much more serious drug than
dagga
. She thought about Jojo and how if they got caught, she’d never see him again. She felt a rivulet of sweat trickle down her back.

The guy calmly turned off the water and pulled the lever on the paper towel machine. Nothing came out and he rubbed his hands down the front of his jeans, drying them.

“Pay you? I was told that first you’d do me a special favor. Your boyfriend was right—you are quite the looker—much prettier than most I’ve seen in here. Come on, let’s get this started.” He moved until his back was against the wall and then he slowly unzipped his jeans, keeping his eyes locked on Li Jin’s.

She shook her head, repulsed. “No. That wasn’t the deal. Erik would not have me do that. We’re a couple.” She wasn’t going to do it; she didn’t care what he said.

“That’s not what he told me,” the guy said, moving toward her and reaching for her head.

Li Jin moved backward as far as she could go, until she was against one of the urinals. She reached behind her but let go quickly when she realized where she’d put her hands.

“No! I mean it. Let’s go ask Erik,” she threatened.

The guy was now within inches of her face. Li Jin could tell he’d been eating foreign foods, and by the stench that reached her nose, it smelled like beef.

“Erik and I go way back. We’re from the same neighborhood back home. Believe me, he won’t care. Let me give you a taste that’ll change your mind.”

He wrapped one arm around her and with the other he grabbed her hair. He leaned in and began kissing her, pushing his tongue so far into her mouth that she gagged. She pushed against him with all her strength until he let go. She swiped her hand across her lips.

“I swear, I’m going to scream!” She was shaking and she didn’t know if her knees were going to hold her up. His assault was bringing back memories from long ago, memories that were ugly.

“Fine.” He pushed her and she fell backward, landing in the bowl of the urinal. He pulled his pants up again and buttoned them. He straightened his shirt and looked in the mirror, smoothing his hair back with both hands. “Oh believe me, I don’t have to beg. There are about three million girls who look just like you outside that door and they’d love to have these foreign arms around them. You just missed out on the best three minutes of your life.”

Li Jin didn’t move and didn’t say anything. As her heart pounded, she struggled to look tough, in case he changed his mind.

He reached into his pocket and brought out a roll of money. “Make sure you really take this to your boyfriend.” He tossed it in the air and she caught it, her heart still pumping so loudly she was sure he could hear it. She tucked the wad into her purse and zipped it up.

He opened the door and stepped out. Li Jin could see a line of guys waiting for the bathroom. He gave her one last look and then with a cocky shrug he pulled his zipper up for all to see.

“Get her, guys—she’s good. Cheap, too,” he remarked as he left her struggling to get out of the urinal.

I
’m coming for your general!” Linnea declared, indicating she was one away from a win as she scooted her stool closer to the table. Lau watched her quietly, and Linnea knew he was waiting for her to make just one wrong move so he could finally lay claim to victory against her. Sometimes she almost felt sorry for him and thought about letting him win, but then he’d make another of his cutting remarks and she’d regain her senses and show no mercy.

Linnea had tried to talk Sky into staying to play, but he once again declined, even though he told her he thought it was amusing that thus far she remained undefeated. Linnea knew he simply loved that his grandfather simmered over a mere girl being cunning enough to beat someone who’d been playing the game for decades.

Linnea sat back, having used her turn quickly. She didn’t need to waste valuable time staring at the board; she was a fast player who could immediately see the moves she needed to make. She didn’t even have to think too hard; and good thing because her mind was still on her conversation the day before with her landlord. He’d come to pick up her rent check and before he left he told her to expect some noise because renovations were scheduled for the apartment upstairs. Even though Linnea would love to have it, she didn’t ask him more about it. The simple truth was her business was going well, but it wasn’t at the point that she could afford anything extra yet. Not only that, but she’d wanted to wait until she had enough saved to buy furniture before she moved out. She dreamed of her own place and especially a bed—it was embarrassing that she was eighteen and had never even slept in a real bed. She would never admit it to him but she daydreamed constantly of snuggling with Jet in the softness of real comfort.

“So, Mr. Lau, do you want to talk today or only play the game?” She was too impatient for his slowness today; the least he could do was entertain her while she waited.

He shot her a grumpy look. “Our hour is almost up. Then we’ll talk. Today you will meet my comrade.”

Linnea wrinkled her brow. “Your comrade? Who? You know I need to get back to the store soon. I don’t have time to meet any visitors.”

She looked at her watch and saw she was expected back in less than ten minutes. Surprisingly, her frequent visits to Lau were a high point of her week. Despite his sometimes-surly attitude and his obvious discrimination against the female gender, she really enjoyed his conversation and the history he was able to weave tales around. Her sisters thought she was odd for it, but Linnea didn’t care. And she felt like he was getting softer as the weeks went by; he couldn’t hide the smile that threatened to erupt when she showed up today. He had been lonely after all, and Linnea felt sorry for the old man. And she was still working toward a more important goal, after all.

Lau nodded. “I know. But today is important. Your little store can wait.”

Linnea’s next move and the retort on her lips were interrupted by the ringing of the bell alerting them someone had entered. She looked up to see a rare smile on Lau’s face. Turning around, she saw an old man standing just inside the door.

“Ni hao
.
”
She wondered why Lau didn’t greet him.

The man ignored her greeting and instead looked past her to Lau.

“Is this the one?” he asked, nodding toward Linnea.

Lau stood up. “This is her. Be ready, she’s a saucy one. But she’s also a smart one.” He looked at Linnea proudly. “Linnea, we’ll finish our game another day. I need to take a walk around the neighborhood and see what’s going on. While I’m gone, you be respectful to Comrade Zheng.”

Linnea’s mouth dried up as she looked from Lau to the other elderly man. Could it be? He did look like her Ye Ye, only smaller and frailer. He had the same thick tuft of white hair, but that didn’t mean anything; many old men in China still had a full head of hair. She wanted to deny the resemblance but something about his eyes and the shape of his face settled it for her.

“You mean…this is…” She swallowed, trying to remember her words. This was what she had wanted but she didn’t know if she was ready for it yet. She’d been taken by surprise. “This is my Ye Ye’s father?”

Lau shuffled around her. “I said Comrade Zheng, didn’t I? What—are you hard of hearing now, too? Show some manners, girl. And if I get a customer, you know what to do.”

With that he pulled his cane from the elaborate ceramic stand and disappeared through the door, the bell once again ringing and breaking the silence as Linnea glared at the senior Zheng.

He had a lot of questions to answer and Linnea quickly collected them in her mind. This might be her only chance and she wasn’t going to screw it up.

An hour later Linnea sat back in Lau’s rocking chair and crossed her arms. She looked down at the antique pin badge Lao Zheng had brought her. Lau had obviously told him about her vintage store and she guessed the badge was some sort of peace offering. He didn’t know her too well if he thought her friendliness could be bought with trinkets. She was much too loyal to her Ye Ye and Nai Nai to be swayed. Even though it had been many months ago that she’d read her Nai Nai’s private notes about her daughter, Linnea still remembered the blame had been placed on Lao Zheng’s wife for snatching Dahlia away. How a grandmother could do that to one of her own made Linnea’s blood boil. A simple pin wouldn’t absolve the deed.

“It is real.” Lao Zheng nodded as he picked up Lau’s pipe from the table, looked into it, then lit it.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t,” Linnea answered, flipping the badge around in her hand. It really was an interesting piece.
If
it was real.

Zheng inhaled from the pipe, then blew smoke rings in the air. “Most of the badges they wore back in those days showed the older Mao, but this was him in 1921. It’s to commemorate one of his first attempts to start a revolution, this one with the Anyuan coal miners.”

Linnea looked at the drawing of Mao on the front standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking a wide body of water, mountains standing tall in the background. He looked young and slim—even dressed in a long, black Mandarin-collared gown buttoned up to his neck. His chin thrust in the air proudly.

“He looks more like a priest than a revolutionist here,” she mumbled.

Lao Zheng chuckled. “Yes, I think he did, too. And you notice, the artist didn’t even make his famous mole stand out. They didn’t start doing that until later.”

Linnea nodded. Before he’d brought out the pin from his pocket, they had talked nonstop and he’d spent most of that time reminiscing about her Ye Ye’s childhood and gift for music, an undeniable look of pride in his eyes.

Between his stories of long ago, Zheng asked Linnea questions about her Ye Ye. He had a few blanks he wanted filled in but overall, Linnea was surprised at how much he already knew of their life. Not that he knew her sister’s names or any tedious details of that sort, but by other milestones he named, he’d been keeping up to be sure. It also amazed her that in all the years that had passed, he had not even once tried to approach her family and make amends. That in itself showed his guilt was too strong.

“May I ask a question?” Zheng looked hesitant.

“You’ve asked many—what’s one more?”

“Does my son still have the violin?” He leaned forward, waiting for Linnea to answer, his elbow propped on his knee.

She could see the violin was important to him, and something told her the handover of the violin was not something her Ye Ye would want her to share.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea. You’d have to ask him.”

He sat back in his chair and heaved a long sigh, then muttered something about a missed opportunity. Perhaps he thought her Ye Ye should have taken his musical efforts further. Linnea didn’t know but she wasn’t going to ask him about it; he looked too dejected over whatever it was about the violin, and that could be settled between him and her Ye Ye, if they ever saw each other again.

Now they were both quiet for a moment. Linnea so far had waited for the right moment but she wasn’t letting him leave without asking him about the girl, Dahlia. She’d sit on him if she had to. He knew something, she was sure of it. She put the pin on the table and looked back at him.

“So, Lao Zheng—and wow, does that sound strange to call you by that name—where is your wife?”

The old man stared at the floor and when he looked up; Linnea could see a flash of pain in his eyes.

“She died many years ago.”

“Oh? What did she die from?” Linnea asked nonchalantly. After all, she’d never known the woman and felt nothing for her but disapproval for what it appeared she had done.

“I believe it was a broken heart. Feiyan never got over losing Benfu. She grieved herself to death when he refused to ever see us again.” Zheng shook his head.

Linnea couldn’t let that slide. She felt a flush of heat crawl up her neck.

“
She
grieved herself to death?
She?
What about my Nai Nai and Ye Ye who have spent their life grieving for a child taken from them?” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice, just thinking of the pain they’d suffered from the loss of their child. How dare someone say her Ye Ye had caused pain when the old woman was the reason for it all?

Zheng cringed. “I don’t know what you mean. What does that have to do with Feiyan? And you don’t understand—Feiyan gave up her right to bear more children so she could achieve a higher career status and give Benfu a better life. He was our only child. After he left, we had no one.” He shook his head. “I can’t possibly know what you mean.”

Linnea wasn’t going to let him get away with the innocent act or declaring himself and his wife the victims. She stood and pointed her finger at him.

“You know exactly what I mean. And you know that your wife took Dahlia! She was my Ye Ye’s only child, too! Now, what I want to know is where she is. Was she killed? Did your wife smother her?”

Zheng paled under the dark stubble on his face and Linnea felt a tiny twinge of guilt. She didn’t want to give the old man a stroke, after all.

“
Aiya!
No! Feiyan would never do such a thing to her own grandchild. She only sent her away.” With that he covered his face and Linnea felt that he hadn’t wanted to admit that much.

Linnea sat back down. She had him now. “So, are you going to tell what you know or not?”

Lao Zheng looked up and squinted at Linnea. “Are you sure you’re not his real daughter? You have that same stubborn streak I recognize so well.”

Linnea snorted in contempt. “As a matter of fact, I am his
real
daughter. You don’t have to be related by blood to have a connection, you know. Ye Ye taught me to read, write, and do all the important things like ride a bicycle and stand up for myself. He and Nai Nai cared for me when I was sick and comforted me when I grieved for my first family. I think if you’d ask him, he’d tell you that I’m his
real
daughter.” Linnea took a deep breath and reminded herself he was just a bitter old man. “But maybe you should ask yourself are you a
real
father to my Ye Ye?”