ask again.”
“Frankie, are you going to talk some sense into him?”
Frankie briefly looked up from scrubbing the grill surfaces and shrugged. “He’s my boss. I can’t tell him what to do.”
Jenny sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jing-nan.”
“I have some leftover skewers, if you’re hungry, Jenny,” I said. “Not for me, I’m vegetarian for the month.”
After she left, Dwayne poured a watered-down detergent on the floor and scrubbed a stiff brush over the tiles. As he worked, a light foam built up on the floor. It looked like a toothpaste commercial with a close-up of the toothbrush cleaning the teeth.
I sorted and counted up the cash.
“It was a good night again, gentlemen,” I said.
“Of course it was,” said Dwayne. “You got the two best workers in the world here. Frankie, how about we unionize? That way the little bastard will pay us a fair salary.”
Frankie’s face twitched, looking like he checked a sneeze.
The work night ended with me paying out Dwayne and Frankie, and giving Frankie some more to shop for tomorrow’s ingredients.
Dwayne got up close to me and warned, “I’m going to say prayers for Julia. I don’t care what you think.”
I’d had my phone charging the whole night and hadn’t had a chance to check it. There was no more news about Julia, but I had an update on the supposedly related story. The incarcerated Black Sea member had made a new allegation: the American CIA was operating fronts owned by the gang. An anonymous senior member of the Legislative Yuan, our parliament, said the allegation was ridiculous and that the CIA hadn’t been in Taiwan “since the Cold War ended.”
Doesn’t matter, I thought as I slid on my helmet.
CHAPTER FOUR
Driving southwest along the grimy Tamsui River on my moped, I felt Johnny peel away like sunburned skin. I allowed myself to picture Julia for the first time in hours and felt my heart slowly fossilize.
I was driving the same route our families used to drive back home from the night market. Some of my earliest memories were of riding in the open air on the back of a pickup truck. Julia and I, still aged in the single digits, sat on loose cushions and held on to each other while our mothers grabbed rope holds on either side of the truck bed and shouted over the engine about how much better the other’s stall was doing. Our fathers sat in the cab together in silence, blowing trails of cigarette smoke out of either side.
I don’t remember talking to Julia much during those rides home, because usually we were barely awake. I yawned a lot, yielding tears that turned cold when whipped by the wind. On the night of my ninth birthday, Julia leaned in and kissed my cheek, and I quickly kissed her back on the forehead. We held each other tighter. Blood was rushing past my ears and I couldn’t hear a sound, not even what our amused mothers were saying.
I SHOOK MY HEAD to adjust my helmet and regarded the Tamsui for a few seconds. It looked like two rivers—one of black waternear the banks flowing south, with a multicolored midstream sliding north.
The road was notably less crowded than usual. Many people thought it was important to avoid going near or into the water during Ghost Month. The spirits of people who perished at sea are sure to possess you, as they are wont to do. Considering Taiwan’s long history of harboring Japanese and Chinese pirates in its coves, there must be scores of soggy, angry souls.
But I wasn’t going to change my route and avoid the river for the sake of superstition. If I had it my way, and if I wasn’t still a bit of a coward, I wouldn’t even light up the incense at home for my ancestors.
I wondered if I should have gone to the temple for Julia. She would have hated it.
An idea took form in my head. Maybe the murdered girl wasn’t her. Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity. Of course. I took a deep breath. The only way I could be certain that it was Julia was to visit her parents.
It
“Frankie, are you going to talk some sense into him?”
Frankie briefly looked up from scrubbing the grill surfaces and shrugged. “He’s my boss. I can’t tell him what to do.”
Jenny sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jing-nan.”
“I have some leftover skewers, if you’re hungry, Jenny,” I said. “Not for me, I’m vegetarian for the month.”
After she left, Dwayne poured a watered-down detergent on the floor and scrubbed a stiff brush over the tiles. As he worked, a light foam built up on the floor. It looked like a toothpaste commercial with a close-up of the toothbrush cleaning the teeth.
I sorted and counted up the cash.
“It was a good night again, gentlemen,” I said.
“Of course it was,” said Dwayne. “You got the two best workers in the world here. Frankie, how about we unionize? That way the little bastard will pay us a fair salary.”
Frankie’s face twitched, looking like he checked a sneeze.
The work night ended with me paying out Dwayne and Frankie, and giving Frankie some more to shop for tomorrow’s ingredients.
Dwayne got up close to me and warned, “I’m going to say prayers for Julia. I don’t care what you think.”
I’d had my phone charging the whole night and hadn’t had a chance to check it. There was no more news about Julia, but I had an update on the supposedly related story. The incarcerated Black Sea member had made a new allegation: the American CIA was operating fronts owned by the gang. An anonymous senior member of the Legislative Yuan, our parliament, said the allegation was ridiculous and that the CIA hadn’t been in Taiwan “since the Cold War ended.”
Doesn’t matter, I thought as I slid on my helmet.
CHAPTER FOUR
Driving southwest along the grimy Tamsui River on my moped, I felt Johnny peel away like sunburned skin. I allowed myself to picture Julia for the first time in hours and felt my heart slowly fossilize.
I was driving the same route our families used to drive back home from the night market. Some of my earliest memories were of riding in the open air on the back of a pickup truck. Julia and I, still aged in the single digits, sat on loose cushions and held on to each other while our mothers grabbed rope holds on either side of the truck bed and shouted over the engine about how much better the other’s stall was doing. Our fathers sat in the cab together in silence, blowing trails of cigarette smoke out of either side.
I don’t remember talking to Julia much during those rides home, because usually we were barely awake. I yawned a lot, yielding tears that turned cold when whipped by the wind. On the night of my ninth birthday, Julia leaned in and kissed my cheek, and I quickly kissed her back on the forehead. We held each other tighter. Blood was rushing past my ears and I couldn’t hear a sound, not even what our amused mothers were saying.
I SHOOK MY HEAD to adjust my helmet and regarded the Tamsui for a few seconds. It looked like two rivers—one of black waternear the banks flowing south, with a multicolored midstream sliding north.
The road was notably less crowded than usual. Many people thought it was important to avoid going near or into the water during Ghost Month. The spirits of people who perished at sea are sure to possess you, as they are wont to do. Considering Taiwan’s long history of harboring Japanese and Chinese pirates in its coves, there must be scores of soggy, angry souls.
But I wasn’t going to change my route and avoid the river for the sake of superstition. If I had it my way, and if I wasn’t still a bit of a coward, I wouldn’t even light up the incense at home for my ancestors.
I wondered if I should have gone to the temple for Julia. She would have hated it.
An idea took form in my head. Maybe the murdered girl wasn’t her. Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity. Of course. I took a deep breath. The only way I could be certain that it was Julia was to visit her parents.
It
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