Shade (9)

Shade

            “I’m back.”

            “Hey, Will,” Anthony said as he looked up from the paper. “Boss has been looking for you, but he went out to eat.”
            “I see,” William said as he put a red plastic bag on the table. “Here, I brought everyone lunch.”
            “Why, how nice!” Anthony said as he stood up and opened the bag. “Have you eaten yourself?”
            “I ate in the MTR,” William answered shortly as he took the paper. “What’s this? From Anthony with love?”

            “Aw, Will!”

            He took the paper quickly and turned back. William smiled playfully as Gregory walked to them with a white cup.

            “What’s that?” he asked. “A love letter?”
            “Looks like Anthony’s tired of being single,” William answered. “Some chicken rice, Greg. Have you eaten?”

            “No, thanks for bringing these,” Greg said. “I think the other folks will be happy to eat with us…”
            “Fine, then,” William said. “By the way, how’s your wife?”

            “She got sick everytime she washes a pig’s tummy,” Greg answered as he pulled himself a seat. “Anthony, let me teach you how to write it correctly…”
            “Forget it!” Anthony exclaimed. He crumpled the paper and threw it into the dustbin.

            “Who cares! I’ll be a bachelor forever if it must be like that!”

            RIIIIING

            “Excuse me,” William said as he took out his iPhone. He pressed the green button and put it near his left ear.

            “Yes, hummingbird…?”

            “Um… no…” Tracy said. “I’m just kind of worried…”
            “I’m at work,” William said. “So don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself.”
            Tracy felt something choked her throat, then she looked down as she felt something broke down inside her.

            “Are you alright?”

            “Um.”
            “Have you eaten?”

            “Yes, with my client…”
            “I see,” William said. “Call you later.”
            He put the phone back into his breast pocket, then he smiled as he turned to Anthony.

            “Should I call that girl for you?”

            “No need!” Anthony shouted. “You have the best relationship going, Will…”
            “That’s right,” Gregory said. “Will you teach me the key to that?”

            “There’s no such thing as a key to a good relationship,” William said. “At the end, all relationships must end…”

            They suddenly heard the door flew open and someone panting. They turned back and saw a few policemen brought a woman wearing a green shirt and jeans.

            “This is SDU, right?”
            William stood up and walked to them. One of the policemen looked up to him, then he turned back to the woman.

            “This woman…” He paused. “Claimed to be a fortune-teller. She’s talking about someone she calls Will…”
            “It’s me,” William said. “Are you looking for the boss? He’s out.”
            “If we can, it will be good,” another policeman said. “She looked like she was possesed or something, then she became so tired, like now…”
            William looked at the woman for a while as Greg pushed a seat closer to her. The policemen helped her sit down on the chair, then they saluted.

            “Thank you for your help…”

            “Don’t mention,” William said. “I’ll send someone to update you guys and send her home.”

            William closed the door as Anthony brought the woman a white cup. The woman took it, then she drank it all at once.

            “You…”
            She raised her hand slowly to William as she panted. William looked at her calmly, then he sighed and looked away.

            “Will die within a month…”
            William could feel his heart stopped as Anthony covered her mouth.

            “What nonsense are you alking about…”
            “Anthony!” Gregory called. “Stop it. Let her calm down first.”
            “No, at this state, we have to take her to the temple…”
            “There are no such things as occults, okay?”

            The two of them turned back to William, who looked kind of pale. He pulled a seat and sat down. He could feel his head spun lightly as he sighed.

            “I have to take my medication…”
            “Do you bring it?” Gregory asked as he pushed the woman aside. “If you don’t, I will buy it from the pharmacy…”
            “No need,” William said. He took out a small plastic bag from his pocket, then he took out an ornage pill and tossed it into his mouth. Anthony put a white mug in front of him with anxiety.

            “Are you alright?”

            William drank the water along with the pill, then he sighed in relief and smiled.

            “I guess…”
            RIIIIIING           

            “Not again,” he said as he picked up the phone and put it near his ear. “Yes?”
            “Hey, bro!”

            William could hear some kind of rock music thumping from the other side. He sighed and looked away.

            “Where are you?”

            “On the crossing,” he said. “I have some business in the mainland.”
            “Tell me what you have to tell,” William said. “Someone just predicted my death here…”
            Matthew spun the vlume control, then he laughed out loud.

            “Don’t believe in such things, bro…”
            “Whatever,” William said. “What is it?”
            “I got a hint about this Ariel guy,” Matthew said as he drank some of the soda sitting near the gearbox. “In case you want a revenge. But if you don’t…”
            “He’ll be wanted by us soon,” William said as Gregory pushed away the chair. “Just tell me…”
            “Will, we’ll question her first, alright!”

            William gave Gregory a thumb, then Gregory smiled and gave him a thumb, too. Anthony opened a door to another room, and Gregory simply pushed her there.

            “Well,” Matthew said. “According to the bartender girl in the bar in Shanghai Road, who claimed to make acquaintances with a man called Ariel, he had pretty long hair, black hair, grey eyes, possibly contact lenses, no facial hair, no piercing, no nothing.”
            William sighed as he shook his head.

            “Too many people with that description…”
            “Aged around 30, scar on left hand, wearing a jade pendant,” Matthew continued. “Then, he usually comes to that bar every Friday night at around 7p.m., but for special occasions…”
            “What are these special occasions?” William asked. “Meeting a friend?”
            “Possibly,” Matthew said. “Ow, look at that. The mainland. Catch you later, bro.”

            William pressed the red button and put the phone on the table as Anthony and Gregory walked out from the other room with the woman.

            “We’ll take her home,” Anthony said. “Is it fine for you to be alone in here?”
            “I’m not a kid,” William said. “Shoo, shoo.”
            The three of them walked toward the door and left. William laid down on the table, trying to stabilize his heartbeat. He looked at his iPhone laying on the table, then he sighed and closed his eyes.

            He just felt like sleeping. Who knows why.

            The man with white shirt smiled and drank some of the soda in the glass. He looked around and noticed that there were unusually lot of people that day.

            “It’s kind of crowded.”

            “Yes, of course,” a waiter said as he put a tray in front of the man. “We have some discounts with HSBC, so people are crowding in today…”
            Ariel sighed and nodded. He looked up to the waiter and smiled.

            “If you don’t mind, you can give me the bill now.”
            The waiter nodded, then he walked away to the counter. The man looked at the food in front of him – deep fried chicken breast plus a few slices of carrots and brocolli. He took the fork and knife, then he started to cut the chicken.

            “When will that girl come…”
            He suddenly felt like he was being watched. He turned back and saw a girl wearing a magenta dress looking around. He smiled and raised his hand.

            “Here!”

            The girl turned to him, then she smiled and walked to him as he lowered his hand. She pulled a seat in front of him and sat down.

            “Sorry, I’m late…”
            “It’s always alright,” he said as he bit the chicken. “It’s not like I’m that strict when it comes to appointments. Me myself was 5 minutes late.”
            The girl put on a sour face and sighed.

            “So, you’re expecting me to be early.”
            “Kind of,” he said. “What is it?”

            The girl looked around, then she leaned over to him and smiled.

            “I have some messages for you,” she said. “First of all, about…”
            “Trace,” he said. “Order something. I don’t want to look suspicious.”
            She put another sour face, feeling annoyed, but then she nodded. A waiter walked to them and gave him a small paper. He sat up to sign the paper, then he put a yellow card. The man bowed down, then he turned to the girl.

            “Would you like to order something?”

            “Same with him,” she answered shortly. The waiter nodded and walked away.

            “If you’re talking about Trace, I know,” he said as he continued eating. “Talk about something else.”
            “Then, she said, ‘kill him’,” she said. “I heard he met up with some bad guys.”

            “Really?” he asked. “When? Why? And where?”
            “Just to day,” she said. “I don’t know why, but she said we should be careful.”
            “I can’t guarantee I’ll kill him,” he said. “Please note that I hate boring things.”

            She felt even more annoyed, then she looked away with a sour face.

            “Whatever,” she said. “Nothing is ever interesting for you.”

            The man smiled and sliced his food.
            “Not really.”

            She could feel something was electrocuted in herself, then she turned to him. he was smiling as he swallowed his food.

            “This whole thing is interesting.”

            He put down his knife, then he pointed his fork to her face.

            “I mean, who will win?” he asked. “Who will die? Justice?”

            He put down his fork and wiped his mouth with a tissue.

            “This whole thing is interesting, even if you only think about it,” he said. “That’s why I don’t think I should ruin it.”

            She looked at him for a while, then hs elooked away again.

            “I guess it’s a no.”

            “Yes, of course,” he said. “No, I’m not doing exactly as she wants. I’ll make things a bit more interesting.”

            She turned back to him and raised an eyebrow.

            “More?”

            He pushed his chair back and stood up.

            “I’m borrowing you my card,” he said. “You won’t be able to use it, after all.”

            “Wait,” she said. “What are you talking about just now?”

            He looked at her for a while as he felt something inside him was thrilled. He shook his head and smiled sarcastically.

            “You women don’t understand.”

            1900 hours

            “See you tomorrow, boss.”

            Jason nodded as he ate some fruit skewer. William turned and opened the door.

            “You’re going to be fine alone…?”

            William turned back and nodded.

            “I was just going to ask, boss,” he said. “You’re going to be fine alone?”
            He sighed and glanced at his watch, then he nodded.

            “I’ll be home in another minute…”
            William smiled and nodded, then he walked out closed the door.

            “Wait…”

            William turned back and noticed his boss was still watching him. Jason then made a gesture, telling him to come. William sighed and opened the door.

            “You want me to get something for you?” he asked. Jason shook his head and walked to the coffee machine.

            “No,” he said. “I just forgot to tell you to forget everything.”

            William could feel something choked his throat, but then he coughed a few times and smiled.

            “You don’t have to…”

            The street lamps all along the road brightened up the road. William opened a snack bar and bit it. Jason gave it to him as some kind of bonus.

            It certainly wasn’t a small road. But somehow William felt kind of uneasy. He would look back every few minutes to make sure nobody was following him. But a few minutes later, he hit his head hard.

            “Come on,” he whispered. “You’re not being followed, William…”
            He walked again and smiled, trying to control himself. He turned at a fork road and saw a blue taxi rolled slowly to him. He gave out a hand, and the taxi stopped in front of him. William opened the door and got in to the back.

            “Mong Kok Road,” he said. “Ka fai (faster).”

            “Nei you fai tit fen kao? (You want to sleep faster?)” the old driver asked, followed by a laugh. He then pressed a button on the dashboard to turn on the radio, then they dashed off the road.

            William sighed and leaned back to the chair. He looked at the mirror on the side of the car and noticed a white Camry was stopping by the roadside. He kept an eye on the car as the driver tries to start a conversation.

            “Nei you lo tai pin tou? (Where do you want me to drop you?)” he asked. William didn’t answer as he kept watching the car, that was being started by whoever was the driver. The driver looked back and turned the radio off.

            “Nei you lo tai pin tou?” he asked again. William didn’t answer again. He kept watching the car that was dashing towards them.

            “Siu sem.”

            The car passed them, causing a bang. The driver spontaneously turned the steer left to avoid the car, but it already scractched the body of the car. The driver stopped his car and got out of the car angrily. He looked at the side of the car that was scratched and grunted.

            “Wai dan…!!! (Naughty!)”

            He touched the car, but William sighed and sat up. He looked at the dashboard for a while, then he put a 20-dollar bill on the dashboard and got out. He walked past the taxi and looked at the driver for a while. The driver was grunting about the long scratch on the car.

            “Ngo hang lou fan ou hei, (I’ll walk home)” he said. The driver was surprised – of course, then he walked to William.

            “Em sai wan qin, (you don’t have to pay)” he said. “Hai ngo cho(its my fault)…”
            William turned to him and smiled.

            “Mou si…(it’s alright)”

            He walked down the street as he glanced at his watch. It read seven past seven, and he hasn’t eaten anything yet. He sighed and walked again.

            He looked around him and noticed the car white has stopped not very far away from him. he sighed and looked away. Must be teenagers playing on the streets. He walked towards the car and tried to look inside from the distance, but the car windows were covered with shades. He sighed and walked again.

            “That’s him.”
            The man with white shirt pulled the lighter from the car and took out a cigarette from his pocket.

            “Interesting as I expected…”

            He looked at the clock on thec ar, which read 1910 hours. He smiled and grabbed the steer.

            “I should go.”

            He turned the steer around and his car rolled back. William stopped at his place to watch the car leave. He sighed and turned back again.

            “Geez,” he grunted. “Kids nowadays are really bad.”

            He started to walk down the road as he took out a pack of pills. He looked at them for a while, then he sighed and put them back into his pocket.

            “I have to buy some water,” he said. “I wonder where I should be able to…”
            He suddenly stopped at his place upon the sight of a girl sitting by the street. She had her head dug to her legs – she must be tired. There was a small box in front of her, filled with some toys and food. He sighed and walked up to her.

            “Hello, mister…”

            The girl stood up and smiled. William looked at her for a while, then he sighed again.

            “I’d like a bottle of water, please…”

            “Yes, mister!” she said as she fished for something in the box. She took out a transparent bottle a few seconds later.

            “Two dollars…”

            William raised an eyebrow as he looked at the girl. He took the bottle and looked at it for a while. He then turned the bottle around, trying to look for the expiry date.

            There it was. It was still something like a year from that time.

            “Aren’t two dollars too cheap?”

            The girl stopped at her place, must be surprised, but then William took out a 10-dollar bill from his pocket.

            “Now, now…” he said. “Who set up that price?”

            “But, mister…” she said. “Nobody buys anything from me, so I have to make the price…”
            William took out some coins from the folded bill, then he gave 10 dollars to her.

            “Don’t be here at night,” he said. “Listen to Mr. Policeman. Anything can happen to you.”

            William smiled and looked away.

            “I don’t want to see you here tomorrow, when I work overtime.”

            He started to walk again as he opened the bottle. He tossed the pills into his mouth and drank some of the water.

            “Good thing Xiao Li has never experienced that…”

            He could suddenly feel something choked his throat. He looked around to find nobody was around him, then he sighed and closed the bottle tight. He could feel something broke down inside him. The words came out without his permission.

            “…Forget about her.”

            He bit his lower lip as he felt something rolled down his cheek.

            “Forget it…”

            The man with white shirt could feel the floor around him thumping as he walked to the bar. He sat down on a vacant stool in front of the girl bartender, who happened to be wiping some shot glasses.

            “It’s you again…”

            She put the glass on the shelf, then she smiled and leaned down to him.

            “You’re late.”
            “Sorry,” he said. “What do I usually order? I somehow forgot…”
            “Daiquiri.”

            “Yes, that one please,” he said. The bartender nodded and took a white bottle from the shelf.

            “By the way, someone looked for you.”

            He looked up to the glasses being hung, then he sighed.

            “Who is it…?”
            “I don’t know,” she said. “She looked like she was forty. Do you happen to have a friend you will meet today?”

            He raised an eyebrow.

            “A she…?”

            “She decided to play some slots or roulette as she wait…” the bartender said. “There she is.”
            She pointed to a group of men playing roulette, and there was a woman with brown long hair in the group. She was sitting in front of the roulette wheel, watching her ball rolled around.

            “There! 26!”

            “Geez, that woman is so lucky!”

            He watched the crowd without saying anything.

            “Here, your drink…”

            He nodded and put some money on the table. The bartender took it and smiled.

            “Should I call her for you…?”
            “Let them,” he said. “I’m going to play slots after this.”

            The woman noticed the two and stood up from her place. She walked to the bar and smiled.

            “I’d like a Mojito, please…”
            The bartender nodded, then she took a white bottle from the shelf. He looked at her for a while, then he sighed.

            “Who are you…?”
            “Guess,” she said. “But it’s fine if you can’t guess…”
            The bartender put a glass in front of the woman and smiled.

            “Winning a lot today?”

            “I always have the feeling for such a thing.”

            The woman looked to him, then she smiled.

            “Camelia is dead.”

            He smiled and drank some of the cocktail. The woman turned to him for a while, then she sighed.

            “He will be after you,” she said. “Very shortly.”

            “Who cares,” he said. “This will get interesting soon.”

            The woman turned to him as she stirred her drink.

            “You only care about ‘interesting things’, as usual…”

            The man smiled and pushed his chair back.

            “I can’t guarantee I’ll kill him,” he said. “Maybe the best thing is, I’ll get killed.”

            “That’s not good at all,” she said. “I can say that’s the worst scenario…”
            “Think about it, it’s not that bad,” he said. “I’ll get killed and that’s all. Isn’t it good? You lost one of your men…”
            He drank some more of his cocktail.

            “And you can hire a new one. From the schools, maybe?”

            “I don’t hire amateurs,” she said. “By the way, you can go if you want to play slots.”
            He smiled and stood up.

            “You read my mind…”

            He turned back and walked away. He looked around and noticed a vacant slot machine.

            “Why, I got lucky before I even started…”

            He walked to the machine, which wasn’t very far away from him, and inserted a few coins into it. The woman turned back and watched him play.

            “He’s quite an interesting man, isn’t he?”

            The woman nodded. She turned to the bartender and smiled.

            “I’d like Kir now,” she said. The bartender nodded, then she took a bottle of white wine from the shelf. The woman turned back to watch the man played slots, but she was soon stunned.

            “Your Kir, ma’am…”

            The woman didn’t say anything as the bartender put the glass on the table. She looked at the woman for a while, then she turned towards the direction where she was looking at.

            “Something?”

            “No, that man’s gone…” she answered. “Just in a blink…”

            William put the noodle into the boiling water and closed the pan. He turned back and opened the fridge.

            “I don’t have many things in here…”

            He looked at his small fridge, which was practically empty. There were only a few vegetables inside. He left the rest at either his apartment, or the old woman’s place.

            He was in hurry, after all.

            “I’ll have to go shopping tomorrow at lunchtime.”
            He took out some brocoli, washed them under the tap water, and cut them slowly. He opened the lid again and found that the noodles have become softer. He poured the noodle to a bowl, then he put the brocoli into the pan.

            “I have to be a vegetarian today.”
            He poured some water into the pan and put it on the stove. He turned on the stove, then he sighed and sat on the dining chair.

            “I wonder how long that thing will take to boil…”

            He looked down to the table as he could feel his head heated up.

            “In case you want a revenge.”

            He sighed and bit his lower lip, then he leaned down to the table and closed his eyes.

            He just feel like sleeping. And he will soon forget about everything.

            2200 hours

            William sat up and opened his eyes. He touched his head, which felt like spinning. He could feel some pain on his waist.

            “Geez…”
            He stood up and leaned back, trying to relax his muscles. He looked around and noticed that the pan has spilled and the stove was still on.

            “I fell asleep,” he said as he turned off the stove. He took the pan and looked at it for a while. Most of the water has vapored and some of the broccolis are on the floor. He sighed and picked up the broccoli.

            “I hate this.”

            He looked at the digital wall clock, which read 2203 hours. He sighed and opened a cupboard above him. There were a few glasses of instant noodles there.

            “Looks like I failed to have a decent dinner tonight,” he said as he took a glass and put it on the table. He took the water heater and turned on the tap to fill the jug.

            “I’ll eat this and sleep,” he said as he yawned. “I guess.”

            He could suddenly hear some footsteps got louder to him. He turned to the door, but there weren’t any signs of movement. He sighed as he put the jug to the heater.

            “Must be just my feelings,” he said. “This sucks…”
            He waited for the water to boil as he opened the glass cover. He looked around cautiously, afraid if someone was actually around.

            A thief, maybe…?

            He could hear the footsteps again. He bit his lower lip and took out a knife from the knife holder.

            It was the same, steady footsteps.

            EEEEEEEEEEEE

            William walked slowly to the door as the water made a horrible sound, meaning it has boiled. He looked at the water and noticed that some smokes puffed out from the jug.

            “The neighbour?”

            The footsteps then faded away. William leaned down to the small hole to peek out to see if anybody was there.

            KNOCK KNOCK           

            He saw a man with white shirt, and he was smoking a cigarette. He had straight black hair and he was slightly taller than William.

            KNOCK KNOCK

            William could feel his heart pounded faster as he looked at the figure in front of the door. He knelt down and put his knife on the floor, then he opened the door.

            “Yes?”

            “Excuse me…” the man said. “I’m looking for Mr. Wang. Can you call him for me?”

            “Sorry, sir,” William said. “Mr. Wang already moved out. Now I’m staying in this place…”
            The man looked a bit surprised, then he sighed.

            “I suppose you don’t know where he lives now…”
            He turned back and smiled.

            “In that case,” he said. “Sorry to have came at this hour.”

            “It’s fine,” William said. “Maybe you can ask the receptionist where that Mr. Wang is…”
            He closed the door and walked to the water heater. He lifted the jug and poured some of the water down into the glass.

            “Hm…” he said as he looked at the lid. “I see it takes 5 minutes before I can eat it…”
            KNOCK KNOCK

            He turned to the door as he could feel something inside him was heated up.

            “Why, now…”

            He walked to the door and looked out through the small hole. It was the man that came to look for the previous owner earlier. William sighed and opened the door.

            “Yes, can I help you again…”

            Suddenly the man pointed out a knife to William. William gulped and took the knife he left on the floor.

            “You…”

            William fell down the floor as he pointed the knife to the man’s face. The man looked at him for a while with a frightening look, but then he smiled.

            “That’s pretty good.”
            William looked at him for a while, then he bit his lower lip as some thoughts crossed his mind.

            “I see,” he said. “You must’ve killed someone earlier, and is now trying to cover up your tracks.”
            “Not really,” the man answered. “I’m just here to do what my master told me.”
            William looked at him for a while as he could feel he was only a few inches from death.

            “Your master…?”

            “We can talk and settle this down quietly,” the man said. “But looking at you, looks like it’s not something you can really do.”
            William lowered his knife gradually as he could feel something grew inside him. He dropped the knife and grabbed the man’s throat, pushing him up.

            “You’re right,” he said. “You can’t talk that easily to me. But I can settle this down very quickly…”
            He tightened his grip.

            “If you want to.”

            The man looked at him for a while, then he moved his knife forward to William’s chest. William stopped the knife with his other hand, causing it to bleed.

            “You killed that girl in the Waterloo Road, right?” William asked. “The cigarette you’re smoking right now is very similar to the cigarette on the street.”

            “You shouldn’t accuse people so directly,” the man said. “This is a well known cigarette, you know…”
            “Yes, but reconsidering that this is a new cigarette, different to the one you smoke before…”
            He smiled and tightened his grip even more. He could feel something grew uncontrollably in him.

            “You change cigarettes very often.”

            The man smiled cynically and chuckled, despite feeling his lungs became smaller.

            “That’s one very good evidence.”
            “Do you want to live longer and pass my message to your master, or die right here, right now, with some questions before you die?”
            “The second.”

            “Fine,” William said. “Who’s that damned master of yours?”
            He looked surprised, but then he sighed and tried his best to look away.

            “You asked me as if I know him that well,” he said. “I don’t know him.”

            “Fine,” William said. “Do you have something to tell me?”

            The man looked at William and he could feel his lungs shrunk even more.

            “You…” he said. “Rather than saving yourself, looks like your priority is the others.”
            “That’s what I have to do as a police.”
            “Really,” he said. “People. But let me warn you…”

            “What?”

            “You will always be watched,” the man said. “Just like how your shadow follows you.”

            William raised an eyebrow as he felt something in him hesitated.

            “And why should I trust you?”

            “I don’t care if you trust me or not.”
            “Last question. Do you happen to know about Darren Fu?”

            The man turned to William, then he raised and eyebrow and smiled.

            “Kill me.”

            William looked at him for a while, then he tightened his grip again for the last time.

            “Ding. Wrong answer.”