Opium Warfare Page 5

  Shaojin turned his back to his helpless victim and walked away with a mischievous and wicked smile upon his face.

  Chao began to weep softly as every so often a drop of water fell upon his forehead.

  “Don’t be sad Mr. Chao as long as you remember what is best for you; all will be well and taken care of.”

  Mr. Shaojin and his two associates then made their way out of Chao’s deli from the back door leaving the poor Chao helpless.

  Chao continued to weep as he began thinking and wondering what is going to happen to him. As he was thinking, another drop of water dripped down upon his forehead.

  Chapter 5 - Revival

  I imagined her in a long elegant red dress with a light shade making up the straps and stomach area while the waistline would be made up of lovely rose and flower patterns flowing all the way down. I arrived at the Astor Hotel at approximately 7:52 p.m. I always liked to be early for appointments, but considering this was a date, I definitely made sure I was on time. As I waited for Mia to come out, I looked out over to where the incident took place just hours earlier. The area was still blocked off, but there was no longer a commotion. A couple of officers were standing at the site along with a few guys in business suits. It was still hard to believe a man jumped to his death, it was even harder for me to bear, because I just happened to look up as he was falling. As I looked around further, I noticed typical activity in town. People walking, talking, and just going about their lives. Funny how people can be so interested in something that happens one minute and then totally indifferent almost oblivious the next. It was like my father used to say, “A man’s interest is only perceived by his willingness to stay focused.” My mind and focus was shifted when I glanced over to the doors of the hotel and saw her coming out. She gave me a smile and I immediately returned it back. She looked great.

  “Hey Ryu!” Mia said.

  “Hey Mia, you look great!”

  Mia blushed before thanking me.

  In reality, she wore a lovely turquoise gown with matching shoes and a gold necklace that outlined her neck.

  “So what have you been doing since we last talked?” Mia asked.

  “Not much, just went back home and did a few things around the house.”

  “So you live on your own?”

  “Yes, I got my own place around a year ago, though my family still likes me to visit them every chance I get.”

  She laughed, “I totally understand. My mother, father and grandfather are the same way. I take it family is important to you?”

  “Yes, very much so. I come from a long line of Tsang’s, strong people from generation to generation.”

  “Hmm...maybe I should be interviewing you instead of Mr.Shaojin, you sound a lot more interesting than him.”

  “Flattering, but I assure you, aside from my long family ties, I live a pretty common life here.”

  “Working on the docks doesn’t sound common.”

  “Eh, it has its ups and downs, don’t get me wrong, but I’m just happy to do something I enjoy.”

  “Well, what do you want to do? I mean, do you want to be more than a dock worker? Oh, my god, I’m sorry, that came out wrong-”

  “It’s alright, I know what you meant. To be honest, I’ve never given it much thought. My friend Liu had more of ambition than I did growing up. He’s a stunt performer in Hong Kong.”

  “That’s great. Have you ever thought about being one?”

  “No way, I’m not into dangerous stuff like that.”

  She laughed and smiled at me again.

  “So where did you want to go?” I asked.

  “I was thinking, maybe, we could just take a walk around town, unless you know a nice place we could go to.”

  “A walk sounds fine by me,” I said smiling back.

  We began walking in the opposite direction of which I came from to arrive at the hotel. As we began walking, something made me glance back to the incident site, and I noticed everyone had all left the crime scene but two. I could have sworn that I saw one of the men in a suit hand what appeared to be a card to one of the officers. I quickly looked back ahead of me and to the side of me to address Mia.

  “You alright, Ryu?”

  “Yeah, yeah, it’s just...I thought I saw something.”

  “Saw what?”

  “Well, I glanced back over to where the incident was and I thought I saw a guy in a suit hand a card to one of the officers.”

  “Hmm...really?”

  “Yeah, but I’m sure it was probably nothing.”

  We continued walking around town, and she was telling me all about herself and I about myself. She told me what Chicago was like, more about her work, and why it was always a dream of hers to become a reporter. I admit that she did most of the talking for the first couple of minutes, but then I told her about myself. Eventually, our talk ceased when we came up to Chao’s deli.

  “That’s weird...” I said upon noticing that Chao was still closed.

  “What’s wrong?”

  "Well, it's just Chao's here. I come here all the time, have been since I was a kid, and in that time, I’ve never seen him closed once, never mind two days in a row.”

  “Oh my, I hope everything’s alright.”

  “Yeah, me too. I’m really worried now.”

  “Well, do you know where he lives? Maybe we can go see if he’s okay?”

  “I wish I did, but I don’t remember. My father took me to Chao’s place only once back when I was a kid.”

  I could tell Mia could sense the concern on my face.

  “I’m sorry, I’m probably making you feel uncomfortable,” I said.

  “For what? No not at all. I’d be concerned too. I just hope he’s alright.”

  “Yeah, I hope he didn’t sell the place to Shaojin.”

  “Wait...what?” Mia asked alarmed.

  “Yeah, last time I was here, Chao said Shaojin was trying to buy the place, but Chao said not to worry, because he wasn’t going to accept the deal.”

  Mia looked at me now almost remorsefully.

  “Ryu, when I was interviewing Mr.Shaojin, he told me he was in the process of building an eighteen story building for the manufacturing of goods and he was going to include a shopping area too. Maybe he was thinking about having it built here; after all, this is the busiest part of town.”

  “Oh gosh, you’re probably right. Chao seemed so nervous when I asked him about it. Maybe he did decide to sell the place. Maybe he was just talking himself down; because he was ashamed to tell me the truth, But Chao isn’t like that, he’d never sell out for anything or anyone.”

  “I’m sorry Ryu, I hope I’m wrong about it, but it would certainly make sense.”

  “Yeah, you’re right, it does make sense...then again, do you think Shaojin threatened him into giving up the place?”

  “Hmm...I’ve only met him on two occasions, but from the impression I got, he’s a determined man who seems like he gets what he wants by any means necessary.”

  “I was afraid of that...look, I’m sorry, I don’t want to ruin our time together on worrying about a dear friend.”

  “Ryu, it’s alright, you’ve got to stop apologizing. I’m glad you told me, because I can probably find out more if you’d like. I have a few more follow up questions to conduct with him, so I can try to dig deeper and see what he plans on doing.”

  “I’d appreciate that, but just be careful, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you like it may have with Chao.”

  Mia blushed at his concern for her.

  “Thank you Ryu, being in this business I have had my share of touchy subjects to get the real scoop on, so I’ll be more than careful.”

  I changed the subject and we walked around a bit longer until we made our way back to the hotel.

  “Well Ryu, I had a lovely time with you tonight, even if we just walked around and talked about certain individuals we’d rather not speak of” she laughed.

  “I had a nice time as well. It s
eems our mutual acquaintance keeps us connected though, right?”

  “Agreed, and I’ll be in touch with you about what I find out about Chao, if anything.”

  “Alright, thank you Mia.”

  “You’re welcome Ryu, take care.”

  She smiled and kissed my cheek, and made her way up the hotel stairs and through the doors.

  A beaming smile lit up my whole face. I can’t believe she kissed me, I thought. Get a hold of yourself, it was just a kiss on the cheek. Besides, I’m not acting very mature about this, I’m acting like a giddy child, but it was still very nice.

  It became a bit cold as I began walking home. The wind had picked up quite a bit, but luckily for me, it was in the opposite direction of where I was walking, so my back would be against it. I walked down the long street before taking a right. As I got a little bit past the corner of the street, I stopped a moment, hearing some faint commotion. I glanced down the long alleyway and noticed what used to be an elaborate building, which I guessed was a temple. However, this was far from a temple now. It clearly looked like it was abandoned for quite some time, but was recently turned into something else. The beautiful clay patterns that once made up the roofs were now chipped and were hung with an ivy type plant that was clearly evident all around. The windows were merely square frames with no trace of glass ever having been there. There were solid wooden pedestals that held up the roof and made up the porch, which was slightly crooked leaning to the right.

  I began to walk toward the building to get a better look at it and as I got closer, the faint sounds became louder and shadows more manifest. I kept walking until I was a few feet away from the building. What I thought I saw as silhouettes and outlines of people sitting on the porch were merely phantasms constructed by my mind. What I also noticed that I did not before was a dirty white sheet hanging in place of where a door should have been. I walked up the broken steps and stood next to the sheet to see if I could hear anything more. It was the oddest thing; I heard nothing but the whistling of the wind behind me.

  The chatter and echoes I clearly heard when I was out on the street suddenly died out. I took the sheet down, stepped inside and, low and behold, I saw people sitting and laying on the faded gray wooden floor boards. There were seven people all scattered about the room. What stood out to me was that, while not all of them had a blanket or some type of sheet or clothing to lie on, they all had one thing in common: they were all smoking opium.

  I was astounded by the display. I’d seen people doing opium lately, but this topped all of what I’ve witnessed. Some of them looked at me, but were clearly in no state to acknowledge me; in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them didn’t even know I was there. It became obvious to me that I was standing in an opium den, a man made opium den

  Out of respect, shock, and an overall feeling that I was clearly out of my territory, I made my way out of there and fast. After I separated a good distance between myself and the den, I slowed my pace. I never expected to come across that and see what I saw. It was all starting to make sense to me though; opium was becoming more and more prominent and I just stepped into one of the layers of it. I kept walking and was just two blocks away from my home. I glanced over before I crossed the street and noticed on the second floor of an apartment building was a man sitting outside his window. From the way he was positioned and by his features that I could make out, he reminded me of Liu. Liu was always jumping into and out of windows, over fences, and through small cracks. I crossed the street and looked back up and noticed the man was gone, but saw smoke permuting from out his window. Since I knew he wasn’t announcing the newest Pope, I figured his house was either showing small signs of catching fire or, the more obvious assumption, he too was smoking opium.

  I shook my head and kept on walking home. I decided it was best if I just kept looking straight ahead and went home, not stopping to observe anything else, but that proved hard to do. I like to think of myself as a very observant person, but no more observant than anyone else. This, however, was not the case tonight as my senses seemed to be on high alert, and it seemed that everywhere I looked, I saw something peculiar or suspicious. As I approached the last block to my home, I came across buildings, which were so close together that it seemed like they could be one big giant construction. These two buildings seemed to stand out more than the others on the block. They had quite a lot of commotion going on as there were quite a lot of people standing outside of them. Perhaps, they were holding a party or having a meeting or gathering...only it was late, and around here, nobody stood outside of a building nonchalantly at this time of day.

  Maybe my thoughts were getting the best of me, but I knew better; after the last two things I witnessed, I was sure that what I was seeing now was somehow connected to them. It was dark and I may not have been able to see much, but I was sure I felt some of those people’s eyes on me. Watching me like large birds ready to strike their prey. I stopped for a moment and looked over across the street trying to see if I could get a better look at what they were doing. It was dark, but there was a glimmer of light shining in that direction which could help me see. Suddenly, I saw one of the men looking at me, I was sure of it. His head was facing the guy in front of him, but then turned toward my direction. He tilted his head to the side, and I just stood there frozen. Then the guy whom he was facing looked over at me. The first guy who was rather large or at least he appeared to be in the dark started walking toward me. Everyone else stopped talking and watched him walking over to me. Not wanting a confrontation and obviously observing something I shouldn’t have, I decided to keep walking, though, I walked a bit faster than normal seeing as I had angered these people. It’s kind of funny really. Lately, I’ve been seeing small indications of opium use and strange activity going on, but I didn’t think anything of it, and now, I witnessed clear signs of it on three separate occasions in less than five minutes of each other. I could have been jumping to conclusions, I mean, after all, I didn’t know if those guys were doing opium, but I wouldn't put it past them and it wouldn’t have surprised me in the slightest if they were. As I kept walking, I looked back behind me and noticed that, while the guy who was looking over at me had crossed the street, he had stopped walking and wasn’t following me anymore. I sighed in relief and was thankful that it did not get ugly. I made my way home to my apartment and closed the door. I took off my jacket, hung it up on the coat rack, and then made my way over to my bed and just collapsed on it. What a day, I thought. I almost forgot what a great time I had with Mia, because of all the things I saw when walking home.

  I was in deep thought when my phone rang. I got up and picked it up.

  “Hello?”

  “Ryu, sweetie, I’ve been calling for over an hour. When are you coming by for dinner?”

  “Hello Mother, I’m sorry, things have been hectic, and I just got home. I can stop by Saturday. I have work tomorrow and have something planned this Friday, but I’m free otherwise.”

  “That would be fine. Your father was wondering if you have been by Chao’s lately. He said the place looked closed the other day.”

  “No, I was there last week, but I noticed he was closed as well. I was going to go there during break at work tomorrow, so I’ll let father know what’s going on then.”

  “Alright, that sounds fine. Goodbye dear.”

  “Goodbye Mother, see you on Saturday.”

  I knew my mother would call. She always calls to ask when I’m coming by for dinner. I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed something was amiss with Chao. Although I’m sure my father and I were just two of many other people who were also wondering about Chao. I decided to get some rest, since I had work in the morning. I just hope things were back to normal and Rafael would be in high spirits the next time I see him. The last time I saw him was when he had that encounter with Shin Shaojin and was really rattled. I’m sure he was back to his shining peachy self.

  Before I went to sleep, I went to my window to pull
the curtain down. As I looked out, I saw a man. It was the same man who I saw hanging out his window when I was walking home. The man who I figured was probably smoking opium just like everyone else I encountered earlier. Thankfully, it wasn’t the one I was eyeing from across the street that began coming towards me. All these odd happenings were making my head hurt. He stood out there, but rather than observe what he was doing or what he was going to do, I decided I didn’t care, I’d had enough for one night, and went back to my bed and laid down. I decided that now more than ever I needed some sleep. These odd happenings, coincidences, or whatever you want to call them were all happening too much and it was too stressful to think about. The more I thought about it, the more it made my head hurt. Once again, I wondered if Shin Shaojin was connected to this in some way. The man just stuck out too much to me. Oh well, enough is enough for one night. I held my head as I lay in bed staring at the blank white wall. I should be thinking about Mia and the wonderful time we had, but too many odd occurrences have happened today, and something tells me I won’t be dreaming happy dreams tonight.

  * * * * * *

  Chao lay put in the same spot he had for almost two days now. A small water drop found its place upon his head where it disappeared upon making contact. He had no clue what time it was and had lost count as to how many drops of the innocent yet deadly drops of the liquid’s injustice fell upon his head. He lay there for what seemed like a week, but in reality, it was only two days. Of course, when a man is lying helpless and unable to move with nothing to do but think, the mind makes its own assumptions. He remembered when the water felt cool upon his skin, which was in the beginning back when Shin Shaojin and his goons first installed this mechanism. Those first fifty drops or so, give or take, felt okay and then, not so much. After he lost count, consciousness, and his train of thought, was also when the drops became more lukewarm.