Skeleton Women (24 page)

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Authors: Mingmei Yip

Tags: #General Fiction

BOOK: Skeleton Women
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But, apart from my fear for myself, I had no heart to kill my unborn baby.
Since I had no one on this earth, maybe it would not be so bad to have someone, especially someone whose flesh would come from mine and whose blood would flow from my arteries.
But the question was: Who was the father? Unfortunately I couldn’t tell. Maybe it didn’t really matter. If the baby turned out to be a boy, I’d tell Lung he was the father. Thrilled to have another heir, he’d definitely make me his untouchable number one woman, not the shadowy magician. If, unfortunately, it was a girl, I’d also announce to Lung it was his but secretly tell his son that he was in fact the real father. That way, if anything happened, the young master would protect my little girl and me against his father. Or we could escape to Hong Kong or America as he’d once suggested. Now I should just wait patiently for a few more months to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl. According to the Chinese, if the bulging belly is pointed, it will be a boy, if round, a girl.
Thus decided, I yelled toward the kitchen. “Ah Fong, from now on I’d like to have some nutritious herb soup for dinner.”
Ah Fong rushed out from the kitchen. “Of course, Miss Camilla. Hmm ... may I be so imprudent as to ask, are you not feeling well?”
I smiled. “I’m fine. Because I’m getting so busy, I need a boost to my overall energy.”
After she left, suddenly another question emerged, giving me a jolt. What if the baby was neither Lung’s nor his son’s but Gao’s?
But I had no time for conjecturing; now I needed to focus on taking care of my pregnancy and planning for my big show with Shadow. I decided to start rehearsing with her right away. If I didn’t move fast, my stomach would announce to the audience what had happened to me.
I had something planned for my show that I absolutely did not want Lung or Jinying to see, but I couldn’t come up with an excuse not to invite them. Fortunately, as I was thinking hard about what to do, Jinying called to tell me that he and his father would be going away soon.
He explained, “The government has just seized a large amount of opium and is secretly letting my father sell it so they’ll both make a lot of money. I’ll travel with him as his legal consultant—”
“But isn’t the deal illegal?”
“Yes, but the legal papers will be so convoluted that no one can prove anything. I’ve already turned down too many of his requests, and I can’t say no this time, because it is a big deal for him. If he loses his temper, he’ll either force me to do it or even have me locked up. And if I can’t see you anymore, who’s going to look after you?”
I suppressed the urge to tell him I was pregnant and asked instead, “So how long will you be away?”
“We’ll be leaving for about a month.”
Perfect.
“But, Camilla, no one can know about this, because the highest levels of government are involved. So promise you’ll not tell any-one.”
“I promise. But where will you be?”
“I’m sorry, but I really can’t tell you.”
Just as well that he couldn’t, because it saved me having to report it to Wang.
 
Two days later, I told Big Brother Wang about the show with Shadow, and, as expected, he agreed right away—because most of the profit would go into his pocket, not mine. He spoke to his underling Mr. Ho, owner of Bright Moon, who then agreed to let me use the nightclub for free. I hoped that when Lung came back, Shadow would be gone.
Thinking about and envisioning my show of the century, out of nowhere a thought emerged.
Why shouldn’t I just entice Lung to marry me?
My idea was not to get a better chance to kill him, as Wang wanted, but, on the contrary, to escape from Wang’s control. If I became Lung’s legal wife, I could stop spying for Wang. Then I’d think of a way to escape from Shanghai. How come I’d never thought of this before? Wang wouldn’t be able to touch me anymore—unless he succeeded in killing Lung first. He would completely lose his power over me. Fortunately, he couldn’t threaten me by torturing or killing my parents, siblings, relatives, friends, or pets, because I didn’t have any.
Thus thinking, I felt as energized as if I’d drunk several cups of coffee. I immediately plunged into work on the show, which I intended would make my shadowy rival disappear, this time for good.
 
A few days later, Shadow and I began to practice at Bright Moon. Though each rehearsal brought Shadow closer to her own destruction, she didn’t seem to sense any danger, for she was completely blinded by the vision of the upcoming heaps of glittering gold and silver coins. How true what the Chinese say, “Humans will always die for money, birds for food.”
But as the Chinese also say, “If you don’t sweat and strain, you can’t get the world to pay.” So Shadow and I worked like coolies. Besides endless practice, we had to arrange publicity, negotiate with food vendors, hire extra security people, decide on ticket prices, design advertising signboards, give complimentary tickets to influential politicians and celebrities, and carefully arrange seating according to status.
To my relief, Shadow realized that she depended on my fame and connections to get this show, so she made things easy by doing what she was told.
 
However, after one of our rehearsals of knife-throwing, she asked, wiping big beads of perspiration from her forehead, “Camilla, have you ever worried that you might miss your target?”
I shook my head vehemently as my voice came out filled with confidence. “Of course not. Impossible.”
“How come you’re so sure?”
I stared straight into her eyes. “Shadow, I believe you never make mistakes, so why should I?”
She smiled, casting me an appreciative glance. “Maybe you’re right, Camilla.”
“We may be geniuses, but we also work much harder than those coolies at the Huangpu dock.”
We both laughed.
“You’re damn right, Camilla. I guess I just have to trust you.”
My voice came out sounding as serious as I could make it. “Shadow, in all these rehearsals, have I ever made a wrong move?’
“No.”
I went on. “If you trust yourself, you can trust me. We are of the same caliber. Maybe we were twin sisters in a past life, don’t you think?”
Would I try to harm her if she really were my sister? I had no answer for that. History is filled with assassinations between siblings and even parents and children struggling against each other to take the throne. If they had a single moment of hesitation when their hand reached to poison, strangle, or stab, history has not recorded it. It was either win the kingdom or die. A murderer has only a scheming mind, no heart. And his eyes never distinguish relatives or friends, only power and status.
Anyway, everything depends on circumstances, and those always change. So maybe someday Shadow and I might be good friends or even sworn blood sisters—who could predict?
That’s why I loved the opening line in the famous novel,
Romance of the Three Kingdoms:
It has always been, the kingdom once divided must unite, once united must divide.
Past or future sisters or not, Shadow’s question about my knife-throwing showed that she was worried. I didn’t want her doubts to spoil my plan. But I was confident that her financial need would win out over her fears. Like an invincible army or water rushing down a gorge, greed is unstoppable.
As expected, the show sold out in a few days.
23
Show of the Century
O
n the night of our show, Shadow and I arrived five hours early at the Bright Moon Nightclub’s big performance hall. Signboards and flower baskets were everywhere, covered with congratulatory remarks on our about-to-be-unprecedented success. Lung’s signboard, the biggest and with the most lavish assortment of flowers, greeted our eyes as we arrived. Its bright red banner read:
W
HEN THE HORSE ARRIVES, SUCCESS FOLLOWS!
C
ONGRATULATE
H
EAVENLY
S
ONGBIRD
M
ISS
C
AMILLA
AND
I
LLUSIONIST
M
ISS
S
HADOW
ON THEIR MAGICAL PERFORMANCES!
Of course it was not that Lung really cared that much about me, Shadow, or the show, but because, as the most powerful gangster head, he had to make his gift the biggest to outshine all the others.
The huge signboard was also compensation for his and his gang’s absence, since Jinying, Zhu, Gao, and his other underlings wouldn’t return from their opium deal in time for my show, though Jinying had said he’d try his best to come back early. If he did, he was going to witness something he was not prepared for. After that, I feared his feelings for me might change.
Having finished appreciating all the baskets of flowers, inscribed signboards, and congratulatory notes, Shadow and I went inside the performance hall to check the lighting and to be sure the snack and drinks departments were fully stocked. We verified that the red ribbons had been placed to set off the first two rows of tables that were reserved for Shanghai’s dignitaries—including, of course, Rainbow Chang. Finally a hired assistant helped us check out all our equipment. When everything was as good as it could get, we went to our dressing room, put on our costumes, and then sat patiently while Old Aunt applied our makeup.
Half an hour before the show, I went to the nightclub’s back door and peeked outside toward the front. Groups of people in sumptuous attire and ostentatious jewelry were lining up to get in. I spotted a few movie stars, their gloved, gold- and diamond-braceleted arms around those of their patrons. I also recognized a few businessmen, politicians, and warlords. Shiny black cars continued to snake their way to the entrance to drop off their honorable guests.
Then I spotted someone I didn’t want to see—Jinying. To my shock, he was not alone but accompanied by a very pretty young woman who was leaning against him. My heart dropped an octave. Who was she: a girlfriend, mistress, or even ... wife? But why should I care? If he was not what he’d claimed to be, what difference did it make? I was just using him, anyway. Maybe it was even better that he had someone else, because then he’d leave me alone eventually.
Then why did I feel so disturbed?
Feeling a headache coming on, I returned to the dressing room. I stared at my reflection in the mirror to see if I needed more makeup, but I couldn’t concentrate.
Shadow cast me a curious look. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, why?”
“You look a bit distracted. Are you nervous about the show?”
“Not at all.” I flashed her a confident smile, then picked up a brush to apply more rouge to my cheeks.
 
Ten minutes before the show, I went backstage, peeked through the curtain, and scanned the hall. The rich and powerful already occupied all the front tables, flanked by wives, concubines, children, relatives, maids, and bodyguards. Others were being helped by ushers to claim their seats, while more were still streaming in. Attractive young girls and boys went around with trays of cigarettes, hot towels, lidded cups of tea and snacks—watermelon seeds, sugared candies, fried peanuts, roasted sweet potatoes, and dried red dates speared with thin bamboo sticks. They navigated smoothly around the crowded hall, hoping for good sales and generous tips.
I again spotted Jinying and his lady friend up front, now both absorbed in reading the program. Before I could try to figure out their relationship and begin to sort out my feelings, something in my peripheral vision pulled my eyes away. It was Rainbow Chang and her pink-clad entourage of tall young women. I swiftly stepped back from the curtain.
Back in the dressing room, Shadow was still surveying her reflection in the mirror. Even sitting, she looked towering and gorgeous. Her flaming red dress’s plunging neckline half hid, or half revealed, her swelling breasts through peek-a-boo lace. A heaven-reaching slit on the right side of her dress exposed a red- fishnet-stockinged leg, like a Greek temple’s sensuously powerful Ionic column.
While Shadow presented herself as a pillar of flame, I was a reddish-gold supernatural creature. My dress, a golden
cheongsam
embroidered with a soaring red phoenix, was further enhanced by long red gloves, dangling gold earrings, and a bracelet shaped like a coiled dragon. I wanted something simple enough not to overwhelm my rather small frame, especially in comparison to Shadow’s massive one. However, like Shadow’s, the slits of my
cheongsam
also rose against gravity, crawling all the way up my waist. Of course I certainly did not mind that this enhanced my sex appeal, but the most important reason was that I needed freedom of movement for my contortioning and knife-throwing. Our red and gold color combination was Shadow’s suggestion, for she believed these two colors would bring us double luck.
But little did she know what kind of luck she’d get tonight.
I smiled at her reflection in the mirror. “You are gorgeous, Shadow.”
She smiled back, a little nervously. “You think so?”
“I’m sure you know that yourself.”
“Thank you. You, too, Camilla.”
A courteous, civilized exchange before a you-live-or-I-die duel.
Seconds passed, and her painted eyebrows knit slightly. “You think we’ll do a good job?”
As I was thinking about what I was going to do to her, my heart started to pound. But I exclaimed, smiling, “Of course! After our countless rehearsals, you still have doubts?”
She smiled back, her thick, sensuous lips trembling a little. “You’re right, Camilla. Tonight we’ll take Shanghai by storm.”
Just then the live orchestra played a dreamy but pleasing tune, and we heard the master of ceremonies announce our show in a booming voice. Shadow and I both inhaled deeply; then I took her hand.
“Let’s go out to conquer Shanghai.”
Elegantly we floated out to the stage in sync with the music. Once the audience spotted us, thunderous clapping and cheers exploded in the packed hall. Men’s eyes followed us, lingering on our faces, breasts, waists, legs. A few seemingly said, “My heart aches for your beauty!” Women cast us admiring glances or jealous ones. The latter group seemed to be thinking, “I’m here tonight hoping to witness you two flop and ruin your careers!”
Shadow’s hand trembled slightly in mine. Was she already thinking of failure even before the show began? A bad omen. She should have followed the advice in
The Art of War:
“Build up an invincible presence, and you’ll win even before you begin”.
I squeezed her hand a little and whispered, “Trust me, Shadow, we will be great.”
She murmured something back while smiling stunningly to the eager audience. Of course it was her life, not mine, that was at stake. Wouldn’t I be equally nervous if I were to be the target of her knife-throwing?
We made a deep bow to the front, right, and left. My gaze involuntarily landed on Jinying and his lady friend. While he smiled at me, she was obviously trying to get his attention by whispering into his ear and touching his arm and shoulder with her gloved hand. But I had no time to see Jinying’s reaction. Because right then Shadow turned and made a grand, sweeping gestures as her red dress swirled like a huge ball of fire. No sooner was the audience dazzled by her “flame,” than, to everyone’s utter shock, she vanished into thin air!
Then, before the audience even had time to gasp, she had already reappeared from behind me to greet them.
“How did she do that?” I heard the collective question from the mystified audience as I realized we were actually having a duel right under the public’s scrutiny! Damn her, it was not in our plan that she would perform her famous disappearing act. And I was sure this was not something spur of the moment. Shadow had planned this to outsmart and outshine me on purpose. “To drink the first drop of the tasty soup,” as the Chinese put it. She wanted to be the star tonight. She wanted to steal my show, my man, my fame.
I smiled. Maybe she had won in the beginning, but what matters is who wins in the end.
After the magician’s stunning disappearance and even more stunning reappearance, it was my turn. In my famous shredded-golden-lotus steps and swaying of my willowy waist, I approached the microphone. After that, I put on my most innocently seductive smile, meditated, let my eyes wander to meet Jinying’s, then began to breathe life into “The Wandering Songstress.”
I had my reason for picking this song. Shadow presented her strong, imposing self to impress the audience. It would be a bad idea to try to beat her by sheer strength. She was stronger and taller than me, so the result would be like an egg dropped into a wok. So I’d adopt Laozi’s two-thousand-year-old strategy of conquering the strong with softness. I would seem lost and vulnerable to arouse sympathy from the women and the protective instinct from the men. I’d win by yielding, not resisting, by being the victim, not the conqueror.
To the lively accompaniment of the small orchestra I breathed out the melody:
At the edge of the sky and farthest corner of the sea,
I search and search... .
My love, I remember you played the fiddle as I sang
In the days when we were of one heart and one mind.
Now I long for my homeland, in the far north.
Tears streak down my hollow cheeks,
Thinking of our happier days together... .
As expected, after Shadow’s powerful yet emotionless trick, the audience immediately warmed up to my melodious misery. A young, vulnerable woman longing for her lost love. A long-lost happiness that would probably never return. A few women dabbed their eyes with lace handkerchiefs. The men’s expressions suggested that they imagined they’d die to protect me and wanted only to give me the happiness I deserved. I knew well that the women’s tears didn’t flow for me but for themselves. All had wealthy, powerful patrons, but how many had found true love, not just its elusive and illusive shadow?
Good,
I thought, as my voice continued to squeeze out tears and sighs. Involuntarily my eyes landed on Jinying again. To my astonishment he was dabbing his eyes with his bare hand as his lady friend handed him her handkerchief. He was the son of a gangster! Had I been able to, I would have him stop this sentimentality at once, before anyone noticed.
Fearing that if I stared at him, I’d evoke more tears or other inept expression of emotion, I turned my eyes to the flowers lined up across the front of the stage. With effort I finished my song without a glitch, to enthusiastic applause.
“Wonderful!”
“We want more!”
“Camilla’s the best!”
For the next act, I, as assistant to the magician, would help Shadow “steal” things from the audience. The first person she picked was an old gentleman a few seats from Jinying. Our magician politely asked the man to stand, then walked down to him.
“Sir, you’re such a lucky man.” She nodded toward the beautiful girl next to him, surely not his daughter. “You have everything a man desires in life: wealth, admiration, a beautiful woman, and lots of fun.”
Obviously falling right into Shadow’s honey trap, the old man laughed, his floppy belly shivering. “Yes, Miss Shadow, but you must know that a man’s appetite is insatiable. Whenever my chopsticks pick up a bit of fish, my eyes are already eyeing the bear’s paws on the next table.”
The audience laughed. For Chinese, fish and bear’s paws are the two most coveted gourmet dishes; thus the famous saying, “No one can get both the fish and the bear’s paw.”
I saw that Shadow was talking fast, making lots of little movements—twisting her hair, blinking, laughing, pointing her fingers in all directions, touching the old man intimately on his shoulders, arms, neck, back, waist.
The conversation finally ended as Shadow planted a kiss on the old man’s cheek, then strode back onto the stage, flaunting her crimson goddess’s legs. When she turned back to face the audience, a loud collective “Ah!!!” burst into the hall. Four items—a bulging wallet, a gold watch, a jade and diamond ring, and a thick wad of cash were displayed in her hands.
It took a few seconds before the old man gasped, realizing these were his belongings! His expression suggested he was not sure whether to laugh or cry.
A man shouted, “At least you still have your clothes on!”
Boisterous laughter exploded in the hall.
Of course Shadow returned everything to her victim, probably to her regret and the man’s great relief.
After that, she went on to steal from another man—wallet, jewelry, watch, belt. Of course she returned everything. But I wondered if she’d exchanged some of the returned items with fakes. But if she was stealing what she could at the moment, how would she know in advance what fakes to prepare?

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