Skeleton Women (30 page)
28
The Pink Skeleton Empire
A
lthough I felt surprisingly relieved after the ritual, I felt I had no choice but to try to set aside my thoughts about my baby so as to get on with my mission. I knew Wang meant his threats. But now that I realized Lung was my baby’s grandfather, how could I have him killed? Unfortunately I didn’t have anyone to ask for advice, certainly not Big Brother Wang. He wouldn’t care about any of this; he just wanted Lung eliminated, so he could take his place as the number one gangster.
lthough I felt surprisingly relieved after the ritual, I felt I had no choice but to try to set aside my thoughts about my baby so as to get on with my mission. I knew Wang meant his threats. But now that I realized Lung was my baby’s grandfather, how could I have him killed? Unfortunately I didn’t have anyone to ask for advice, certainly not Big Brother Wang. He wouldn’t care about any of this; he just wanted Lung eliminated, so he could take his place as the number one gangster.
While in this state of confusion, I unexpectedly received a letter from Rainbow Chang.
Dear Miss Camilla,
I am glad that you are recovered and have come back to sing at the Bright Moon. Recently I heard a lot of things about you but am not sure what is true. So please visit me at my place so we can talk. Or so I can cheer you up.
I sincerely hope that you will grant me the pleasure and honor of accepting my invitation.
Yours fondly,
Rainbow Chang
Rainbow Chang
I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t think I could turn down her invitation, either. In China, journalists are called “crownless kings” because they can destroy as quickly as a king. They only difference is that they remove your head with words instead of axes.
Rainbow Chang’s apartment was situated in an expensive area inside the French Concession. My driver let me off in front of a majestic row of white houses facing a wide boulevard. Tall poplar trees lined the street, like sentries to protect the rich and famous, as well as to shelter them from thunder, rain, and lightning.
An amah opened the door, let me in, then led me through a foyer with a gilded mirror above a console table into the living room. Inside a spacious, Western-decorated room sat Rainbow, ambiguously dressed as usual in a stark white suit with pink tie. As always, she was attended by an entourage of young, pretty women clad in pink silk or lace dresses. In their midst, the regal-looking gossip columnist reclined on her divan, smoking a cigarette in a long holder. The girls sipped drinks and chatted languidly with one another. A few fussed over Rainbow like Gao and Zhu over their boss, Lung.
“Camilla, welcome to the Pink Skeleton Empire!”
Smiling, the gossip columnist extinguished her cigarette and got up to greet me. In an elegant gesture she lifted my hand to her lips and pressed it tenderly.
“Enchanted, Miss Camilla. Your presence brightens my humble residence.”
Her manner was as gallant as a Frenchman’s. One never knew what she did with her many pink-clad “mistresses.” Could it be that she would ask me to become one? Although I found the idea ridiculous, I was nevertheless intrigued. Did they follow her into her bedchamber, like the concubines of the ancient emperors?
Rainbow took my hand and led me to the sofa. With a flick of her hand, she dismissed the three pink ladies who’d been sitting with her when I’d entered. She then motioned me to sit beside her as I was handed a glass of pink Champagne.
“To your beauty and fame, Miss Camilla,” the gossip columnist said, then raised her glass as all the ladies raised theirs in unison.
Rainbow opened a silver cigarette box and held it out to me. “Please?”
“Thank you Rainbow.” I shook my head. “But I don’t smoke.”
“Never tempted to try?”
“I’m afraid not.”
She asked teasingly, “Why not?”
“I fear smoking will harm my voice.”
But that was not exactly true. Sometimes I did smoke with Lung to please him. And I’d also smoked with Gao on the luxury cruise ship, when he’d sent me messages of love in heart-shaped smoke rings.
“You’re right. And you should protect your most valuable asset. However, it is a pity, because I believe you would look very elegant smoking, especially with a long jade or ivory holder.” She winked her false lashes. “Not to mention unbearably sexy.” As if to emphasize the point, she took a cigarette for herself and drew deeply on it as one of the ladies held out a candle to light it for her.
She let out a chuckle. “Smoking will give you the image of a bad, wicked woman. But of course you’re not wicked. You’re our innocent Heavenly Songbird.”
Did she really believe I was innocent, or was she hinting that she knew better? There was no way to know; everything about Rainbow was ambiguous.
Someone put on a gramophone, and Johann Strauss’s
Blue Danube
filled the room. Three pairs of girls held each other and began to caress the polished floor with their feet.
Blue Danube
filled the room. Three pairs of girls held each other and began to caress the polished floor with their feet.
Rainbow stood up and held her hand out to me in invitation to dance. “May I?”
I let her take my hand and lead me to the middle of the room. We began to swirl. It was a strange feeling for me, who spent most of my time in a house filled with tough men, to be in this pastel-colored room filled with young girls moving their slim bodies sensuously against each other.
What was this Pink Skeleton Empire about?
Holding me rather closer than I expected, Rainbow whispered tenderly into my ear, “Miss Camilla, I’m really sorry for your loss.”
My heart skipped a beat. What did she mean? It could not be possible that she had found out about my baby!
As my mind was reeling, wondering what she knew, she spoke again in her insinuating tone. “Your friend Shadow, do you miss her?”
Did she guess my intent was to rid Shanghai, and myself, of the interloper magician?
“You know, Camilla, I’m very fond of beautiful girls, and that’s why I write about them, especially talented ones like you and Shadow. But poor Shadow ... what really happened to her? I meant to ask you for a long time, but then you suddenly disappeared. Why doesn’t she reappear like you did?”
I smiled conspiratorially. “Rainbow, I’m sure
you
know what happened.” I tilted my head toward the girls in the room. “Nothing escapes you and your pink entourage’s eyes, am I not right?”
you
know what happened.” I tilted my head toward the girls in the room. “Nothing escapes you and your pink entourage’s eyes, am I not right?”
She smiled handsomely, holding me tighter to her tall, slim body that smelled of cigarettes and men’s cologne. “Maybe I do, maybe not. Do you think she’ll come back?”
“What do you mean by ‘come back’?”
“To perform magic again, of course.”
“I’m afraid it’ll take a magician to find out, not a singer. Anyway, I’m sorry, I really have no idea.”
Although I definitely hoped not. But I knew that even after the “accident,” Shadow was determined to do another show and had been planning to ask Lung for sponsorship. Now many months had passed, and I’d not heard anything from her, nor had Lung mentioned anything about a visit from her. I would have inquired about the magician, but I’d been distracted by my pregnancy. She must be nursing her wound, if not physical then emotional, and preparing for a big comeback. It was most unlikely that she had left Shanghai. Like me, she was a person who did not give up easily. I made a mental note to call her.
The gossip columnist’s voice brought my mind back to the present. “No idea?” Then abruptly she dipped me down, then lifted me up, making me dizzy and a little uneasy.
She raised one painted eyebrow. “I believe Shadow is planning a big comeback, only waiting for sponsorship. It’ll be a huge disappointment if she doesn’t. I really enjoy watching you two perform together, so sexy and sensational.”
“But what about your girls here? Aren’t they equally sexy and sensational?”
She laughed. “Ha-ha! Maybe, but they serve other purposes.”
“What kind?”
“They don’t entertain me like you and Shadow do. They work for me.” She tilted her head to emit a laugh.
“In what way?”
“I pay them handsomely, and they get me information. Besides, I’ve gotten famous for being surrounded by them. Many people are willing to trade secrets in exchange for an invitation here.”
A clever strategy. Honor the famous and prominent by an invitation to a luxurious and unique house filled with beautiful girls, where they can drink Champagne, gossip, and at least hope it will turn into an orgy. Rainbow had built up a mysterious empire, and everyone was dying to take a peek. Now that I had been granted this honor, it was assumed I would be grateful and therefore help her in return. But what did she want? Information or sex or both? But what could I really offer? Sex would be dangerous and information doubly so.
As if reading my mind, Rainbow smiled broadly, revealing smooth, pearly teeth. “I love to collect famous, beautiful women. Besides being a pleasure to the eyes, they help my business. Who doesn’t want to be around handsome people?”
I cast glances at the dancing, chatting, drinking beauties. “They’re indeed gorgeous.”
She paused to look at me in a way that made me feel quite uncomfortable. “But, Camilla, no one can compete with you. No one comes close. The moon itself would be dimmed by your beauty, and the flowers would stop blooming to let you shine.”
“Overpraise, Rainbow.”
Finally the music stopped, and Rainbow led me back to sit on the sofa. Minutes later, one of the pink ladies came up to the gossip columnist and whispered something into her ear.
Rainbow smiled handsomely. “Excuse me, Camilla, I have to take an important phone call. So I’m afraid I will have to leave you for a while.” She turned to the girl. “Nightingale, please entertain Miss Camilla until I come back. Get her anything she wants, and answer any question she asks.”
Nightingale, about my age with a sweet, round face, responded with an expansive smile. “Of course I’ll do that, Miss Chang.”
Rainbow lifted my hand to her lips, impressed them on my hand, and walked away.
Nightingale said, a little shyly, “Miss Camilla, your name has been thundering in my ears for a long time. Welcome here.”
I said to the face across from me, which was pretty but easily forgettable, “Thanks, Nightingale. So are you also working for Rainbow?”
She nodded. “Tonight you’re invited to have a taste of Miss Rainbow’s Pink Skeleton Empire.”
I cast glances at the other party girls. “And ... who are they?”
“Spies, informants, seductresses.”
Upon hearing the word
spy,
I felt a jolt. Did Rainbow already suspect me as one and thus want to recruit me?
spy,
I felt a jolt. Did Rainbow already suspect me as one and thus want to recruit me?
Nightingale flung her shoulder-length hair, smiling. “How did you think Miss Chang gets all the material to write in her column?”
“So what’s the purpose of inviting me here?”
She took a small sip of her Champagne. “To be her friend—what else? Of course since you’re already a famous singer, she’s not going to recruit you like us—”
I interrupted. “But I don’t think I can do anything to help.”
“I think Miss Chang wants some juicy gossip about you and Master Lung.”
“But we’re already in the gossip columns.”
“I know, but I think Miss Chang also wants to know more about Lung, and who knows him better than you?”
But were they so naive as to think I’d tell my patron’s secrets for a glass of Champagne and a dance? Or that I even knew any of his secrets to tell?
This whole thing was getting weirder and weirder. Now I suspected that Rainbow had deliberately left Nightingale with me to feel me out, which she was doing in a not very subtle way. But judging by Rainbow’s column, it was not her style to waste time beating around the bush.
Nightingale spoke. “Anyway, you’ll find out soon. Tonight this party is just a getting-acquainted warm-up.”
This was definitely turning out to be more complicated than I’d hoped.
The girl went on. “I’m sure you can tell that the head of our Pink Skeleton Empire is smitten with you.” She looked at me, her eyes teasing.
This was definitely heading in a wrong direction. “But she already has all these girls... .”
“Yes, but no one is as unique, talented, and intriguing as you. You know, there are tons of pretty women in Shanghai, and they come and go, just like your friend Shadow.”
Now I was wondering if they knew more about Shadow than I did, so I asked, “What has happened to her?”
“We are sure she’ll come back.”
“What makes you think that?”
“She’s getting famous. No one is so stupid to abandon one’s fame like that.” She paused to see my reaction. “Besides, she has her boyfriend here.”
I tried to act calm. “Oh, really? I had no idea. She never told me she had a boyfriend.”
“He’s Master Lung’s son.”
That was completely unexpected. “Where did you hear that from?”
“One of our girls saw them at the Bright Moon Nightclub during one of your performances.”
It must have been that night nearly a year ago that I’d tried to match up the young master and the magician. So it was old news. Strangely, I still felt a pang of jealousy.
“I heard that she’s trying to befriend Master Lung, too.”
Of course, that was also my doing and also old news. I studied the round face in front of me, trying to decipher what was going on here and why I should be part of it. All my instincts told me I should handle this with extreme caution.
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