The Trophy Taker (17 page)

Bernadette sat at the dressing table staring into the mirror. She was arranging her hair. It hadn’t been the best feckin’ start to this new life. She’d been there a week already. But things were definitely looking up. She looked over at the costume hanging above her bunk. A kimono. Japanese shite. She hated wearing it, and the stupid shoes, the white make-up
and
that feckin’ irritating black wig with the dangly bits that smacked her in the face. The way those men sat around her in a circle with a box of tissues, a razor and that feckin’ flannel! Weirdos! They could feck right off!

Bernadette looked disdainfully at the outfit. Well, this was the last time. She’d been offered a
real
acting part – costumes, director, the works. She’d made some influential new friends through the club. Soon she’d be starring in her own film. The director and the rest of the cast were on their way to the club right now.

During the following two weeks Georgina and Ka Lei set up home together in the tiny flat. They made it their own. Sometimes they cocooned themselves and didn’t step outside all day. They painted each other’s nails and brushed one another’s hair. They were twins: not identical, but matching. They slotted into each other and made a complete person. That was their secret; they were in each other’s souls. They said they would never be parted – all they had to do was look in the mirror and find the other one.

Two was a magical number, but three didn’t work. They were usually asleep when Lucy came in and they went out before she got up. They walked through Hong Kong’s streets, window-shopping. They went down to the harbour to watch the boats, or they picnicked in the park, people-watching. They went to the malls and markets to look at clothes and took pictures in photo booths, and pasted them all around the flat.

When Max picked Lucy up for work in the evenings she was glad to get out of the house. She was beginning to feel like a stranger in her own home.

On Friday evening Max picked her up as usual. He watched her in his mirror. She was checking her makeup, busy adding a highlight here and a touch of gloss there. She looked up and caught him staring.

‘You all right, Max?’

‘Of course.’ He turned his attention back to the road, adding, ‘Make sure you take care tonight, Lucy.’

‘Oh, I think I’m pretty safe.’ Lucy smiled sweetly, grateful for his concern. ‘Whoever it is seems to be targeting
Gwaipohs
.’ She snapped the compact shut and met Max’s eyes in the mirror. ‘Or so the police think.’

‘Have they been to see you?’ he asked, his eyes flicking from the road to her face.

‘Yes.’ Lucy stared out of the window. ‘I’m surprised they haven’t asked to interview you, Max.’

‘I had to make a statement this morning. I don’t know why.’

‘Because they’re speaking to everyone who knew Roxanne. You knew her quite well.’

Max shifted uneasily and was just about to object; but then instead he just shrugged.

Lucy continued: ‘Well, you did. When you think of all the times she got in your cab, you probably knew her as well as anyone.’ Lucy hid her smile behind the compact mirror, as Max started to shake his head in denial. ‘Oh well, we all need to help them find this madman, or madmen. Who do you think it could be, Max? Any ideas?’ Lucy laughed. ‘Don’t look so worried, Max, they can’t think it’s you!’

Lucy was in a good mood, and Mamasan Linda was pleased to see her. She greeted her outside the Dressing Room. She was always happy to see her best girl arrive at work.

‘Has the big American been in?’ Lucy asked.

Mamasan Linda thought for a moment. ‘Big Flank?’

‘Yeah, Big Flank, has he been here?’

‘No.’

Lucy was disappointed. She still held out hope that one day she would be able to get herself and Ka Lei out of Hong Kong. Then they could put all this bad luck behind them – get back to being just them again. Lucy had felt Georgina coming between them. She felt her sister slipping away from her little by little. Lucy needed to get back on track – get a passport – get out – find a good husband for Ka Lei. Big Frank was her latest hope.

Lucy walked into the Dressing Room, momentarily deflated by the disappointing news about Big Frank. Candy sauntered over.

‘Hey, Lucy, how’s things?’

Lucy screwed up her face and shrugged. ‘No bad. And you? Deli in New York ready now?’

‘Yeah, almost, shelves are goin’ in, stock is ordered.’

‘Good, huh? You pleased, huh?’

‘You know, Lucy, I am pleased, just somethin’ inside tells me I need to be careful. It’s hard to trust in this business. I really hope Giovanni is getting the right stock in. I told him I want those big fat silver anchovies in those ornate little jars. Don’t get those cheap shitty little ones in salt – nobody classy eats those! Oh well …’ She shrugged. ‘What the fuck! I just have to trust, right?’

‘Right!’

Candy looked about her to make sure no one was listening and whispered: ‘I’m working my butt off, trying to get me as much money as I can. I wanna get outta here. Christ knows who’s gonna get killed next. It’s scary!’ she said, with her eyes wide and her mascaraed lashes like squashed spiders. Then she looked around. ‘Still no Georgina?’

Lucy shrugged.

‘She’s not coming back or what? She’s scared about the murders, isn’t she? First of all, no one wants to tell us anything. They want to keep it quiet. Now everyone’s talkin ’bout it.’

Lucy sat down in front of the mirror and began retouching her make-up. An amah brought her a bowl of food. Candy sat down next to her. Lucy picked at her food, placing each morsel at the end of the chopsticks and depositing it carefully inside her mouth so as not to disturb her lipstick.

‘Did you hear about Roxanne?’

Lucy nodded.

‘And then there’s that other woman. God knows what they found of them! I couldn’t make it out, body
parts
. They were talking about
parts
, not
wholes
! And because some of the bodies were found near a restaurant, people are sayin’ that they have got into the food chain – that they’ve been made into some kind of dumplin’ thing. Like what you’re eatin’ now!’

Lucy spat her food out into the bowl and went back to applying her make-up. ‘What about Bernie, huh? Any news?’ She looked up from pencilling in her eyebrows.

‘Nope!’ Candy shook her head dramatically. ‘Christ, Lucy! It could happen to any of us! We could be next!’

‘I know, I know, we better make money now, huh? Maybe soon too late!’ She chuckled as she zipped up her make-up bag. Secretly smug that for once in her life it paid not to be white.

‘Yeah, you’re right. Hey, what about her stuff – you know, Roxanne’s things at your flat? You said you were going to bring them in for Mamasan to look after.’

‘Oh yeah – police took them. Sorry, huh? But don worry, I save you manicure set. Hundred Hong Kong, okay?’

Before the two had time to strike a bargain, Lucy was called to Chan’s table.

Chan waited till Mamasan Linda left them alone. Lucy’s heart hammered in her chest. She dreaded what was to come.

‘So, Lucy. I thought we had a deal? No cousin? That’s disappointing to me.’

‘I am sorry, Mr Chan. I did my best. I am working very …’

He held up his hand for silence. ‘And I am under a lot of pressure, Lucy, to recover the debt. Your sister Ka Lei must come and work here instead of your cousin.’

Lucy gasped. ‘Please, Mr Chan. Not Ka Lei. She is innocent. She is so young. She …’

‘Innocent? With a sister like you?’

‘I promise you, Mr Chan, she is a good girl. She’s never even had a boyfriend. Please don’t make me do it to her.’

Chan sat back. He smiled smugly. He was enjoying this game immensely. He had all the information he needed. An innocent – perfect.

‘Okay, Lucy. Because I am fond of you I am willing to compromise.’

In the gloom Lucy saw that his eyes were alight with malice.

Lucy stood beside Ka Lei in front of the mirror. Everything inside Lucy told her that it was wrong, but she had to ignore it – she had a job to do. It had to be done and she’d better get on with it. She busied herself in the preparations. It took time to choose an outfit: young but not too girly, sexy but innocent.

Lucy placed her hands on Ka Lei’s shoulders and assessed the result of her preparations. Ka Lei looked like your average department-store worker in her smart clothes: neat blouse and tight pencil skirt.

Ka Lei stared numbly back at her reflection and said nothing. She had said nothing for two hours, since Lucy had told her what she had to do. She was about to sell her virginity to a man she’d never met. She was to become just another commodity on the open market. She needed Georgina so badly, but Lucy had tricked Georgina into leaving early for the pub, and now Ka Lei must face it alone.

Lucy smiled into the mirror and squeezed her sister’s shoulders while her eyes filled with floating tears.

‘It will be all right, Ka Lei, I promise.’ She couldn’t hold her sister’s gaze and looked away briefly to gather her courage. If
she
fell apart they’d have no chance of going through with it. ‘Believe me, I only did it to try to make enough money so that we could be happy. You know that, don’t you, huh? I would suffer anything for you. Please believe me, Ka Lei. I would die rather than see you hurt, but tonight is just one night out of your whole life. You are brave, strong, you can do it. He will be gentle with you. He gave me his word. It won’t hurt.’

Lucy got no response. Ka Lei seemed to have accepted her fate without question. It was as if she faced an execution for which she was prepared. She scooped her hair up and tied it back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck – baring her neck for the block. All her dreams were shattering around her. She said nothing. She
was
nothing.

Man Po was in the front of the taxi with Max. He turned to leer at the girls. Max talked to him sharply and told him to keep his eyes front and stop dribbling. His large head tried to fix itself forward but it kept being drawn back. Lucy was in no mood and glared at him, while Ka Lei stared at her lap and felt the shame of his lechery as Lucy gave her sister instructions.

‘We go in together, but we separate in the lobby. I will wait for you there. I’ll show you where in a minute. You come and find me when it … you are finished. You must go straight to the lift, don’t look at the reception desk, just get straight in the lift and ask the attendant for the tenth floor. Give him this.’ Lucy handed her some money. ‘Go to suite number one hundred and four. Mr Chan will meet you there, okay?’

Man Po turned to grin at Ka Lei. Lucy smacked him on the back of the head and he thought better of looking back again.

They reached the hotel.

‘Do you need us to wait?’ Max asked.

‘No, we will manage.’

The sisters left the taxi and walked towards the hotel entrance. The concierge held the door open for them, and Lucy discreetly handed him a tip. Ka Lei looked like a frightened rabbit. Lucy took her arm firmly and they walked to where Lucy would be sitting and where Ka Lei could find her later.

For a second Lucy thought her sister was going to run – she could feel the tension in Ka Lei’s body – but she held on to her fast. There would be no turning back now, not now they had come this far.

They reached the place where they would separate and Lucy steered her sister towards the lifts. She watched Ka Lei’s slim frame being swallowed up by hotel guests, in elegant evening attire, making their way to the cocktail lounge to relax over their Martinis and catch the harbour views before dinner. She looked again towards the lift and watched the doors start to close. She was half-expecting Ka Lei to come running back out. She did not. She was gone.

Lucy sat down on one of the lobby chairs to wait. She heaved a big sigh, a monumental sigh that caught in her throat and came out as a groan. Although Lucy felt full of remorse for what her sister was about to go through, she also felt a glimmer of hope inside her. The debt was almost dealt with – three-quarters of it was gone, or as good as. It was a small thing, in the end – virginity. Lucy had sold hers to a Taiwanese when she was much younger than Ka Lei. She had sold herself to feed them both, when their mother’s money had run out. What else could she do? Hong Kong wouldn’t look after them, they had to do it for themselves or die. ‘Virginity’ was just a word. Inside was what counted. Time would heal; Ka Lei would forget.

Lucy cut the mental process of self-recrimination short as she caught sight of a likely punter. She wondered how audacious it would be to proposition him in the lobby of such a great hotel.

At the same time as her sister was being raped, Lucy was giving her number to an Australian businessman.

Lucy expected to see Ka Lei reappear from the lifts at any time, but instead she got a call from Chan telling her to come and collect her sister.

The door to the suite was ajar. She walked through the lounge and into the bedroom where she discovered Ka Lei alone, sitting on the edge of the bed.

‘Ka Lei?’ Lucy tried to steady her sister as she rocked back and forth on the edge of the bed. ‘Ka Lei, I’ve come to take you home.’

She was a mess: her hair hung over her face and her nose was running.

Lucy went into the bathroom to fetch tissue and tried to wipe her face for her, but Ka Lei pushed her hand away. Instead, she wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

Just when Lucy was beginning to wonder how she was going to manage the situation, Ka Lei stood up, her fists tight to her sides. Her head was bowed.

‘Are you ready to go?’ Lucy asked, as she smoothed Ka Lei’s hair and pulled the creases from her blouse. Ka Lei nodded. Lucy tried to check her face to make sure she wasn’t looking too horrendous, but Ka Lei pulled away from her and Lucy decided it was probably best just to go.

Ka Lei followed her sister, shadow-like, out into the corridor and into the lift. She walked through the lobby, head down, taking small steps, following in her sister’s path, staring at her sister’s heels.

Outside, they hailed a taxi and travelled home in silence. Once or twice Lucy tried to whisper some consolation into her sister’s ear, but Ka Lei wasn’t listening. As soon as they entered the flat Ka Lei walked straight into Georgina’s room and closed the door behind her. Lucy sat in the kitchen and listened to her sister sobbing.

Lucy phoned Georgina. She didn’t know what else to do – the door was firmly shut in her face and yet she knew how deeply her sister was hurting, and how much she needed to be helped by someone.
Better
Georgina than no one
, Lucy surmised, although she wished it could have been different. Georgina had known nothing about the deal. Lucy knew she’d never be able to do it otherwise – two against one and Lucy would have lost. But neither of them could understand the importance of paying back the debt. Their view of life was very different to Lucy’s. They lived in a more innocent world. Lucy knew that whatever it took, it had to be done.

She waited for Georgina in the lounge, hoping to talk with her when she returned. But Georgina burst through the door and cut Lucy off mid-sentence as she strode through to the bedroom to find Ka Lei.

They talked for hours. Lucy sat in the kitchen listening to them, straining to hear what was being said. Occasionally she heard Ka Lei start sobbing again, and as that subsided the whispering would start. Eventually there was silence, and Lucy went to bed knowing that she had a lot of reconciling to do. She would have to make it up to her sister somehow.