White Tiger

by Kylie Chan

  Leo’s voice broke. ‘You’re going to leave Simone.’

  ‘Hopefully she will be able to defend herself by then. She should be able to handle almost anything by the time I go.’

  ‘Oh, that’s very reassuring,’ Leo said sarcastically. His voice became louder again. ‘You still need to see Ms Kwan now.’

  ‘I am making the arrangements, Leo.’ Mr Chen sounded tired. ‘I was planning to tell you over dinner tomorrow.’

  ‘Well, it’s about time.’ Leo threw the office door open so hard that it almost hit me. ‘Sorry, Emma.’

  ‘What the hell is going on?’ I glanced into the office; Mr Chen sat behind his desk, stricken.

  ‘I’ll tell you tomorrow,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Right now, I have people to call.’

  ‘Just leave him, Emma.’ Leo closed the door behind him. ‘He has things he needs to do.’

  ‘Tell me what’s going on!’

  ‘Later.’ Leo sighed with exasperation and headed back to his room, shaking his head. ‘God, he drives me completely crazy sometimes.’

  ‘Both of you drive me crazy!’ I shouted. ‘Why the hell don’t you just tell me what’s going on? What’s the big secret?’

  ‘I’ll tell you all about it real soon, Emma, I promise. We need to make some arrangements now, and it’s late.’ ‘Stop avoiding telling me!’

  Simone squealed. We’d woken her up. I rushed to her room to comfort her. Damn.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The next day Leo avoided me until he had to take Simone and me to lunch with my friends. Simone had wanted to come, and Leo was grudgingly forced to drive us so decided he might eat with us as well.

  We walked across the cracked pavement next to Queen’s Pier and Simone stopped. ‘Look, Leo, the Star Ferry!’

  The green and white oval-shaped Star Ferry that carried passengers the short hop between Central on Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon pulled into the pier nearby.

  ‘Don’t know why they don’t just build a bridge,’ Leo said. ‘With all the reclamation, it’s not so far across.’

  ‘They can’t,’ I said. ‘Fung shui. The harbour is the money flowing through Hong Kong. If they build a bridge, it’ll interrupt the flow.’

  ‘How much fung shui do you know?’

  ‘Absolutely none at all. My friend April told me that.’

  Simone jiggled. ‘Daddy’s shui!’

  I took her hand to lead her into City Hall. ‘Daddy’s water?’

  ‘Yep.’ She shook my hand free and ran ahead, then tripped over her feet and fell.

  I caught up with her and helped her up. ‘You “did a Simone” already. Now we have to wash your hands.’

  ‘You always wash my hands before we eat anyway, Emma.’

  ‘Don’t complain,’ Leo said. ‘If you wash your hands before you eat, you’ll never catch a nasty disease.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, Leo,’ she said. ‘You know we never get sick.’

  ‘Emma!’ Louise was standing at the top of the stairs and gesturing for us to hurry. ‘We have a table. Move!’

  We raced up the stairs to take the table before the receptionist called the next number in the queue. She led us into the enormous hall with its huge floor-toceiling picture windows overlooking the harbour and sat us at the round six-seater table.

  ‘Louise, April, this is Simone, and Leo, her bodyguard.’

  ‘I’m the driver, Emma,’ Leo said, quietly exasperated.

  ‘Yeah, sure you are,’ Louise said, eyeing him up and down. ‘Nice outfit, Leo.’

  As usual, Leo was dressed very well in a made-to-measure dark business suit. He stared at Louise in disbelief.

  ‘Don’t mind her—she’s Australian, like me,’ I said. ‘Is that supposed to make a difference?’ Leo said, sceptical.

  ‘All the difference in the world, mate, get used to it,’ Louise said. ‘Hello, Simone. How old are you?’ ‘Four and a half.’

  ‘Only four? You look older than that,’ Louise said.

  Simone nodded, eyes wide and serious. ‘Everybody says that. I think it’s because Daddy’s so special.’

  ‘He’s special, is he?’ Louise said, then grinned knowingly at me.

  The white-jacketed waiter threw the bowls, spoons and chopsticks onto the table with a loud rattle.

  ‘What tea would you like?’ April said.

  ‘Sow mei,’ Louise and I said together.

  ‘You happy with that, Leo?’ I said.

  ‘I’m not here. Ignore me,’ Leo said, looking around at the other diners.

  ‘You’re too big to ignore, mate,’ Louise said before I could. ‘You’re here to eat too. If you want a beer or something, just say so.’

  ‘Not on the job,’ Leo said.

  April was distracted. ‘No trolleys anywhere,’ she complained.

  The waiter returned with a pot of tea and an extra pot of hot water.

  Louise reached into her handbag for a notebook. ‘Who paid last time?’

  ‘I did, and I’m winning this time,’ I said. I pulled out my own notebook. ‘I’ve collected some really good ones. Wait ‘til you hear them.’

  Louise and I flipped the notebooks open.

  ‘Apple,’ she said.

  ‘Had that one before, it’s not new,’ I said. ‘Winsome.’ ‘Buxom,’ she retorted.

  ‘Good one. Did she know what it meant?’ Louise shook her head. ‘Alien. Sha Tin McDonald’s,’ I went on.

  ‘Coffee.’

  ‘Girl, Ivan. Pronounced Yvonne.’ ‘Winky,’ Louise said. ‘Ringo,’ I snapped back.

  ‘Had that before. Freedom,’ Louise said triumphantly. ‘At the university.’ ‘Heman,’ I said. ‘A girl.’ ‘Yugo,’ she said. ‘Also a girl.’ ‘Yellow.’

  ‘Honda.’ ‘Napoleon.’

  ‘Hitler,’ Louise said defiantly.

  I was losing. I played my trump card. ‘Satan!’

  Louise glanced up from her notes. ‘No way.’

  ‘Absolutely. In the bank on the Peak.’

  ‘I don’t believe you.’

  ‘Leo,’ I said, ‘what’s Satan’s last name?’

  ‘The kid in the bank? Chow, I think,’ Leo said.

  Louise snapped her notebook shut. ‘No way I can beat that. I’m paying.’

  ‘What the hell was all that about?’ Leo demanded. ‘What’s Satan Chow got to do with anything?’

  ‘We collect Hong Kong English names. Some people seem to choose them out of a hat, whatever takes their fancy. We have a competition. Whoever can come up with the weirdest name they’ve heard since last time wins. The other one has to pay.’ I smiled with satisfaction. ‘I win.’

  April seemed bewildered by the whole exchange.

  ‘How’s married life, April? Do you have photos of the wedding?’ Louise said.

  April’s face lit up and she pulled a few small photo albums out of her briefcase.

  ‘This is in Sydney, where we had the wedding,’ she said, passing me some of the books.

  I flipped through the first one, and handed it to Louise.

  ‘Can I see?’ Simone said.

  ‘Sure.’ I handed her one of the books, and Leo looked through it with her.

  Louise raised the album she was looking at. ‘How many dresses did you have for this?’

  ‘Five,’ April said. ‘One white one for the wedding, one white one for the formal photos. They’re not back yet. One traditional red one for the reception, another white one for the reception. And a goingaway dress.’

  I leaned over the table to speak closely to her. ‘You know, we usually only have one wedding dress.’ April looked horrified. ‘Only one dress?’ Louise and I both nodded.

  ‘Your Chinese dress is very pretty,’ Simone said. ‘Is that gold and silver?’

  ‘Yes,’ April said. ‘Red silk, gold and silver embroidery. Boring traditional style. My grandmother wanted to see me in one.’

  Simone suddenly squeaked, clambered out of her chair and pulled herself into Leo’s lap, facing
him. He looked around.

  ‘What?’ I said.

  Simone put her hand on Leo’s shoulder and whispered urgently into his ear. He listened carefully, then moved her so that she sat facing the table and wrapped his huge arms around her.

  ‘We’re okay,’ Simone said, eyes wide.

  Three teenage boys walked past our table. They seemed perfectly ordinary, wearing baggy denim jeans and black T-shirts. Simone and Leo didn’t shift their eyes from them as they went between our table and the next one.

  One of the boys leered at Simone, and Leo held her tighter and whispered something in her ear. She nodded, her eyes still wide. The boys went out of the restaurant. Leo and Simone visibly relaxed.

  ‘Are you guys okay?’ I said.

  ‘What was all that about?’ Louise said.

  ‘Where the hell are the trolleys?’ Leo said. ‘What sort of yum cha is this without any food?’

  ‘Here’s one,’ April said. The waitress stopped the trolley next to our table. April read the signs on the front. ‘Har gow, siu mai, cha siu bow, sticky rice, tripes.’ She smiled around the table. ‘Who wants?’

  ‘Cha siu bow, please, Emma!’ Simone said, and climbed off Leo’s lap and sat in her own chair. ‘Siu mai too. I’m hungry!’

  ‘Okay now?’ Leo said.

  ‘Yes.’ Simone grinned broadly.

  ‘Sticky rice,’ Leo said.

  ‘So you and Andy have your own place now?’ Louise asked April after the steamers had been set on the table.

  ‘Yes. Andy spends most of his time in China for his work, so I see him once every six weeks or so.’

  Louise stared at her. ‘You only see your husband once every six weeks?’

  April nodded through the dim sum. ‘We’ve decided to go and live in Australia. He wants to get Australian citizenship. I’ll go first, do the papers, find us a place to live. He’ll come later.’

  ‘You’re leaving Hong Kong?’ I said. ‘When?’

  ‘In about a month, I think,’ April said. ‘September, October.’

  ‘I’ll miss you.’

  ‘I’ll be back all the time,’ she said. ‘To visit. And go shopping.’

  Another trolley rolled up beside us. Instead of the little bamboo steamers, it had four square pots with lids and ladles. ‘Who wants pig’s blood?’ April said. ‘Congee, mixed beef guts. Anybody?’

  Everybody shook their heads. April ordered some pig’s blood anyway: dark red jelly-like cubes in clear broth. She passed the card to the waitress who stamped it with a tiny circular stamp held on a string around her neck.

  April stirred the blood. ‘Emma, you have to go and see Aunty Kitty.’

  ‘Aunty who?’ Louise said. ‘Aunty Kitty.’ ‘Kitty Kwok?’ I said.

  ‘Yes. She wants to see you.’ ‘What for?’

  ‘Don’t go, Emma, she just wants to bully you into working there again,’ Louise said. ‘Business has really gone downhill at the kindergarten since you left.’

  ‘You have to go and see her,’ April said again.

  ‘No, I don’t.’

  ‘Call her then,’ April said. ‘She wants to talk to you.’

  I rose and went to the ladies’ room without saying another word. Louise followed me. As soon as we were out of earshot, she was onto me. ‘Quick, tell me all.’

  ‘About what? Kitty Kwok?’

  ‘No, silly,’ she hissed with a grin. ‘Your new job.’

  ‘Nothing much to tell,’ I said. ‘I work as a nanny, I look after Simone, end of story.’

  ‘What about her dad?’ she said. ‘What’s he like? Are he and Leo…’ She nodded back towards the dining room. ‘You know?’

  I smiled. ‘He’s absolutely gorgeous. A total gentleman. And him and Leo? No.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘I’m sure of it. Leo brings guys home all the time. Real man-about-town. Leo even told me himself: not Mr Chen.’

  ‘But what about Mr Chen? What’s he do?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ I said. ‘I think he’s a spy. He teaches

  martial arts to kids, but he says that he works for the

  government.’

  Louise stared incredulously at me. I nodded, reinforcing the point.

  ‘Can you invite me up?’ she said as we went through the doors. ‘I’d love to check him out, Emma. Sounds unreal.’

  ‘You have no idea.’ I lowered my voice. ‘You know he only ever wears black? Everything. Sometimes he even wears a black shirt with his suits.’

  ‘You have to get me up there,’ Louise whispered. ‘I have to see. Please, Emma.’ ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

  She reached out and squeezed my arm. ‘Please.’

  We walked out from City Hall and back along the waterfront.

  ‘Can we go to the shops in Central before we go home, Emma?’ Simone said. ‘Is that okay, Leo?’ ‘Yeah, no problem.’

  We walked towards the pedestrian underpass that would take us across the road to the shops. The concrete walls were black from car exhaust fumes. Advertising billboards blanketed the underpass, and a beggar crouched under one of the columns, displaying his withered limbs.

  On the other side of the underpass we stopped at the kerb to cross Chater Road. The pedestrian light turned green, and I went to lead Simone across the road, but she wouldn’t move.

  ‘Leo!’ she called loudly.

  Leo had taken a few steps to cross the road, but quickly returned to us. He bent to Simone. ‘What, sweetheart?’

  Simone cast around, her eyes unseeing. ‘Take me home, Leo, now.’

  Leo scooped her up and hurried back to the underpass. ‘Come on, Emma,’ he called.

  ‘Hurry, Leo,’ Simone said.

  Leo strode down the underpass, pushing through the crowd. ‘How many, sweetheart?’ I struggled to keep up with him.

  ‘I don’t know, Leo. Hurry,’ she said, desperate. ‘It’s the same ones!’ ‘Where? Where?’

  ‘I don’t know!’ she wailed.

  We raced out of the underpass, into the Star Ferry car park, and stopped at the Shroff Office to pay the parking ticket. Leo gently lowered Simone and she clung to his massive leg.

  ‘You know how far away?’ he said as he pushed the ticket to the cashier.

  Simone’s eyes were still unfocused. ‘Close, Leo, hurry.’

  I looked around. Three teenagers were approaching us from the Star Ferry terminal.

  ‘If it’s the same guys as in the restaurant, they’re over there,’ I said, pointing.

  ‘For God’s sake don’t point at them!’ Leo hissed. He grabbed the parking ticket and the change, hoisted Simone into his arms, and took off towards the stairs. ‘Quick, Emma!’

  He raced up the stairs to the car and I trailed behind him.

  I looked back. The teenagers were running towards us. One of them held out his hand and a Chinese cooking chopper appeared in it. No, not possible. I turned and ran after Leo.

  Simone squealed. Leo had reached the top of the stairs and pelted towards the car. I sprinted to keep up with him, my handbag flapping.

  He unlocked the car with the remote and gently dropped Simone into the back seat. ‘Buckle her up, Emma. We need to get out of here.’ He pulled himself into the driver’s seat and started the engine before I had my door closed. I slammed it shut as he took off.

  Leo drove out of the car park dangerously fast, the tyres of the Mercedes squealing as he took the corners. He had to slow to ease the car down the ramp, then put the paid ticket into the machine and charged straight out of the car park lane into the street, ignoring the other furious drivers who sounded their horns and yelled at him. He ran an amber light and turned into Connaught Road, five lanes wide with concrete dividers on both sides. The traffic flowed smoothly and he raced up the hill towards the Peak.

  ‘Okay, Leo, you can slow down now,’ Simone said.

  Leo slowed the car and relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief.

  ‘What the hell was all that about?’ I demanded loudly. ‘Bad p
eople,’ Simone said. ‘I need to go home and tell Daddy. He’ll be really sad.’ ‘What’s going on, Leo?’

  ‘I recognised one of them. They’ve tried to kidnap her before. Good thing I saw them.’

  ‘I saw them, silly Leo,’ Simone said. ‘You can’t even tell the difference most of the time.’

  ‘What difference?’ I said.

  ‘Between normal people and bad people,’ Simone said patiently. ‘Only Daddy and me, and special people like Jade and Gold, can tell the difference.’

  ‘Who are Jade and Gold?’

  ‘We’ll be home soon, sweetheart, and then you can tell Daddy all about it,’ Leo said gently. ‘Until we get there it’s not a good idea to talk about it.’

  ‘You have to explain for Emma,’ Simone said.

  ‘Yeah, explain for me,’ I echoed.

  ‘Not right now. Maybe later.’

  ‘Tell me!’

  ‘No.’

  I crossed my arms over my chest and glowered at him. I shouldn’t be kept in the dark like this. I could handle any spy business they threw at me.

  Leo and Simone went into Mr Chen’s office and spoke to him for a long time. They all emerged grim-faced, even Simone. I waited for them in the hallway.

  ‘Are you people going to tell me what’s going on?’ I demanded.

  ‘Come into my office, Emma,’ Mr Chen said.

  I sat down across from him. He pulled up his chair and leaned on the papers strewn all over his desk.

  ‘You know that Simone is a kidnapping target?’

  ‘I know,’ I said impatiently. ‘But what was all that about in Central?’

  ‘Leo spotted some criminals who would be interested in her—’

  ‘No, he didn’t,’ I said quickly. ‘Simone saw them. Leo didn’t see anything.’

  He remained silent, carefully studying my face. ‘Tell me!’ I snapped.

  He took a deep breath, still calm. ‘Simone had seen one of those people before. They have tried to take her in the past. She warned Leo.’

  I waited for more, but it wasn’t forthcoming. He just sat watching me.

  ‘If you don’t tell me what is going on very soon, I will resign.’

  He studied me closely, then shook his head. ‘You’re really not frightened at all, are you?’