Finale, page 2
( 2 )
Uncle’s desire for privacy wasn’t just related to the cancer. It was the way he had conducted his life since the death of his fiancée, Lin Gui-San. He had felt so much guilt and pain over how she had died during the swim across Shenzhen Bay that his body had ached for months, and there were times he thought his head was going to explode. He had survived by putting his emotions into a compartment that was separate from the world around him. As long as he kept them apart, he could function. What he believed he couldn’t withstand was opening the compartment. It was his secret chamber — the place where he hid his fears.
This left him with several challenges. How was he going to explain to Sonny why he didn’t want his services on treatment days? Sonny was totally devoted to Uncle and made himself available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In fact, Uncle couldn’t remember a week when Sonny hadn’t driven him or performed numerous errands. If Uncle was out of touch, if he was unreachable, Sonny would worry. He might even be concerned enough to try to find out why. Uncle needed to concoct an excuse, but none came readily to mind.
Then there was Lourdes. Uncle had never thought that he needed a housekeeper, but then one day, eight years before, Lourdes had shown up at his door. She was Filipina and had been working on contract for a family on the floor below Uncle’s. They’d moved out of the building with no notice, leaving her suddenly homeless. Devastated, she had gone from door to door asking if anyone needed a housekeeper or nanny. When Uncle opened his door and saw her standing there with an old suitcase and two plastic grocery bags, his heart had gone out to her.
Uncle knew he was probably the only person in the building who had an unoccupied bedroom, and so he had told Lourdes she could stay until she found another employer. Eight years later, she was still there — never officially employed but paid a normal wage. She cleaned the apartment, did the laundry and ironing, cooked meals, and otherwise stayed out of Uncle’s way. During the day, she went for walks with some of the other neighbourhood domestics. In the evenings she watched Filipino soap operas and variety shows on the TV in her room. Uncle figured she had never asked him for an official contract because she was afraid he’d say no. And he knew he didn’t have the heart to ask her to leave unless she had somewhere else to go.
In a way, having Lourdes in the apartment had been a blessing. During recent bouts of illness, she had been caring and attentive. What he had to ensure was that she said nothing to Sonny or anyone else about his health.
Lastly, and vastly most important, there was his business partner, Ava Lee, to worry about. They had been partners in a debt collection business for ten years, but their relationship went well beyond business. There was no one he trusted more, and despite a fifty-year age gap, their lives had become intertwined. They didn’t share everything, and although many parts of their lives were never discussed, there was a mutual understanding about even those things that were left unsaid. Uncle thought of Ava as much as a granddaughter as a partner, and he knew she felt similarly about him. But even though she was the most important person in his life, he wasn’t ready to tell her he was ill, and he was also worried about what the future might hold for her.
They had made many millions of dollars together in fees, and he was going to leave her the bulk of his wealth, so money wasn’t going to be a concern for her. Still, how would she move forward without him? She wasn’t the type of person to be idle, but he sensed the collection business had already taken a large toll on her, and without him, he couldn’t see her continuing with it. Her last job, two months before, had been to recover money her half-brother and his business partner had lost in a Macau land swindle. It had started out as a personal matter between Ava and her brother, but Uncle and Ava’s friend May Ling Wong had eventually assisted her in reaching a quasi-satisfying conclusion. The satisfying part had been the recovery of the money; the quasi part was that Ava had been shot in the hip, and in turn had shot and killed the swindle’s perpetrator. Uncle had seen first-hand her emotional shock after the shootings. She hadn’t worked since then, and although they often spoke, there had been no discussion of her taking another job.
What is Ava going to do? he wondered. And what can I do to help her ease her way into a new future?
When he reached his apartment building, Uncle considered buying some San Miguel beer from the Nepalese restaurant on the ground floor, before deciding it might not be the best thing for his stomach.
“Sir, is there anything I can get you?” Lourdes asked as she hurried out of her bedroom when he entered the apartment.
“No, but I need to talk you. Let’s sit.”
For the first few months that Lourdes was with him, he had tried unsuccessfully to get her to call him Uncle. She would nod and then continue to call him “sir.” He eventually gave up.
Before Lourdes’s arrival, his living room furniture had consisted of a red leather chair, two folding trays, and a television. He had since bought a small, round dining table that came with four chairs, as well as a black leather couch and a coffee table. Uncle sat at the dining table now, and she joined him.
“Did anyone call while I was out?” he asked.
“Ava did. She said she’d call back in a little while.”
“How did she sound?”
“The same as always,” said Lourdes.
When Uncle looked across the table at her, she averted her eyes as she usually did. He took a deep breath and then adopted his “boss” tone. “I want you to listen carefully to me, because I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding about this,” he began.
“Yes, sir,” she said, a touch of panic evident.
“Everything I am about to say has to stay strictly between us. You can’t whisper a word of it to Sonny, Ava, Uncle Fong, any of my other friends, or any of the nannies you spend your Sundays with in Statue Square.”
“I won’t say anything, sir.”
“Okay, well, the thing is, I have a medical problem that is going to require some treatment,” he said. “It isn’t anything major and won’t even require any hospitalization, so it is nothing to fret about. But the doctor tells me there might be a few mild side effects. For example, I could be more tired than usual and my appetite may not be as strong. This could go on for three or four weeks, so it’s possible that Sonny and some of the others could start asking questions. If they do, all I want you to say is that I’m looking and feeling fine.”
She glanced at him, and he saw concern in her eyes. “But what if you aren’t fine?” she asked.
“If I’m not, it will only be temporary, and I want you to still tell them that I am. I don’t want any unnecessary worry or fussing when there is absolutely no reason for it.”
“I can do that, sir,” she said.
Uncle heard the words but wasn’t sure he heard any conviction. “Lourdes, I have never been more serious. You must do exactly as I say. Don’t disappoint me,” he said firmly.
She shook her head. “I would never dare go against your word.”
“Good,” he said, and then was interrupted by the phone. He left the table and picked it up. “Wei.”
“Uncle, it’s me,” Ava said.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“I was going to ask you the same question.”
“I’m fine. It is just that you usually don’t call this late unless there is something pressing.”
“Sorry if I alarmed you,” she said. “We’ve been offered a sort of a job, and I wanted to discuss it with you and get your opinion.”
“What ‘sort of a job’?”
“A small one, for a Vietnamese woman who knows my mother. She and her family are out of pocket about three million Canadian dollars.”
He hesitated. They had stopped taking on jobs of that size, but Ava sounded eager, so he said, “Tell me the details.”
“The woman’s name is Theresa Ng. From what I’ve been told, her family and other Vietnamese-Canadian families put money into an investment fund called Emerald Lion that sounds like it was a Ponzi scheme. The fund has disappeared, and the guy who ran it took off, although they think they’ve located him in Ho Chi Minh City.”
“You said her family’s loss was about three million?”
“Yes.”
“What about the other families? How much did they lose?”
“Theresa’s not sure, but she thinks it could be anywhere from twenty-five to forty million.”
Uncle paused again. Does Ava really want to pursue this? There’s one way to find out, he thought. “Recovering thirty million dollars interests me,” he said.
“Uncle, Theresa has lost three million, not thirty.”
“I know, but all those other people who lost money — you do not think they want it back?”
“I’m sure they do, but they haven’t approached us.”
“Maybe because they don’t know who we are.”
“Uncle, I’m not about to start chasing down these people one by one to ask them to hire us.”
“But there is nothing to stop Theresa Ng from contacting them, is there? Let her do the work. Tell her to get hold of them and persuade them to sign on with us. Organize a meeting if she has to. Three million is of no interest, but if she can deliver commitments for anything more than twenty, then let us take the job,” he said.
He heard Ava sigh, and smiled. Ava’s sighs rarely resulted in her opposing his requests.
“Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll call Theresa and see if she is willing to do this. If she is, I’ll give her a week to pull it together. How does that sound?”
“That sounds reasonable.”
Ava hesitated and then said, “Before I go, can I change the subject to something more personal?”
“Yes, of course,” Uncle said with more certainty than he felt.
“When I spoke to Lourdes earlier today, she mentioned you were still having some stomach issues.”
Uncle turned to glare at the housekeeper. “I had a slight touch of food poisoning. I have to stop eating bargain sashimi.”
“You have enough money to buy the most expensive sashimi in Tokyo a thousand times a day.”
“Old habits die hard. You know I can’t resist a bargain.”
“My mother says, ‘penny wise, pound foolish.’”
“You mother knows a lot of clichés.”
“That doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
“I promise, I will be more careful,” he said. “Call me after you’ve spoken to Theresa.”
He hung up the phone. “Ava just told me you were discussing my health with her earlier,” he said to Lourdes.
Lourdes lowered her head. “She cares for you so much and is always asking how you are. I felt I had to say something, and you hadn’t told me yet to say nothing. But now I know better. Not another word, I promise.”
“Fine,” Uncle said, although he couldn’t help thinking that it was going to be harder to keep his health issues private than he had imagined.
After Lourdes went into her bedroom, Uncle picked up Sing Tao and the Oriental Daily News. He had bought the papers on the walk home from the doctor’s office, and now he settled into his red leather chair to read them. He opened the Daily News first and turned directly to the sports section. The arrival of September had ended the summer hiatus of Hong Kong horse racing, and races were being run again on Wednesday evenings at Happy Valley and on Sunday afternoons at Sha Tin. Betting on horse racing was Uncle’s only hobby, and in addition to the four to five hours he spent at the tracks on race days, he spent many more hours studying the form and handicapping. The Daily News had a particularly good racing writer, and Uncle was keen to see his analysis of the races that had been run the day before in Sha Tin.
Uncle read and agreed with his comments on the first race, and had just started on the second when his phone rang. For a second he thought it might be Ava calling back, but then he looked at the screen and saw a Hong Kong number he didn’t recognize.
“Wei,” he answered.
“Mr. Chow, this is Dr. Graham Parker calling. Is this a good time to chat?”
“Of course, but I didn’t expect to hear from you so quickly,” Uncle said, hiding his surprise.
“Well, as it turned out, I had the occasion to speak to a colleague who helps manage the outpatient clinic I mentioned earlier today. We discussed your case, and when I stressed to her that I wanted to start your treatments as soon as possible, she told me that one of her patients had backed out of his session at the last minute, so she has an immediate opening,” Parker said. “The only problem is that the first session would be tomorrow morning. Is that too much of a rush for you?”
“Since waiting is only going to worsen my situation, there is no such thing as ‘too much of a rush.’”
“Excellent, then we will start tomorrow,” Parker said. “I have scheduled two sessions, for tomorrow and the day after. The second day is more than I’d usually prescribe, but I believe we should start as aggressively as possible. After that, we’ll take a week’s break to give you a chance to recover, and then repeat the cycle. I won’t lie to you, this will be a heavy dose of chemo, but as you say, given your situation there is no point in being tentative.”
“I am not a doctor, and it would be foolish of me not to trust your judgement. Where am I going and what time should I be there?”
“The cancer outpatient clinic is on the ground floor of R Block at the Queen Elizabeth. Your session is scheduled for ten, but you should be there for nine-thirty to register and receive a briefing.”
“A briefing?”
“My colleague, Doctor Ma, speaks to everyone who’s about to undergo chemotherapy. Knowing what to expect should make things easier.”
“I am very much in favour of easier,” Uncle said. “Will I see you there?”
“Not when you arrive, but I’ll drop in later to check on you.”
“How long will this treatment take?”
“Like I said, we’re going to give you a heavy dose of chemotherapy, so don’t make any other plans for the day,” said Parker. “And one more thing: do not eat anything tomorrow morning, and if you have to drink, drink water.”
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
“Yes, it could be a long day. There is a television in the clinic, but you might want to bring a book or your own audio device.”
“I trust no one would object to me working on the racing form?” asked Uncle.
Parker laughed. “Of course not, although you’ll probably be asked for tips.”
( 3 )
Uncle did not sleep well that night. During the day, he hadn’t thought much about the consequences of his diagnosis, but as he lay in the dark his mind fixated, and the fact that his death seemed to be in clear sight sent a chill through his bones. He had never been afraid of death, and he had been calm, almost fatalistic, on those occasions when he had encountered the possibility that his days were nearly done. But those had mainly been spur-of-the-moment reactions. There hadn’t been the time to really think about consequences. Now his head was full of nothing else, and what made it worse was the lack of certainty. When, where, how would the end come to pass?
Since fleeing China, Uncle had controlled the life he led. Now he felt he had lost that control. Or had he? He still had the option of foregoing the treatment and accepting the outcome. But how sensible was that? And how contrary was that to another of his basic traits — his refusal to be passive when confronted with challenges? He would fight this thing, he decided. He would fight it as hard and for as long as he could. If he reached a point where fighting it came into conflict with his common sense, then that was the time he’d concede. Until then, he’d give it all he had, because every extra day was time he could use to make the future more secure for the people who mattered to him.
Uncle climbed out of bed just after six. He started to make a cup of coffee before remembering Parker’s instruction to stick to water. One cup wouldn’t hurt, he thought, and then he chided himself. If he was going to do this, he should do it properly. He poured a glass of water, lit a Marlboro, and sat in his chair to watch Kwun Chung Street come to life.
Just before seven, he went into the bathroom to shower and shave. Then, dressed in a black suit and white shirt buttoned to the collar, he left the apartment. He bought Sing Tao, the Oriental Daily News, and the racing form for Happy Valley, and continued on to the Morning Blessings Restaurant. He wasn’t going to eat, but he felt a need to be around familiar faces and surroundings.
The owner, Suki, sat him as soon as he arrived, and before she could say anything, he spoke: “I have blood work later this morning and I have to fast for it so I won’t be eating anything, and the only thing I can drink is water.” He took two HK hundred-dollar bills from his wallet. “This is what I usually spend, and I insist that you take it. In fact, I would be offended if you didn’t, since I’m occupying a table that would otherwise be generating revenue for you.”
Suki shook her head. “You don’t have to do that,” she said.
“I do. Please take the money or I will have to leave.”
She grimaced but took the bills. “Can you at least have hot water?”
“I think that will be fine.”
“With a slice of lemon?”
“To be on the safe side, I’d better not.”
When Suki left, Uncle spread the Daily News in front of him. As always, it was heavy with news from and about China. Li Ka-shing, the wealthiest man in Hong Kong, was pulling investments out of the mainland. The article wondered whether he was doing it for political or business reasons, which Uncle thought was a naive question, since in his experience politics and business were almost impossible to separate in China. Less obtuse was a story about the People’s Liberation Army’s commitment to remodel part of its forces along American lines. Uncle didn’t doubt that was true, and he assumed it had been announced to send a message to the Americans that the Chinese were catching up to them militarily. The last story that caught his attention involved a Chinese-American scientist who had been arrested at his home in Philadelphia and charged with spying. Born in China, and now an American citizen, the man represented the conundrum of divided loyalties that was in constant play in Hong Kong, and which the Chinese government was only too pleased to exploit.
