The Red Pole of Macau

( 21 )

She stood over the desk, the sketch of the floor plan in front of her, and tried to imagine the perfect scenario.

They would go in at dawn, she had decided. They’d be wearing the balaclavas to give the men anonymity, some protection from the security cameras. There was also something more sinister about being attacked by masked men, and she wanted that psychological edge. And dawn was important. The courtyard wasn’t floodlit, so the house would be in semi-darkness. They already had the element of surprise working for them, and she wasn’t about to squander it by having her men stumbling about in pitch black in a physical space they had seen only in a drawing. She wanted to see and be seen.

As she thought through the process she began making notes on her sketch. By the time she was finished the page was covered with handwriting and she could barely recognize the original floor plan. She turned to a clean page in her notebook and began to summarize the points she needed to emphasize with the men in the morning. Anticipating what to expect would help them react well to whatever did happen.

She was reviewing that page for the third time when her room phone rang. She picked it up absentmindedly. “Ava, it’s May Ling. It’s past eight o’clock; I thought you were going to call me at seven thirty.”

“May, I’m sorry, I just got wrapped up in this thing.”

“Well, no real worry. I’ve booked a table at Man Wah in the hotel, and I’m sitting in the M Bar having a drink. Join me when you can.”

“Give me five minutes and I’ll be there.” She threw on the same clothes she’d worn to Macau, brushed her hair, dabbed on some lipstick, and headed for the twenty-fifth floor.

The bar was crowded, with knots of suits standing outside waiting for a table. Ava saw May sitting on the stool closest to the window, wearing a black silk sheath cocktail dress that came just to the knee, black hose, and black stilettos. The dress had spaghetti straps and was cut in a straight line across the chest, exposing the top of an ample bosom. Around her neck was a companion piece to the white jade bracelet Ava had been admiring earlier in the day. Even from a distance it was exquisite. And so was May. It was the first time Ava had seen her without a jacket on, and she couldn’t help noticing how delicate her frame was.

Ava waved from the door. May didn’t see her but the bartender did and caught May’s attention. May slid from the stool and walked to the door, glass in hand. It was a young crowd in the bar, and mainly men. That didn’t stop them from openly admiring a woman who had to be at least ten years older than most of them.

May said, “This is my second martini. We should eat before I get tipsy.”

The restaurant manager grinned when he saw them. “Welcome back, Ms. Lee, and it’s a real honour to have you here, Madam Wong.”

He led them to a table next to the window. “I think this is the best table in house,” he said softly.

They had hardly sat down before a pot of jasmine tea was on the table and two menus and a wine list had been placed in front of them. “Whenever you’re ready,” the waiter said.

“You look absolutely stunning,” Ava said to May. “I feel like a wallflower.”

“You have a gorgeous body. Why don’t you show it off more?”

“Remember what you said about image earlier today? Well, I’m an accountant and this is how my clients expect to see me dressed.”

May picked up a menu. “I’m starving.”

“I eat everything, so choose what you want.”

“Are you okay with only seafood?”

“Sure. How about your drink? I’d like wine. Are you going to stick with martinis?”

“No, I’ll switch to wine. You order that.”

May lifted the menu from the table and flicked it in the direction of the waiter. He came running.

“We’re going to have the double-boiled fish maw soup, a stewed whole abalone — make it the Yoshihama — and a steamed pink garoupa. Ava, can you handle live shrimp?”

Ava nodded.

“Then we’ll have the live drunken shrimp and the rice with minced shrimp and sea urchin.”

“And a bottle of Pinot Grigio,” Ava added.

As the waiter hustled away, both of them looked out onto the harbour, the skyline lit up like a magic kingdom. “I haven’t travelled that much, but I can’t imagine anything more beautiful than this,” May said.

“I would have thought you’d seen everything worth seeing,” said Ava.

“Hardly. The business keeps us grounded. We have capable people, of course, but Changxing is old-fashioned and has a hard time entrusting things to them. If he’s not in Wuhan, all he does is worry about what’s going on in Wuhan, so we stick close to home. I come to Hong Kong two or three times a year and I go to Shanghai often; I’ve been to Singapore, Tokyo, and Bangkok, and San Francisco once for three days. But other than that I’m provincial, rather unworldly.”

“I’ve been to more places than I can count, and I don’t think that makes me any less provincial than you. It’s more a state of mind, isn’t it? I mean, I met an American woman here the other night. She was on a tour of Asia with friends, and from the way it sounded, all the friends wanted to do was shop. I told her if that was going to be their Asian experience, they shouldn’t have left Cleveland.”

“Did she think you were rude?”

“No, I don’t think so. She was bemoaning them herself. She was a woman with curiosity.”

“Like you.”

“It comes with the job, though I do admit it is a natural bent.”

“Oh, and speaking of the job,” May said, “I spoke to Wuhan an hour ago. The truck has left and should be in Macau early tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thank you. Thank you for General Feng and thank you for the truck.”

The waiter arrived with the wine. Ava went through the tasting ritual and for the thousandth or so consecutive time said the wine was just fine. He poured them each half a glass and retreated. When he did, May slid her hand across the table, her fingers touching Ava’s. “I really need to apologize to you — properly, I mean.”

“That’s not necessary,” Ava said, lifting her glass. “Salut.”

Glasses clinked. “Salut,” said May. “And, yes, it is necessary. I want you to understand that what happened in London wasn’t planned. I want you to believe that when I sat on your bed that night in my house, I was being completely honest with you. It is true that Changxing had blood in his eyes, but I didn’t. When I told you I was prepared to use legal routes to pursue the people who cheated us, I meant it. But when Changxing found out you were on their trail, that changed. I wish it hadn’t.”

“May, you don’t have to —”

“I want to. I want you to understand. I love my husband more than my life, Ava. He is all I’ve ever had. When he found out about the fraud, the change in him was so profound it scared me. As I told you in Wuhan, it went beyond any normal loss of face. He was devastated, and so depressed that I worried he might do something silly. That was why I begged you to take the job. I needed to do everything I could to make things right for him. And then, of course, he found out, and everything changed. I just couldn’t say no to him. I’m so sorry, Ava. I know I’ve caused you pain. So, please, accept my apology.”

“I understand why you want to apologize, and I think an apology is justified,” Ava said carefully. “What I don’t understand is why it seems to mean so much to you.”

May sipped her wine. “That is where things get a little more difficult, a little odd,” she said.

Ava felt a chill run down her back. No, she thought, please, not that.

To Ava’s relief, the double-boiled fish maw soup arrived at the table in a silver tureen. Ava watched as it was ladled into two bowls, lowered her head, and began to eat. May did the same. Then, halfway through, she put her spoon down. “You know I have no children,” she said. “I also have no brothers or sisters. I have nothing to do with the other two wives, and the only friends I have are the wives of business and government associates who struggle to find things to do to fill their rather empty days, and who are friends with me for a reason.”

“I have one sister, and I’m the younger child of a second wife,” Ava said.

“I know,” May said. “I made a point of learning some things about you.”

Ava glanced up from her soup. May was looking out over the harbour. “When we had our problem and Changxing wanted to bring Uncle to Wuhan, I was opposed to it. Despite what Uncle does now, he still has a reputation, and I wasn’t sure it was wise for us to associate ourselves with him. But then my husband said there was a young woman who for all intents and purposes ran the business, and she would be the one doing the work. That was the first time I heard your name. I made some phone calls, naturally, and I liked what I heard. In fact, I found it rather intriguing that a woman — a young one at that, and one with Canadian roots — could attain such a position of trust with a man like Uncle and could earn the respect of just about everyone I spoke to.”

The steamed abalone arrived at the table, glistening gold, its aroma rising like perfumed mist. “Leave it, I’ll serve,” May said. She began to slice the meat into slivers. Then, passing a plate to Ava, she said, “Do you have any religion?”

“I’m Catholic.”

“I’m Taoist. Do you know anything about Taoism?”

“Not really.”

May bit into a slice of abalone. “This is divine . . . Well, as I was saying, I learned enough about you that I told my husband he could invite Uncle to Wuhan on the condition that you came with him. And, of course, you did. What I didn’t expect was that when I saw you I’d feel such a tremble in my heart.”

Ava’s chill travelled up her neck. “I’m not sure we should continue with this conversation,” she said softly.

May reached for her hand again. “Ava, I’ve been told that you are a lesbian. I don’t know if it’s true or not, and I don’t care, because it has no bearing on what I’m trying to say. So please, don’t think this is an older woman trying to win her way into that kind of affection.”

They were interrupted when the waiter brought the garoupa, rice, and shrimp. “And we’ll need another bottle of wine,” Ava told the waiter as he put the platters on the table. May spooned portions of rice onto their plates and then separated meat from spine. Ava peeled several shrimp, their pink flesh twitching slightly, and passed some to May.

“I’m quite uncomfortable,” Ava said.

“And I’m sorry for that. It’s just that I wanted to be clear,” May said, tilting her head back so the shrimp could slither down her throat.

“You’ve been clear enough.”

“Well, let me go back to Wuhan and the day you and Uncle arrived. My husband was quite put out when Uncle insisted on having his own man meet him at the airport and drive him to the house. So between that, our problems, and having to go ahead with that ghastly birthday party, we weren’t in the best mood. We stood at the top of the stairs, remember? That was rude on our part. But anyway, there we were at the top and I found myself looking down at you, and I felt as if I were looking down at myself twenty years ago.

“It was a bit of a shock to me. And it’s not just the physical resemblance. When you looked at me, I felt a connection. The Taoists call it qi — life force — and I felt it pass between us. And I thought, ‘I know this girl, and this girl knows me.’

“I didn’t say anything to my husband, but I didn’t really have to. For the next hour he kept repeating how strange it was to see you, how much it reminded him of meeting me for the first time. And then of course we had to endure that dreadful evening — the party, the karaoke, and then our meeting in the gallery. I knew, the moment my husband made the reference to revenge, that he had lost you. I also knew, almost right away, that regardless of what Uncle thought or wanted to do, he would defer to you. And I found that remarkable.”

“You give me too much credit.”

“No, I saw what I saw, and I knew what I knew,” May said. “And then I came to your room and begged you to help my husband, and I cried. I can’t begin to tell you how unlike me that was. You know my husband’s nickname is ‘Emperor Hubei’? Well, mine is ‘the Stone Lady.’”

“I never felt that about you.”

“I know. You seemed to see into me, just as I thought I could see into you. Taoists believe in kindred spirits, in soulmates. We have yin and yang; some people believe their symbol represents man and woman, but they don’t necessarily mean that. We all lack something in our lives, and most of us never find that missing piece. When I saw you, I thought you could be my missing piece, that you could be the friend, the kindred spirit, I’ve never had.” She paused and drank deeply from her glass of wine. “That’s why I’m apologizing, that’s why I’m so anxious to make things right between us. Unless things are made right, we’ll never know what kind of friends we can be.”

Ava sat back and looked across the table at May Ling. She was so formidable and yet so vulnerable, and her eyes, strong and warm, reflected both. “I think, May, that I would like to know that too,” Ava said.

“Two strong women in a world run by men.”

“Two strong women in a world that men think they run.” Ava laughed as she said it.

May stood up and came around the table. Ava rose from her chair and held out her arms. They hugged, and then smiled. “I’ve had too much to drink,” May said. “But I would never have gotten through that otherwise.”

They left the restaurant with arms looped together. Ava wasn’t sold on the kindred spirit idea, but she couldn’t deny she felt a connection to May Ling. Maybe it was qi. She decided to let events unfold and let them lead to whatever destiny had in store for her and May. Then the practical part of her kicked in. There are worse things, she told herself, than being friends with a woman who can command a general in the PLA.

“What are the plans for tomorrow?” May asked.

“I have to brief the men in the morning. Actually, thanks for reminding me, because I need to book a meeting room downstairs.”

“I have a three-room suite, and one room is set up like a boardroom. You can use that if you want.”

“You really don’t mind? These guys aren’t boardroom kind of guys.”

“What time will they be here?”

“Ten.”

“Bring them up.”

“Great.”

“And so we go to Macau tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“And when do you invade the house?”

“Dawn on Friday.”

“You aren’t afraid?”

“I’m always afraid, but it’s an emotion I can’t succumb to because it will affect everyone around me. The men need to see me calm.”

May Ling stopped at the elevator. “Do you really have to go in yourself?”

Ava shrugged. “I’d never ask anyone to do something I wasn’t prepared to do myself. “