Thank God
, Ava thought.
“Sergeant Li, what’s going on here?” one of them asked.
( 1
5 )
AVA HAD NEVER
been in a jail cell before. In fact, she’d never so much as seen a prison, from the outside or the inside.
The policemen who handcuffed her, put her in the back of their squad car, and drove her to what she assumed was their precinct office had been polite enough, if a bit firm. They weren’t as restrained with Andy. His arms were yanked back and twisted before the cuffs went on, and they threw him into the back of the car, whacking his knee with a baton as they told him to stay quiet.
They removed the cuffs when she got to the office and turned her over to a short, stocky woman with a corporal’s two stripes on the arm of her blue shirt. Ava was directed to a chair beside a desk, where she sat and watched the corporal empty her bag and list its contents on a sheet of paper.
“Sign here,” the corporal said.
When she did, the corporal opened Ava’s passport and compared the signatures.
“What now, fingerprints and a mug shot?” Ava asked.
The corporal raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t been charged with anything yet.”
“He attacked us,” Ava blurted. “We were defending ourselves. I know he’s a policeman, but that shouldn’t make any difference.”
“Listen to me, girl. The best thing you can do while you’re here is not talk. Don’t tell me too much. Don’t talk to anyone else until you know the score. I have to put you in a holding cell with other women, who’ll probably want to gab. Don’t talk to them either.”
“A cell?”
“We have to keep you somewhere until they decide what to do with you.”
The corporal was completely matter-of-fact, but instead of calming Ava, her manner was unnerving. “Do I get to make a phone call?” Ava said, her mouth dry, a slight stutter to her speech.
“This isn’t America.”
“I’m Canadian.”
“You still don’t get to make a phone call.”
“But I need to let people know what’s going on, where I am.”
“After they decide what to do with you, you can contact someone. Until then, like I said, keep your head down and your mouth shut.”
“Okay.”
“Just one thing — they told me you broke Li’s nose.”
“I might have.”
“He’s a pig with women. It’s time someone taught him a lesson.”
“That wasn’t my intention.”
The corporal shrugged. “I’ll take you to the cell now.”
The office was long and narrow, but with enough space between the two rows of desks for Ava and the corporal to walk side by side. Andy was at the desk closest to a large steel door. He was still handcuffed, and one of the arresting officers sat next to him while another, behind the desk, was asking questions.
The corporal punched in a security code. The door buzzed and opened into a large room that had three cages on either side. The cages had steel bars on all sides and across the top. They were about three metres high and maybe five metres square along the sides. A wooden bench ran along each side, and in one corner was a toilet without a seat, a roll of rough-looking toilet paper on the floor next to it. Ava recoiled.
She kept her eyes locked on the wall in front of her, trying to fight off her panic. Every eye in the room was locked on to her, with the exception of a female police officer sitting on a stool, her attention on a magazine.
“Open up,” the corporal said.
The officer grunted as if she was annoyed at being disturbed. When she saw Ava, she closed the magazine and stood up.
“Well, she’s different from our regular customer,” she said. “What’s she charged with?”
“Nothing yet.”
The officer walked to the nearest cell, took a key from a set on a long chain strapped to her belt, and unlocked the door. “There you go, sweetheart. It’s all yours,” she said.
Ava walked into the cell. There were already two occupants: a woman in ragged jeans and a stained T-shirt who sat slumped on the bench with her head in her hands, and a young woman who was lying on the floor in a fetal position. One of her feet was touching a puddle of vomit.
Ava sat on one end of the bench, as far from her cellmates as possible. She rested the back of her head against a bar, closed her eyes, and tried to think of anything other than the situation she was in. Except she had no idea what her situation actually was, other than that she was sitting in a jail cell in China facing unknown charges and unknown penalties. What would they do to her for hitting a policeman? She had read about how arbitrary, speedy, and punitive Chinese law was. Now she wished she hadn’t, because her imagination was running wild and filling her with fear.
They would have to let her get a lawyer, she told herself, but if they did, who would it be? She would have to call her father. As she thought about how that conversation would go, embarrassment and humiliation added to the emotions she was already experiencing. Strangely, she had no qualms about what her mother might think. Ava knew Jennie Lee would support and defend her no matter what she did with her life; any judgement Jennie passed would be silent. If Ava had been in Canada, her phone call would have been to Richmond Hill to unleash her mother. But there was no point in doing that here in China. The only person she could call was her father.
God, what a mess
, she thought.
The woman on the bench made a strange coughing noise and got to her feet. She glanced at Ava with glazed and distant eyes. For a second, Ava thought she was going to speak to her, but the woman turned and walked towards the toilet, stepping over the woman on the floor to get there. As she started to pull down her jeans, Ava turned her head.
She closed her eyes again and forced herself to think about bak mei exercises. At times when she couldn’t sleep, she would go through them in her mind, imagining in slow motion the springing, sinking, and thrusting moves of the tiger. Now she used the exercise as a distraction, repeating the moves over and over, imagining that Grandmaster Tang was on the offensive while she parried and neutralized his attacks. She was deep into it when someone yelled in her ear. She jumped at the noise.
“Dinner,” said a woman holding a small metal tray near the bars.
The woman on the floor didn’t react, and Ava realized she hadn’t noticed her move since she’d been in the cell. She was either sleeping or unconscious, or dead. Ava didn’t want to find out which was true.
The other woman had returned to the bench. She waved her hand at the tray. “I don’t want to eat your shit,” she said.
Ava looked at the lump of white rice, a soggy green vegetable, and a couple of pieces of grey meat swimming in brown gravy. “I think I’ll pass as well,” she said.
When the meal trolley left, the woman next to her said, “What are you in for?”
“I’m not really sure. I think there’s been a mistake,” Ava said.
“Sure, a mistake,” the woman said, and leaned in close, her foul breath filling the air.
Ava gagged and turned away. She stood and walked towards the cell door. There were no windows in the room and the overhead lights were dim, probably deliberately so. The other cells were full and most of the prisoners were eating. A feeling of despair washed over her.
The corporal had taken her watch, along with her other possessions, so Ava had no idea what time it was. It had to be five, or maybe even six, if dinner was being served. How long would it take them to decide what to charge her with? She hadn’t been read her rights — surely they had to do that. Was there a time limit on how long a person could be held without being charged?
Slow down
, she thought.
Your mind is running off in all directions
.
She was still standing at the cell door when the dinner lady came back with her trolley and collected the empty trays. When the woman opened the door to leave, Ava caught a glimpse of the corporal walking towards it. The door closed and then almost immediately reopened, and the corporal walked in. She came directly to Ava’s cell.
“Let the girl in the pink shirt out,” she said to the woman on the stool.
“What’s going on?” Ava said.
“Just come with me.”
Ava followed her into the office, her heart beating so loudly she thought it had to be audible.
The woman stopped at her desk. Ava’s bag sat on top of it. “Open the bag and go through it. Make sure everything is there,” she said.
“What’s going on?” Ava asked, trying not to be too hopeful.
“You’re released.”
“No charges?” Ava said.
“No.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The word came down from above — that’s all I know. And if I were you, I’d take my bag and get the hell out of here as fast as I could before someone changes their mind.”
Ava felt light-headed and took several deep breaths to steady herself. She opened the bag and took a quick look at the contents. If anything was missing it wasn’t apparent, and she wasn’t about to waste time identifying every item.
She picked up her bag. “How do I get out of here?”
“That door leads to the reception area. The main entrance is there. Big double glass doors, you can’t miss them.”
She walked with urgency to the door, and when she reached it, she barrelled through, determined not to stop until she hit the street. Then she saw Andy standing by the glass exit doors. He smiled and waved as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
“What the hell happened?” Ava asked loudly as she approached him.
“Uncle.”
“What do you mean?”
“Uncle happened. He made some phone calls, called in some favours, and probably greased some palms.”
Ava shook her head. “I’ve never been so frightened in my life.”
“That’s funny.”
“Why?”
“I just finished telling Uncle that I’ve never met anyone, man or woman, as fearless as you.”
“You shouldn’t give him the wrong impression.”
“Well, you can correct it when you meet with him. He wants you to call him. He mentioned something about taking you to dinner tonight — assuming you want to go back to Hong Kong.”
“Try and stop me. I’m catching the first train I can get on.”
“I can’t say I blame you. It’s been a hell of a day.”
“But I’m not sure about dinner.”
“Uncle is a gentleman, if that’s what you’re worried about. I think he just wants to repay you for saving my butt.”
“I’m really not sure.”
“Please, as a favour to me, call him.”
“What about you and Carlo?”
“We’re staying here one more night to clean up the Kung mess.”
“Mess?”
“Uncle will explain.”
“I don’t have his number . . .” Ava said hesitantly.
Andy pulled his phone from his pocket and hit speed dial. He listened for a moment and then passed it to Ava.
“This is Ava Lee,” she said.
“I am so happy you are safe,” Uncle said.
“No more than I am.”
“Are you still in Shenzhen?”
“Yes, but I’m heading for the train station as soon as I finish talking to you.”
“Where are you staying in Hong Kong?”
“I’m in Kowloon, at the Oriental Crocus.”
“I know it. My apartment is about ten minutes away from there. Did Andy mention to you that I would like to take you to dinner?”
“That isn’t necessary.”
“Perhaps not, but I would like to do it all the same. Do you like hotpot?”
“Yes.”
“There is a very good place close to your hotel. I can send my driver to pick you up and you can meet me there.”
“Mr. Chow — Uncle — I’m not sure I’m up to it.”
“Look, it is only seven o’clock. You will be at your hotel by eight or so. Shower and change, get rid of the smell of Shenzhen. I will ask my driver to be at the hotel at nine. He will be driving a silver Mercedes. He will be wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black tie. His name is Sonny.”
“Well, I am hungry.”
“There is nothing better for hungry people than hotpot. This place has Kobe beef and shrimp the size of small lobsters, which the owner reserves for special customers. I am fortunate that he considers me to be one.”
“Okay.”
“Excellent. I will meet you there.”
Ava closed the phone and handed it back to Andy. “I’m heading for the train station and I’m going to meet Uncle for dinner in Kowloon.”
“You won’t be sorry,” Andy said. “Well, I guess we should say goodbye.”
He held out his hand. Ava stepped forward and kissed him gently on the cheek. “Thanks for everything,” she said. “Now tell me, in which direction is the train station and do I need to take a taxi? When we were in that squad car, I was so upset I didn’t notice where we were going.”
“Go two blocks straight down there and hang a left at the movie complex. The station will be visible from the corner.”
“Great. Well, I’m off. Maybe I’ll see you around,” Ava said, waving goodbye.
She had a spring in her step and was at the station in just a few minutes. A train was scheduled to arrive in ten minutes, and it couldn’t come fast enough. All she wanted was to put Shenzhen behind her. She walked into the passenger holding pen and was already contemplating the joy of a hot shower when two thoughts interceded.