The Gaze of Caprice (The Caprice Trilogy Book 1) (20 page)

“
And you’re just going to give it back to him
?” said the old man.

“
Yes
,” said Li Xing.

“
Then why take it in the first place
?” asked the old man.

“
It was escrow, money that was left over from two loads
,” said Li Xing.

“
That wasn’t the question
,” said the old man, “
I asked why you took it
.”

“
We weren’t doing anything with it, it just sat there, we didn’t even process it or try to have it cleaned or nothing like that
,” said Li Xing.

“
So you took it to do what
?” asked the old man.

“
To clean it up
,” said Li Xing, “
It was just stashed in a meat freezer at the hotel. I thought Deni had forgotten about it.  If it was found there’d be questions.  We could at least clean it and put it in an account to get interest if not reinvest in more business
.”

“
And
you did all that thinking, without saying a word to Deni
?” asked the old man.  Li Xing nodded.

“
And you cleaned the money
?” asked the old man.  Li Xing shook his head.

“
So why are we talking?  You took that money away for almost four months and just now bring it back
,” said the old man.

“
I brought it all back
,” said Li Xing.

“
That’s not the point
,” said the old man.

“
I brought something else
,” said Li Xing.

“
I don’t believe your story, but it doesn’t matter
,” said the old man, “
It matters if Deni will believe you
.”

“
Uncle Woo, you tell me what to do
,” said Li Xing.

“
I’m telling you to go to Deni
,” said Uncle Woo.  A long pause came over both men, elder and younger.  Uncle Woo sat back in his chair and looked at one of the other men seated at his table.  This man was graying but not yet gray.  Although younger than Uncle Woo, the man had his trust.  The man shook his head.  Uncle Woo trusted the man and his instincts, both being former smugglers.  Uncle Woo was Martin Ma Woo, the smuggler who thought of the symbolic
Rule of Eight
and the false raid that embarrassed the Hong Kong Police Force.  He was a career Triad and the most respected.  His adaptability and ability to identify paradigm shifts kept his branch of the Triad family one step ahead of the others and the police.  Fifty years in Hong Kong, had elevated him to patriarch of one family branch.  It wasn’t thought to be the most powerful branch nor the most brutal, but the Moon Dragons branch had long been respected as the most organized and the least sloppy.  A testament to the
yin
symbol which their family represented. 
Yin
was mundane and feminine, not boastful, proud or masculine.  Any Triad shootout would most likely not involve a member of the Moon Dragons branch.  The Moon Dragons opted for vigilance over violence and business over brutality.  The Moon Dragons, more than any other branch, had the ability to render setbacks irrelevant.  No matter what, they would always find a way to return to business as usual and they were the most profitable.

The Triads had started out on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong.  Kowloon meant
nine dragons
.  The eight branches of the Triad family were eight dragons corresponding with Kowloon.  The ninth dragon was the city of Hong Kong itself, the egg that gave birth to them all.  All eight branches were representative of one traditional Chinese element:  Fire; Water; Earth; Air; Metal; Wood; Yin and Yang.  The Fire Dragons—the Dragons—represented
fire
and controlled the Hong Kong Island section east of North Point.  The Blue Dragons or the Blues, representing
water
, were across the Eastern Harbour inward toward the New Territories.  Bordering the Blues, were the Thorns, representing
wood
, whose territory extended around Kowloon Bay, as far as Prince Edward Road.   Ma Tau Chung Road was the western border between the Thorns and the Golden Masters.  The Masters, representing
metal
, controlled the area around Hong Kong Coliseum bordered on the west by the rails of New Kowloon Station.  The Masters didn’t control much harbor space, but controlled the major distribution grounds of Kowloon.  The sun was the traditional representation of
yang
.  The Sons of the Sun—the Sons—controlled most of Western Kowloon and Victoria Harbour.  The Sons’ territory overlapped with the Flying Dragons, representing
air
.  The Flyers’ territory was unimagined but traditionally had been west of New Kowloon Station rails, around City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and ending at Nathan Road, stretching back toward Victoria Harbour.  The Moon Dragons—the Moons—who had Uncle Woo as Dragon Head, were seated on west Hong Kong Island.  The Moons controlled area from the harbor to the University of Hong Kong, including the Central Government Offices and ending roughly around the newly built Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.  Between the Moons on the western side of Hong Kong Island and the Fire Dragons on the eastern side, were the Earth Dragons representing
earth
.  The Earth Dragons fashioned their own translation as Dirt Dragons—the Dirty Ones.  The Dirty Ones did their best to breathe life into the name.  They were the most ruthless of all eight family branches and were the most creative in terms of killing.  They were the only ones who still preferred torture as a method of interrogation.  The other branches had moved toward blackmail and bribery in the late 60’s.  The Dirty Ones’ territory included the Government Stadium, Causeway Bay and Victoria Park—the highlife.  They were the most action-oriented branch, which cast them in continued bad light especially from their more peaceable neighbors, the Moons.  The Moons had always felt the Dirty Ones were too unorganized for their territory.  Uncle Woo calculated they could be twice as profitable, but they had to make their presence felt.  Residents in their territory knew the Triads were active there, unlike the Moons, whose presence went almost unnoticed.   But money flowed for the Moons, because they understood the Triads weren’t actually in the drug trade; they were in the real estate business.  Trying too hard to stake out territory had consequences.  Usually it would bring police presence, like it had at the
Moon Luck Hotel
.  The Moons understood this best of all, because a valuable piece of real estate was within their territory—1 Arsenal Street—Hong Kong Police Force headquarters.  For the Moons, money was before status, before tradition, before violence—before everything but loyalty.

It was loyalty that made Uncle Woo question Li Xing’s motives.  It wasn’t a matter of how unimportant the money; it was that he took it without permission.  Uncle Woo lit a cigarillo.  He looked up, as if the answer to the question on his mind was somewhere through the glass ceiling of the veranda—somewhere in the sky. 

“
What is this something else you brought with you
?” asked Uncle Woo.

“
A boy like the others.  He’s tough, very tough
,” said Li Xing.

“
A boy
?” said Uncle Woo, “
You brought a boy here
?”

Li Xing shook his head, “
He wanted to come himself
.”

“
Who is he
?” asked Uncle Woo.

“
My nephew.  His parents are dead he has nowhere to go
,” said Li Xing.

“
And you brought him here
?” asked Uncle Woo.

“
He wanted to come
,” said Li Xing.

Uncle Woo, always the peaceable man, offered Li Xing a cigarillo.  Li Xing slid one out of the pack as Uncle Woo offered his own lit cigarillo to light Li Xing’s—a gestured reserved for family.  Uncle Woo was not a man to be angry, but frustration wasn’t beyond anyone at any age.  He lamented what he saw as the declining character in his branch of the family.  There was declining character in all branches, but he worried only about what he could control and he could control his own house.  The other branches had other patriarchs, called Dragon Heads.  They could run their houses as they saw fit, Uncle Woo liked to keep things simple.  He took personal responsibility for Li Xing’s lack of discipline and character, after all, Uncle Woo had allowed him into his house and Uncle Woo took responsibility for his own.  He didn’t blame Li Xing for his lack of character.  He blamed himself.  The man he put in charge of the Moons was smart but didn’t have much character.  Uncle Woo, in his old age, had become more of an acting chairman of the Moons, a keeper of the culture.  The Chief Executive was Deni Tam, a man of little character.

“
Where is the boy
?” asked Uncle Woo.

“
He’s just there in the restaurant
,” said Li Xing.

“
Bring him here
,” said Uncle Woo.

Li Xing turned around looking toward the dark room of the restaurant.  Xiaoyu stood by the door, still in the darkness.  Li Xing looked directly into the boy’s eyes and tried to give him a look that was reassuring.  It didn’t work.  Li Xing waved the boy to the table.  Xiaoyu hesitated, but realized he didn’t have any other move to make.  Xiaoyu’s first few steps were unsteady, walking into the light he regained his composure.  He made his way steadily toward the table, but stood two steps back.  He didn’t feel comfortable near any of the men at the table, not even his uncle.

“
Does he speak Cantonese
?” asked Uncle Woo.

“
Just Mandarin and bits of English
,” said Li Xing.

“
I can see how good my Mandarin still is
,” said Uncle Woo.

“
What is your name
?” asked Uncle Woo, in Canto-flavored Mandarin.

Xiaoyu hesitated.  Li Xing looked at him, seemingly desperate.

“
Li Xiaoyu
,” said Xiaoyu.

“
That’s a good name
,” said Uncle Woo.  Xiaoyu didn’t believe him.

“
What do you want to do here
?” asked Uncle Woo.  Xiaoyu wasn’t still sure; his silence seemed to unnerve Li Xing.

“
He wants to make money
,” said Li Xing.

“
Let the boy answer
,” said Uncle Woo.

“
I want to make money
,” said Xiaoyu, repeating his uncle.

“
Are you sure
?” asked Uncle Woo.  The boy nodded.

“
Do you know what that takes, to make money
?” asked Uncle Woo.

“
I don’t know
,” said Xiaoyu.

“
You’re more honest than almost everyone I deal with
,” said Uncle Woo, “
But if you don’t know, why are you so willing
?”

“
I want to go to Beijing
,” said Xiaoyu.

“
Have you been to Beijing
?” asked Uncle Woo.  Xiaoyu shook his head.

“
Then why do you want to go
?” asked Uncle Woo, “
What’s in Beijing for you
?”

“
My sister
,” said Xiaoyu, remembering his motivation.

              Uncle Woo took a long drag off his cigarillo. He looked around the table at the four men, not Li Xing.  All four had a slight smile on their face.  Uncle Woo couldn’t hide his patriarchal pride.  He flicked the ash off his cigarillo, into a glass ashtray.  Using his two fingers, cigarette stuck in between, he pointed directly at Xiaoyu.

              “
You see this boy
,” said Uncle Woo, “
He already understands what I’ve spent my life trying to teach you all.  Family is the most important
.”  Li Xing smiled a fool’s smile, not realizing the comment was sent toward him. 

“
Something tells me this boy is here for a reason, we could scratch the streets of Hong Kong and not turn up one like him
,” said Uncle Woo, tapping out his cigarillo.  Reaching in his pack, he searched for another, brought it to his lips and lit it with a simple lighter. 

“
We’ll
be wanting you to join our family, when you’re old enough
,” said Uncle Woo, exhaling smoke.  “
But
first we need to know how strong you are.  That way we can find the right place for you
.”  Uncle Woo looked to the man seated on his left.

“
I’ll take him
,” said the man.  Uncle Woo nodded.