Blood and Honor
By
Mfonemana Uduak
There are many ways to die, but fewer ways to be reborn. Many say humans borrow grace to breathe one day at a time; the difference between forever and now determined by a weighted scale many call fate.
And like all things borrowed, it must be returned. They say ones debt collector could be a descending lightening or a sweeping wind.
It is the difference between a street thug with a spiked club and a gentleman shrouded in smoke from a cigar heavy with the scent of today. But as there are many ways to die, the chances of rebirth fewer to none; an futile sneer at an indifferent universe.
But, Mary Wu, soaked in blood clutching to an Asian baby under the relentless flashing lights of an army of cameras attempting to be reborn is without doubt a great feat of bravery or utter stupidity, but staying alive was a right she won that day, crawling out from under the bodies of over 200 people.
But it's one thing to live. It is another to survive.
Chapter One
A bell rang through an elegant house several times. On the other side of the door, one could hear the distinct footsteps of heels on wood approach hurriedly. The door opened to reveal a young Asian man standing outside. The woman inside smiled at him politely with slight confusion in her eyes.
"How may I help you?" she asked him.
"I am Jun, Jun Wu. ?." he said and the dark woman nodded in understanding and stepped out of the way to let him in.
"Come in please, Master Jun." she said with a smile. Jun walked into exquisite wood floors and looked round the grand entry way, then up the elegant staircase, slightly distracted.
"This way." the woman led him to a well furnished sitting room and offered him a sit.
"I will inform Mrs. Wu of your arrival." she said, taking his luggage away with her. Jun looked round the room with complicated eyes. On the walls were pictures of his grand uncle and his grand aunt. They looked happy with grand aunt holding their new born in her hands and behind them, was slight view of a large brick building; the picture did not look centered. As he looked at that building behind them, his complicated eyes showed a hint of a frown. That building, almost everyone in New America had heard of it.
"Please follow me." the woman said the moment she returned. He nodded and followed her deeper into the house. Walking through the many large rooms only better emphasized the size of the building. He was led west, the woman knocked slightly on a large oak door and a voice called for them to enter. She opened the door and stepped aside for him to enter. He stepped into the room to see an elderly black woman sitting by the large bay windows. Birds sang by the window, soft breeze blew in as light rested on her aged face.
"Grand Aunt" he called as he approached slowly. The older woman looked up at the figure that walked in with squinted eyes, before going for her glasses on the table. She put them on and her vision cleared, allowing her to see the fair face that arrived before her.
"Little Jun." she smiled at the young man, who smiled back at her, before going in for a hug.
"How are you, Aunt Mary?" he asked.
"Get up, let me see you better." she said and he left her embrace and stood to full height.
"Ah, you are all grown. You look so much like your Grand Uncle."
"Why does every one keep saying that? I don't see it."
"It's the eyes." she laughed, "Come sit. Did you come all the way from school?"
"Yes, I am about to graduate."
"And a historian too?"
"Just like Grand Uncle, yes yes.." he said in a sing song voice that made her smile widen. He looked at her tired face and sighed slightly.
"Grand Aunt, I am writing a paper about our family and wanted to ask you some question, but you look quite tired." he said and she shook her head.
"No, I just woke up. Since you went off to stay with Suyi, we have only ever talked on the phone. Yet, here was an old woman thinking you came all the way to see her." she chuckled.
"No aunt, we don't need to do this now, " Jun laughed, "but you need to know it's coming. Before I leave you will have to tell me. You can't brush it away like always. This time it's for school."
"There is nothing useful to do these days. What kind of information will help you?" she asked.
"Everything counts; the small about you and Grand Uncle, the large about?" he trailed off not quite sure he should mention it.
"You know how we met. I came from England to bury my mother beside my father. After the funeral, I did not intend to return, I was not sure how the parliament would rule about the black migration so I stayed here and I started working as a waitress at the university cafe. That is how I met my Tian. After we found we were pregnant with Suyi, we decided to marry. Tian being Chinese he was only allowed to live in some approved accommodations. We moved into the Bailey building a little after. If only we knew that would happen." the light in her eyes deemed greatly. The room descended into silence for a few seconds. When Jun heard her speak of the Bailey building, he looked at her with complicated eyes.
"Little Jun, I have spent my enter life trying to forget that day." she said, the pain in her eyes deepened.
"How about we talk about it tomorrow when you are better rested." he said and she shook her head.
"No. We had been living there for a while. We even had Suyi in the clinic on the sixth floor. Suyi was only six months; Tian got a promotion at work, even though it was just one of the moves the government were making to pacify the tension from the Asian community by promoting some Asians to higher positions, it was good for us. We even got ourselves a maid. She was a white girl from Africa. She barely understood English, but she was hardworking and sweet. It was a freezing day; the snow fell harder than it had the entire season. We had lunch, at night we had this chiffon cake Kale the butcher's son was trying to sell." she closed her eyes as though in a memory.
It took a while before she opened her eyes, "The rest, you know well; the news has reported my side of the story a great many times. We were having dinner when we started hearing shouting. Tian asked our maid, Anne to stay back so that he could see what was happening. We were quite scared and I didn't want him to go. I told him; let's close the door and wait till tomorrow. Even if the police ignored us, they would have to come by morning. He was a brave man, my Tian. He wanted to go out and help the neighbors if they were in trouble. No matter how much I convinced him, he would not go. We waited and waited. It was shouting at first, we did not understand mandarin so, we could not tell what they were saying. Then the gunshots started. We looked out the window into the courtyard and saw the masked men with guns; the gate was locked shut by them." she started to breathe sharply, her face sank and her hands shook. Jun hurriedly got up to get her water but she grabbed his arm. He stared back down into her slightly mad eyes.
"Tian, he had still not come back. The gun shots were getting closer." she said frantically.
"Aunt Mary, calm down." he grabbed her trembling hands.
"He was not back." she insisted, "Anne and I took the sleeping Suyi and hid in a kitchen cupboard. We heard them break down the door. They opened the cupboard but only dragged out Anne. They had not seen me and Suyi. Anne begged as they raped her, but they only laughed." her hands shook as her eyes reddened in anger.
"She soon went silent. She no more made a sound, Little Jun. I thought she had died and peeped from the crack. Her eyes,..Little Jun, she was looking right at me." tears started to run down her pale black cheeks.
"She was looking right at me when he placed his gun inside her and.." Mary Wu started to choke. Her ragged breathing alarmed Jun. he grabbed her hand and knelt before her. "Breathe Aunt Mary." he tried to calm her down, "Listen, its birds; such sweet sound, right Aunt Mary?"
"Birds, whiteheads; yes. What sweet sound." her vision started to clear.
"Breathe. The police finally came right? They came and saved you and Suyi. You were saved." he said, looking into her pained eyes with complicated ones and spoke softly.
"You are safe, Suyi is safe." he repeated till she calmed down. He then helped her into bed, tucked her in and sat beside her.
"You overcame all that, you raised Suyi to become a strong woman, you supported the family in china on your own and sent me to school. Aunt Mary, it all turned out well." he said and she nodded.
"Grand Uncle Tian loved you and Suyi very much."
"He used to call me his pearl." she said and he paused slightly.
"Yes, the black pearl of little creek." he said slightly solemn and her eyes flashed in surprise.
"How..?" she started to ask.
"He had sent letters to great grand ma in china about you." His deep eyes watched her and she smiled at this.
"Rest, we will talk more tomorrow." he gave the back of her hand a light pat before getting up. She watched him close the door behind him, before closing her eyes to sleep.
Jun walked away from the closed door before pausing slightly and looking back. One could not truly tell what the look in his eyes meant.
"Is she asleep?" the woman said from the corner.
"She just laid down a bit." he answered and she sighed slightly.
"You are here, so she may rest much better. Since Miss Suyi got married, she has not had anyone to talk to." she said, "Let me show you to your room."
He nodded and followed her up stairs to the second floor. She showed him to his room at the far end of the east wing. He walked in and saw his luggage already beside his bed.
"Thank you?" he said.
"Anne." she answered with a smile and he nodded.
"Thank you Anne." he said.
"Dinner will be ready soon. Be down by six." she said and left, closing the door behind her. He looked round the room before going for his luggage. After arranging his cloths in his wardrobe, he took a shower and laid down a bit. It did not take long for sleep to tempt him into its embrace. He woke up to ringing and shot up from bed slightly. He looked at the clock on the wall to find it was six. He went down stairs and traced the dining room. When he walked in, he found his aunt already seated and Anne entering from the opposite door with a casserole.
"Little Jun, come sit." Mary Wu said and Jun took a seat opposite her. Anne placed the casserole down and made a plate for Mary before taking her seat beside her.
"Thank you, Anne." she said and started eating. Jun made himself a plate and started to eat. For some reason, he felt Anne was quite familiar. He kept glancing at her as he ate then paused by the picture of young Mary Wu behind her.
"Anne, where are you from?" he asked.
"I don't know. Mrs. Wu found me at an orphanage in Kent and brought me home." she said.
"I'm sorry." he said and she laughed slightly.
"She has been my foster mother for as long as I can remember." Anne said.
"Doesn't she look like me in my younger days?" Mary Wu asked excitedly, "The government had just started to debate better integration of Asians that year. A black woman single mother of an Asian child, they paraded me as the only Bailey incident survivor. They took me to Kent to open a charity in your Grand Uncle's name. I paid a visit to the orphanage and saw her." Mary Wu said.
"It is good you found me Mary, who knows where I would have ended up if not." Anne said and Mary smiled indulgently.
"Anne; after the maid who saved your life." Jun said with a smile.
"Yes." Mary nodded, "she had no family, no one to remember her."
Jun looked between them for a few seconds and continued eating, his thoughts conflicted. As dinner continued, Mary asked more of his school life and he indulged her with answers. His stories were wild and lively, cracking up the entire table. After dinner was done, Anne cleared the table and he helped his Grand Aunt back to her room. After tucking her in, he left her to sleep to the sounds of whiteheads. He was worried about her health. She moved slowly, as though her entire joint hurt. He had to find time and look into that. As he left her room, he could not help feeling as though watched. He closed the door behind him and went out just in time to see Anne leaving.
"You don't stay around?" Jun asked her.
"No, I live in a cottage on the south side of the property." she answered. Jun pulled out his phone and stared at the transparent squared device with a sigh. He tapped on the surface and it sprung to life.
"No signal in the house?" he asked. Anne chuckled as she tied her scarf.
"Mary never liked those things. She picked this place because of this. No TV, no internet, no signal, no phones, oh, except the one in the east sitting room. The thing is ancient but you can still make calls. That's why I don't live here." Mary said and opened the door.
"Goodnight." she greeted and he nodded.
She closed the door behind her and before he turned away, he heard a click sound and paused. She locked it? He went towards the door and found the door easily opened from the inside.
He made his way towards the east wing, trying to find the sitting room she had spoken off. After a while getting quite lost, he found a sitting room he was not quite sure was the one she had been referring too and paused. Not all rooms were lit so he had to take a lamp with him. Almost about to move on, an ancient telephone by the corner told him which sitting room this was. He looked at the buttons and pulled out his phone. With his phone for memory, he keyed in the number he wished to call and picked the phone from its rest.
After a few rings, the other side picked.
"Hello?" a groggy voice answered.
"Hey" Jun asked.
"Jun! What happened man? You were supposed to call me hours ago." the person answered.
"There is no signal in the house; I had to some use some ancient thing." Jun answered.
"Jun, so how is your famous grandaunt? Does she sound like she does on TV?" he asked and Jun sighed.
"She sounds like a normal grandaunt; old and filled with stories." he answered.
"You've gotta take a picture for me, man. I told my Ma that my best friend is a Wu and she did not believe it."
"Did you ask you Ma about what I told you or did you immediately go out for some party the moment you got home?" Jun asked.
"If I went out, I wouldn't be back at this time. I would have, but my Ma's is the famous dragon ears, man. You move and she can hear you, no matter how big the house is."
"So, did you ask her?" Jun asked impatiently.
"Yeah, I said it was for you and she asked how a Wu would not know such a thing and did not believe me."
"Focus."
"That's what I'm saying man, My Ma says the black pearls of Little creek are only three in the world. They are famous because they were mined black but when some idiot polished them, they were white inside."
"White?" Jun frowned.
"Yea, word is, it was black because of the oil spill that had filled the creek during the oil war, killing all the oysters. When someone pulled out three pearls from the creek three hundred years after the solar revolution. The old man made a big deal out of it, but very few people have actually seen the black pearl. He gave the Russian president passing by or something."
"Myth." Jun scuffed.
" Man, you should just ask your aunt this, should she have one?"
"Why?"
"After the fifth great war, Russia gave New America one. Ma says that the government gave your grandaunt theirs after she survived the barley incident. Oh Yeah, did you ask your grandaunt all the juicy details about the incident? I'm on the side that believes that the incident was not an Asian rebel attack. Your grandaunt should know?You live on a farm, Jun. birds singing at night?" At the words spoken from the other side, Jun paused. He could also hear the sound of birds over the phone, but none in the sitting room.
"Whiteheads.." he whispered and immediately a light click sounded over the phone.
She was listening, Jun thought as he immediately put down the phone.
The house seemed to go still. The lack of noise at that moment seemed to make Jun's spine crawl. A lot of thoughts went through his head. But the one that bothered him most was the feeling of danger that rang in his mind. He rushed out of the room towards the staircase forgetting the lamp. In his hurry, it was quite hard to figure out which staircase led to his room. He needed to get to his documents. Just then, he heard a door open on the other side of the house and he stilled. Slowly and stealthily, an attempt to mimic those trained for war, he moved away from the light of the other room; his greatest fear, the squeaking wood floors under his feet. He felt that someone was coming closer so, he stopped breathing, paused in place behind the staircase; the lit lanterns, doing nothing to reveal his figure to the night.
Right then, a thought crossed his head, why was he hiding? There were quite many ways to translate the mystery of the black pearl.
"Aunt Mary?" he called out into the darkness, but no voice answered.
"Aunt Mary is that you?" he asked and right that moment, he heard a loud crash through the other door and he rushed towards it.
"Aunt Mary, are you okay?" he ran into the next room to find a music box fallen on the ground, with his Aunts' bent figure looking down at it with pained eyes.
"Are you okay?" he rushed to her side and helped her to stand straight.
"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked.
"I came to find you." she said and he froze slightly.
"You were listening to my conversation." he said wearily.
"You should not blame an old woman for her bad habits." she said, allowing him to lead her to sit down. "You are asking about the black pearls? Why?"
"Those pearls have a history to it, Aunt. It came up in our research of the war. I asked my friend to look into it. You have one black pearl? Can I see it?" he asked in fascination. The old woman chuckled at his behavior, "Sure. Tomorrow, I will show it to you." she said and he nodded. Silence returned as the two sat without a word for a long minute.
"Jun, something tells me you are not only interested in the bailey building for a project." Mary said, "You should not be looking into these things, Jun. It is dangerous." she said and he frowned.
"Things are not as you hear in the books." she said and Jun pushed his chair closer.
"Aunt mary, this is only for a school project, yes. But I found some things fishy. That is why I looked into it more and you are the only survivor of that incident." he said and she sighed.
"I was hiding for most of the incident. But, they did not find me in our home. I had come out with Suyi to make an escape. The things I saw.." a look of pain flashed though her eyes.
"Aunt?"
"The way they moved through the place searching every face, dead or not, they had to be looking for someone." she said.
"Who?" he moved closer.
"Anne. They say otherwise but when I led them to my building and they saw her lying on the kitchen floor they stopped looking. The people that died, Jun." she shivered slightly.
"It was not a foreign raid or Asian rebels but the government? How? Why?" he asked.
"I don't know. They said that I would be the mascot. Survivor?" she scoffed, "No, they let me live. They wanted someone to carry around to support their reform. My identity, a black woman married to an immigrated Chinese was just right and Suyi was alive, perfect." she sneered darkly as she spoke.
"The people who came in to rescue the building from the so called rebels were but reinforcement, not the police. That captain stone; I can't believe he was hailed a hero to the end." she scoffed.
"You are no more their mascot, Aunt. They can't force you."
"You think so? I live as a symbol of good administration. Every time I step out that is what I stand for." she chuckled darkly.
"What about Anne? What was so special about her? Did you later find out?" he asked.
"I moved around a lot. I heard talks; a dangerous spy, they said. Word is, she sneaked into America at the end of the oil wars. She was trained to stay in plain sight."
"Is it alright for you to know this?" he frowned.
"Just as it is not alright for you to be asking about this; Do you want to become like your uncle? You don't know how hard it was working with those who killed him. I got the family this far. Don't let your curiosity ?." her red eyes struck him a stern look.
"You are portrayed to be brave, Aunt Mary. The opposite is what I see." he laughed slightly.
"Jun!"
"Grand Uncle was your husband, how could you not even try to avenge him?" he asked and she stood slowly.
"My mother made me a bracelet once. She had heard that Kuni Jeans were quite expensive. So she went to the factory while she was pregnant with me and climbed the iron fence, stole scraps of Kuni and brought back home to make a bracelet. Good luck for her daughter, her daughter will be able to brave the world to touch gold someday, quiet yet strong. Who says, staying quiet and doing as told is not brave? It takes a certain kind of person to suppress their anger and look ahead." she said and turned back to gaze at him with sad eyes.
"You should go to bed, aunt. It's late." His deep eyes smiled and she nodded.
"We should both go to bed." she said and started walking away before pausing, "The staircase to you room is that way." she said and he chuckled in embarrassment.
Jun moved upstairs in regulated steps. With a look, one could not tell what was going on his in mind till he reached his room and shut the door. He took off his shoes slowly and placed them by the door, before he moved towards his bed in haste. He hurriedly placed his research and important documents out on the bed then rushed to the wardrobe and hurriedly emptied one of his smaller bags, before returning to the bed and throwing everything in. He grabbed the bag and towards the door and slipped on his shoe. As he bent to tie his shoe lace, he heard creaking and paused. Though subtle, he could still hear it because of his proximity to the door.
She was coming.
Realizing he could no more go out through that door, his mind spun. The staircase was the only way to get down from his room. He glided towards the window to try and manage the creaking of the floor boards and opened it. He found that the only way was to jump down. But from the third floor and the bottom shrouded in night, his chance of surviving the jump was low. He did not have that much courage either. He hurriedly poked his head out to glance at how far the window next door was. He had to take the chance.
Not thinking too hard, he stepped on the window edge and stretched to reach the next one. If he understood this floor right, the next door should have its own private staircase down. The segmented nature of this house may have just save his life as he found his grip on the next door window and slid it open as quietly as he could slipped in.
He could feel his hands shaking as he crouched down on the floor. He did not take the time to take a breath as he navigated through the dark to the door, opened it in haste and hurried down the staircase. He knew at this moment that he was making a lot of noise, but he was betting on his youth and speed to escape before caught. As he reached the second floor, he felt pain slice past his skin as something barely missed his cheek.
Fear gripped his heart, not allowing him time to stay and find out what it was. A figure loomed over him suddenly, and he crouched, tripped and rolled down the remaining steps, crashing into table legs. Lacking the time to take in his surroundings and process the pain on his arm, he scurried up from the floor in a hurry just in time to be missed by a descending hammer.
The dark room seemed to protest his movement, placing obstacles in his way.His hand felt his way through the room clanking on things as he passed and like ghost hunting, the figure was not far behind either.
He could already guess where he was from slamming into things; the Kitchen. His hands felt around even more frantically, slamming into the pots and the next second, a descending hammer missed his chest but caught his arm. As he grunted and crouched, his hand landed on what felt to be the switch to a stove and he turned it on. The burner sprung to life with fire, illuminating the face of his Grand Aunt as she swung her hammer again.
This time, he was not so quick, allowing it to descend on his shoulder. The strike resonated through his shoulder blades down his chest making him scream in pain and kick out his legs to push her back, but she only caught it with ease at her midsection and struck the leg with the hammer in hand and his scream echoed through the room.
Even with the pain, his blood pumped twice as hard. He was sure of one thing; she was going to kill him. He stretched his hand or the nearest thing and a metal bin came into hand. Without thinking, he struck her looming face. Once was not enough as he struck repeatedly and quickly, till her grip on his legs, lessened, allowing him to scurry away in panic. He retreated till his back hit the cupboards and it sprung back lightly. At that moment, without much thought, he pushed the doors open and crawled in before closing in haste.
He found at that moment, that he was in a large pantry. He hurriedly felt around for something to wedge between the door handles and grabbed a wooden spatula from a box nearby and secured the door, just in time for his aunt to try breaking in. Her heavy pounding as she tried to open the door seemed to echo the pounding from his chest. He hurriedly felt around the door for lock, but there was none, so he felt around the walls for a light switch then realized that he had not seen lights used during dinner. As night came, candles and lamps were lit. At the thought of why, he shivered lightly. This woman was too paranoid. Feeling round the boxes, for a match box, he found a lighter and clicked it on. It looked like something used to light lambs as it had a long nozzle. Small light illuminated the room allowing him to see a metal free standing bread shelf in the corner.
He hurriedly crawled forward and dragged it screeching on the wooden floors towards the door with all his strength. His legs hurt from the strike before, not allowing him to stand well, but he willed himself up and pushed till the shelf wedged close the door.
The pounding did not stop, so he knew she was determined to drag him out of there.
"Grand Aunt Mary!" he called, "Or not, that is not your name is it? You are not Mary Wu, are you?" he asked and the pounding seized as though confirming his word. To this, he chuckled.
"I can't imagine how easy it was to take up that name for this long. My guess is, the one they saved from the Bailey incident was not Mary Wu, but an imposter. Tell me I'm wrong." As he spoke, for the first time he could feel the sweat soaking his back, as his chest heaved trying to catch his breath.
"Your tenacity Jun; admirable." he heard her aged voice from outside and chuckled. There was not even a hint of stress when she spoke. Nothing of the tired old woman remained.
"Military trained; you have to be." he said, "Which country? I refuse to believe that America set up that entire incident to deceive their own." To this she chuckled lightly.
"Why are you hiding, Jun? I have always answered your questions. I just came up to check on you and you ran." she said, a hint of mockery in her voice.
"Oh? So you are saying if I was in bed sleeping, you would have let me go? Aunt, your lies are not consistent. You gave a sob story about your mother and those Kuni jeans. You did not realize that Kuni was introduced into the British market after the liberation. It did not have any factory till you were eighteen, unless aunt lied about her age. When you figured out you made a blunder to a history student, you came for me." he seemed amused by the entire situation. He had thought she would not realize she had made a blunder till he left the property.
"If I am not Mary Wu, who am i?" she asked.
"I too wish to know where my grandaunt is." he paused at the sight of the tool box in the corner and crawled over. Opening it, he saw a hammer much like that she had used on him, inside and took it out. The other side was silent. She had not said a word for a while.
"It was said that Mary Wu came out of that Bailey incident the survivor that brought together the nation." he chuckled, "If a foreign spy replaced her, can you imagine the amount damage that has been done by now?"
"You are in no position to be threatening, Jun." he could hear her approaching as she spoke.
"The nation worked hard to handle the rebels, trusted her so much, they held her to the skies, the height she would have to fall-"
"To the skies? Worked to repel rebels?" she scoffed. "Oh little Jun, there were no rebels." he could hear the metal hinges being unscrewed from her side, causing him to hurriedly feel round the door. Wasn't such a hinge to be on his side? As she unscrewed nails, he moved to feel for what she did on the other side. Suddenly, the wall beside the door was ripped from its sides. He blanked slightly. Not the door hinges? He panicked and kicked the wall and with it, the person on the other side. Not bothering to find out her state after his kick, he dashed across the kitchen dragging his injured leg. As he ran, he could feel his blood as it pumped in his ears.
He could not hear anyone following him behind, yet he did not stop. He was injured and she was not; he did not dare to stop. He was not sure where he was running to, as he took a sharp turn just in time for a knife to fly past his face nicking his ear in the process. He ducked and slide behind a wall, crouching down to make himself less visible. In the silence, he could hear her footsteps on the creaking floor boards.
"Come out, Jun. Don't make this harder." she said and he froze, slowing his breathing as much as he could. That she had talked meant she too could not see well in the dark. She must have been following the noise he made as he ran. As he tried to make as little noise as possible, he realized her accent was odd.
"You can't fight me, they could not; you can't." she said and he opened his mouth to ask when he froze. He must be stupid. She too must also think him stupid to play at his curious mind. That is why she was talking. He would not be able to hold down his curiosity and will talk giving away his position. His blood chilled at the thought of how well she knew him.
"That night, they came just like I did. Not rebels, Jun. the government. They attack an entire civilian building to kill one person. Do you think they are good? Do you think if you leave this place you will be able to tell your story, your discovery? Come out little Jun, let us figure this out." she said.
Jun tried hard to not be distracted by her words. What did she mean by those words? Her hunting him was one thing, but saying he will not be safe as long as he knows the story is another. What was this accent she was using? He could not place his finger on it.
"Anang, it is Anang." he looked up and she was standing right before him, making him realize he must have thought out loud. Without thinking, he struck towards her with the hammer in hand. She but swayed slightly out of the way and he missed. He felt, a sharp object descend upon his back and pain tore through him as it pierced deeply into his skin. No time to process the pain, fear controlled his mind and he struck at her chest and her hand holding the knife into his back weakened and let go. He staggered slightly and truck again, not giving her time to think. But she was much more experienced than he was. Her fist connected with his mid section, causing him to crouch in pain only to receive her knee to his head in the process. His head felt numb. He retreated slightly and his leg connected with nothing, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs.
It was a miracle his consciousness remained after the fall, as he heard her descend while he laid face down trying to get up. He crawled down slowly to escape from her. The smell of the room told him they were in the basement. She reached him easily at the bottom of the stairs and unplugged the knife from his back, allowing pain to rip through him. His groan tore through the dark, but fear did not allow his heart to rest. He felt death hover over him as he crouched like a child to his side. Seeing her stab at him again, he threw out his good leg in defence, connecting with her midsection, causing her to fall hard on her back. Hearing her groan, he tried to stand; unaware he was soaked in his sweat from fear.
Propping himself to sit up, he saw her still lying on her back unable to move. "You still are an old woman." he said between breaths. He felt his way through the dark, looking for something while she was down. He pulled himself up and retreated without turning his back to her. He dared not look away from this angel of death. He felt his hand connect with cold metal. From the shape of what he held, it was the handle of a spade or shovel. Grabbing the long body, he approached her again on the stairs.
"What is it Aunt, broke you hip?" he asked at her still figure in the dark. Slight moonlight shun in through the small basement window, just enough for him to see that she had not moved from her spot. He feared she was pretending to lure him in so he stood quite away and struck at her chest causing her to groan. At his distance he could not reach her head like he had hoped, he trotted forward and struck quickly multiple times till he saw that she was no more moving. He could not relax. A part of him wanted to kill her, but he could not bring himself to. He hurriedly descended and felt around or some lighting. After a minute or so, he approached a table with a lamp and struggled to light it. Soon, light from the lamp flooded the dark basement. He looked back hurriedly to find her still unconscious. He could not waste time. He needed something to tie her with. She soon found ropes and returned in a hurry. Afraid she would wake soon, he tied her hands and feet tightly together before sitting on the ground below the staircase. He took in breath after breath to clam himself. His mind was starting to blur. He knew it was the wound on his back, but he could not deal with it.
He looked up from the ground and was startled by her cold eyes staring at him.
"You are awake." he calmed his heart with difficulty. He was not sure how long he had been sitting down, but she woke up a little bit too fast. He had struck her face and forehead quite a few time and had hoped somewhere in his heart that she had died.
"You are stupid."
"I am not a killer." he said, "Not like you."
"Not like me?"
"A Nigerian spy hunted by the government. You expect me to believe you did not kill off those who hunted you?"
"As shocked as I am that you even recognize Anang is a Nigerian language, I'm more shocked at how much trust you hold for the government of this country. They did not mind a few Asians dying, why would they mind dying themselves?" she groaned on the stairs.
"Sure, they killed Asians that day." he scoffed.
"How do you think those in the bailey building died?"
"How did you live?" he asked after a moment of silence.
"After my maid was killed, I came out to hunt. I fought my way out."
"You expect me to still believe you really are my aunt?" he chuckled.
"I did not say so."
"No, you said you were hiding with the baby while they raped the maid. It can't be that you switched with my aunt long before the incident; I don't believe it. From this entire story, the only time you would have had the chance to switch with my aunt was during the raid. You were there and you knew them, to know so much about my grand uncle and enough about my grand aunt to replace her." he paused as though thinking, then looked at her in realization.
"You were the maid, Anne. It makes sense; you lived with them, you knew them more than anyone. You took grand aunt's identity, and took Suyi with you. They did not doubt you. People died to solidify your identity. You became a symbol for both the Asian and black community. The government killed those there and let you live as a puppet. You adopted a child that looks like you and named her Anne. Looks too much like you, one could even say you were the same one who dropped her at the orphanage and came back to pick her as someone else." He said.
"You are smart, Jun. but is this a good thing?"
"They used you, the very spy they came to kill. But it was not much of being used was it? Because of your identity, you gained access to a great many secrets right, how?"
"How? Have you not figured it out? That aunt of yours watched though the kitchen cupboard as they raped me. The look in her eye, she liked my pain. She was happy at the sight. I could have killed those soldiers, but I did not know they were there for me, so I tried to maintain my cover. I let them touch me. I remained a weak woman till I realized why they were there. They did not mind talking about the search. I had a gun in my mouth, there was no way I had any advantage. But they were distracted too. They were easy to kill."
"How did you take her identity?"
"I put a bullet through her brain, that's how?"
"There is no way the system did not know you were lying about who you are."
"Of course, they would not. Not for a while. I entered that cupboard in her place with Suyi and told them I was Mary Wu, by the time the police arrived. To cover up that the rebels were soldiers, they pulled attention to me, Mary Wu; the bailey building survivor. It was enough distraction; enough time to clean up all loop holes to solidify my identity. In that time with the technology of the north distrusted so much, it was easy. Just paper. Paper can burn. Many sinned that day, not just me."
"Uncle?"
"He died just like I said. He went out to find out what was happening and did not return."
"You've said a great many things aunt, very few are true."
"I've also spoke many truths in very little said."
"I want to know, truly. What happened that night? Why did the government sacrifice that many people to catch you?" he asked and she stared him straight in the eye without a word for enough time that he sighed and got up. He took the lamp with him and crossed over her and walked away. Even after he had left the basement and walked far into the house, silence alone followed him till he heard the footsteps from afar following in haste and he immediately broke out in a limping run. He could but drag his leg behind him and dash for the front door as fast as he could. In haste he opened it and slammed it close running for his car a bit away.
Panic filled him as he reached the car and heard the sound of the front door bursting open behind him. His heart in his stomach, his pain forgotten, he tore open the door and sat in. He had a clear mind to know to lock all the doors as he pressed the start button just in time for his window to shatter with one heavy strike of the butt of a vintage hunter's gun.
The moon light lit up its shape in the dark as it descended on his head missing his temple to his panicked foot on the gas. The car dashed forward, but the figure held on strong, Jun panicked and tried to shove her off. The third strike came, this time, it did not miss. Though weaker from the unbalance posture of clinging to a moving car, Jun felt his vision blur slightly as he reached out one hand to fight her off.
His left hand grabbed the gun as the two struggled; his hand to the handle and she bends it slightly to the side, his finger slips to the trigger guard and in haste he pulls the trigger letting of a loud shot randomly into the air. She moved to strike again and he took his right hand off the wheel to catch the wooden butt heading for his face. She pulls the steering to the right and the heavy duty pick-up truck slammed into a tree.
His ears buzzing, Jun stumbled out of the car into the woods dragging one leg behind him. He was sure of one thing; she did not want to shoot. The noise was deafening and would attract people. Even though he had let out one shot by mistake, the odds of someone hearing and coming over was slim. She wanted him to die quietly.
"That day, your aunt dragged her body around just like this. That pitiful look in her eye was disgusting. You were raised by my daughter, little Jun, stand and fight!" he could hear from her voice that he was leaving her behind. The woman, no matter what kind of experience she had, was old and had injured her hip. This was his chance. No matter how curious he was. He would not be stupid again. If he stopped, he would die.
"The slow painful death was her punishment. Thou shall not lie; yet she had sold me out, she told them I was there. Thou shall not bear false witness; she heard the government was purging spies on the news, so she thought to have me killed as a suspected spy. How could she have known she was right? Thou shall not kill; she knew what was coming, yet she still let him go out to the danger. Just because his eyes started to wander, just because his soul may have lost luster in lustful sin, she let him die. In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; that look in her eyes, she knew! She knew!"
Maybe the pain was getting to her head, causing slight madness to spill these to the night, but he was not stupid, he would not stop to ask, no matter how deranged her thinking became, no matter how justified she felt her actions were, today, he only cared to live.
He dragged forward till his ragged breath was all he could hear. Hearing nothing only caused his panic to rise. He paused to look back, just in time to see the gun swing for him and he ducked. Not connecting with the target, she lost her balance and fell down hill. She struggled to steady her body, but her hip stiffened further allowing her struggle fruitless as she slammed against a tree. Her arm numbed from the impact. She knew without looking, she had broken her arm.
Jun found the gun in the leaves under bright moonlight and approached in haste. He closed in, aimed and fired. He needed no telling that he had missed. Closing in, he fired again and heard her groan. Unsatisfied, he shot again and heard her wince. The moment he finally stood before her, she swept his feet from under him and he fell unto her.
Fear did not gain time to grip him before she hooked her arm around his neck and squeezed tight. Jun struggled hard trying to get her arm from around his neck.
"Do you know how hard it is to steal an identity? Do you know how many had to die that night for this Mary Wu to live? You dare call me a killer? I was trained to invade not massacre two hundred people. Oh, more than that, I forgot the soldiers." Her voice through the pain sounded slightly mad to Jun, "I had to get creative. Burning in mass, knives, a simple slit of the throat, the guns helped too. I was running out of ideas. It was easy, yes, they were mostly civilians, but they were many, too many. I killed till my hand hurt, little Jun. I thought they would never end. My hands were sore days after I was done." she seemed to relive the day as her voice felt slightly off in the night, or could be an illusion to lack of oxygen to his brain?
Jun no more struggled from her grip, but felt around her, till he felt warm sticky liquid on her other arm. One grab and he had found the wound. He pressed with all his might upon the wound hoping for her grip to weaken, and it did slightly; just in time to take a deep breath, enough for his brain to reboot. He felt greatly dizzy, he almost believed she wrapped her hand protectively over his shoulder and he heard the sound of sirens from afar or saw touch lights flash down from the top of the hill. The light rolled around a bit searching for them and he almost raised his weak hands to scream for help.
"Over here!" Mary's cracked voice sounded the moment the light hit them.
"Jun hold on, the police is here. Hold on jun." he thought he had heard wrong, he thought the world had gone mad until the torched pointed directly at his face.
"Ma'am, are you okay?"
"Jun, call someone. Jun?" Jun could barely feel his head. The frantic calling of Aunt Mary disturbed him greatly. He was at a cross road. The realization that hit him shook him. He should not have known. Now that he knows, he cannot tell. Her iron grip around him was a threat and an opportunity.
"Ma'am, calm down, the ambulance is coming."
"Jun?"
June swallowed. There was never a choice, there was only one path.
"Aunt Mary, I'm fine. Breathe Aunt Mary, breathe?" he croaked.
By
Mfonemana Uduak
There are many ways to die, but fewer ways to be reborn. Many say humans borrow grace to breathe one day at a time; the difference between forever and now determined by a weighted scale many call fate.
And like all things borrowed, it must be returned. They say ones debt collector could be a descending lightening or a sweeping wind.
It is the difference between a street thug with a spiked club and a gentleman shrouded in smoke from a cigar heavy with the scent of today. But as there are many ways to die, the chances of rebirth fewer to none; an futile sneer at an indifferent universe.
But, Mary Wu, soaked in blood clutching to an Asian baby under the relentless flashing lights of an army of cameras attempting to be reborn is without doubt a great feat of bravery or utter stupidity, but staying alive was a right she won that day, crawling out from under the bodies of over 200 people.
But it's one thing to live. It is another to survive.
Chapter One
A bell rang through an elegant house several times. On the other side of the door, one could hear the distinct footsteps of heels on wood approach hurriedly. The door opened to reveal a young Asian man standing outside. The woman inside smiled at him politely with slight confusion in her eyes.
"How may I help you?" she asked him.
"I am Jun, Jun Wu. ?." he said and the dark woman nodded in understanding and stepped out of the way to let him in.
"Come in please, Master Jun." she said with a smile. Jun walked into exquisite wood floors and looked round the grand entry way, then up the elegant staircase, slightly distracted.
"This way." the woman led him to a well furnished sitting room and offered him a sit.
"I will inform Mrs. Wu of your arrival." she said, taking his luggage away with her. Jun looked round the room with complicated eyes. On the walls were pictures of his grand uncle and his grand aunt. They looked happy with grand aunt holding their new born in her hands and behind them, was slight view of a large brick building; the picture did not look centered. As he looked at that building behind them, his complicated eyes showed a hint of a frown. That building, almost everyone in New America had heard of it.
"Please follow me." the woman said the moment she returned. He nodded and followed her deeper into the house. Walking through the many large rooms only better emphasized the size of the building. He was led west, the woman knocked slightly on a large oak door and a voice called for them to enter. She opened the door and stepped aside for him to enter. He stepped into the room to see an elderly black woman sitting by the large bay windows. Birds sang by the window, soft breeze blew in as light rested on her aged face.
"Grand Aunt" he called as he approached slowly. The older woman looked up at the figure that walked in with squinted eyes, before going for her glasses on the table. She put them on and her vision cleared, allowing her to see the fair face that arrived before her.
"Little Jun." she smiled at the young man, who smiled back at her, before going in for a hug.
"How are you, Aunt Mary?" he asked.
"Get up, let me see you better." she said and he left her embrace and stood to full height.
"Ah, you are all grown. You look so much like your Grand Uncle."
"Why does every one keep saying that? I don't see it."
"It's the eyes." she laughed, "Come sit. Did you come all the way from school?"
"Yes, I am about to graduate."
"And a historian too?"
"Just like Grand Uncle, yes yes.." he said in a sing song voice that made her smile widen. He looked at her tired face and sighed slightly.
"Grand Aunt, I am writing a paper about our family and wanted to ask you some question, but you look quite tired." he said and she shook her head.
"No, I just woke up. Since you went off to stay with Suyi, we have only ever talked on the phone. Yet, here was an old woman thinking you came all the way to see her." she chuckled.
"No aunt, we don't need to do this now, " Jun laughed, "but you need to know it's coming. Before I leave you will have to tell me. You can't brush it away like always. This time it's for school."
"There is nothing useful to do these days. What kind of information will help you?" she asked.
"Everything counts; the small about you and Grand Uncle, the large about?" he trailed off not quite sure he should mention it.
"You know how we met. I came from England to bury my mother beside my father. After the funeral, I did not intend to return, I was not sure how the parliament would rule about the black migration so I stayed here and I started working as a waitress at the university cafe. That is how I met my Tian. After we found we were pregnant with Suyi, we decided to marry. Tian being Chinese he was only allowed to live in some approved accommodations. We moved into the Bailey building a little after. If only we knew that would happen." the light in her eyes deemed greatly. The room descended into silence for a few seconds. When Jun heard her speak of the Bailey building, he looked at her with complicated eyes.
"Little Jun, I have spent my enter life trying to forget that day." she said, the pain in her eyes deepened.
"How about we talk about it tomorrow when you are better rested." he said and she shook her head.
"No. We had been living there for a while. We even had Suyi in the clinic on the sixth floor. Suyi was only six months; Tian got a promotion at work, even though it was just one of the moves the government were making to pacify the tension from the Asian community by promoting some Asians to higher positions, it was good for us. We even got ourselves a maid. She was a white girl from Africa. She barely understood English, but she was hardworking and sweet. It was a freezing day; the snow fell harder than it had the entire season. We had lunch, at night we had this chiffon cake Kale the butcher's son was trying to sell." she closed her eyes as though in a memory.
It took a while before she opened her eyes, "The rest, you know well; the news has reported my side of the story a great many times. We were having dinner when we started hearing shouting. Tian asked our maid, Anne to stay back so that he could see what was happening. We were quite scared and I didn't want him to go. I told him; let's close the door and wait till tomorrow. Even if the police ignored us, they would have to come by morning. He was a brave man, my Tian. He wanted to go out and help the neighbors if they were in trouble. No matter how much I convinced him, he would not go. We waited and waited. It was shouting at first, we did not understand mandarin so, we could not tell what they were saying. Then the gunshots started. We looked out the window into the courtyard and saw the masked men with guns; the gate was locked shut by them." she started to breathe sharply, her face sank and her hands shook. Jun hurriedly got up to get her water but she grabbed his arm. He stared back down into her slightly mad eyes.
"Tian, he had still not come back. The gun shots were getting closer." she said frantically.
"Aunt Mary, calm down." he grabbed her trembling hands.
"He was not back." she insisted, "Anne and I took the sleeping Suyi and hid in a kitchen cupboard. We heard them break down the door. They opened the cupboard but only dragged out Anne. They had not seen me and Suyi. Anne begged as they raped her, but they only laughed." her hands shook as her eyes reddened in anger.
"She soon went silent. She no more made a sound, Little Jun. I thought she had died and peeped from the crack. Her eyes,..Little Jun, she was looking right at me." tears started to run down her pale black cheeks.
"She was looking right at me when he placed his gun inside her and.." Mary Wu started to choke. Her ragged breathing alarmed Jun. he grabbed her hand and knelt before her. "Breathe Aunt Mary." he tried to calm her down, "Listen, its birds; such sweet sound, right Aunt Mary?"
"Birds, whiteheads; yes. What sweet sound." her vision started to clear.
"Breathe. The police finally came right? They came and saved you and Suyi. You were saved." he said, looking into her pained eyes with complicated ones and spoke softly.
"You are safe, Suyi is safe." he repeated till she calmed down. He then helped her into bed, tucked her in and sat beside her.
"You overcame all that, you raised Suyi to become a strong woman, you supported the family in china on your own and sent me to school. Aunt Mary, it all turned out well." he said and she nodded.
"Grand Uncle Tian loved you and Suyi very much."
"He used to call me his pearl." she said and he paused slightly.
"Yes, the black pearl of little creek." he said slightly solemn and her eyes flashed in surprise.
"How..?" she started to ask.
"He had sent letters to great grand ma in china about you." His deep eyes watched her and she smiled at this.
"Rest, we will talk more tomorrow." he gave the back of her hand a light pat before getting up. She watched him close the door behind him, before closing her eyes to sleep.
Jun walked away from the closed door before pausing slightly and looking back. One could not truly tell what the look in his eyes meant.
"Is she asleep?" the woman said from the corner.
"She just laid down a bit." he answered and she sighed slightly.
"You are here, so she may rest much better. Since Miss Suyi got married, she has not had anyone to talk to." she said, "Let me show you to your room."
He nodded and followed her up stairs to the second floor. She showed him to his room at the far end of the east wing. He walked in and saw his luggage already beside his bed.
"Thank you?" he said.
"Anne." she answered with a smile and he nodded.
"Thank you Anne." he said.
"Dinner will be ready soon. Be down by six." she said and left, closing the door behind her. He looked round the room before going for his luggage. After arranging his cloths in his wardrobe, he took a shower and laid down a bit. It did not take long for sleep to tempt him into its embrace. He woke up to ringing and shot up from bed slightly. He looked at the clock on the wall to find it was six. He went down stairs and traced the dining room. When he walked in, he found his aunt already seated and Anne entering from the opposite door with a casserole.
"Little Jun, come sit." Mary Wu said and Jun took a seat opposite her. Anne placed the casserole down and made a plate for Mary before taking her seat beside her.
"Thank you, Anne." she said and started eating. Jun made himself a plate and started to eat. For some reason, he felt Anne was quite familiar. He kept glancing at her as he ate then paused by the picture of young Mary Wu behind her.
"Anne, where are you from?" he asked.
"I don't know. Mrs. Wu found me at an orphanage in Kent and brought me home." she said.
"I'm sorry." he said and she laughed slightly.
"She has been my foster mother for as long as I can remember." Anne said.
"Doesn't she look like me in my younger days?" Mary Wu asked excitedly, "The government had just started to debate better integration of Asians that year. A black woman single mother of an Asian child, they paraded me as the only Bailey incident survivor. They took me to Kent to open a charity in your Grand Uncle's name. I paid a visit to the orphanage and saw her." Mary Wu said.
"It is good you found me Mary, who knows where I would have ended up if not." Anne said and Mary smiled indulgently.
"Anne; after the maid who saved your life." Jun said with a smile.
"Yes." Mary nodded, "she had no family, no one to remember her."
Jun looked between them for a few seconds and continued eating, his thoughts conflicted. As dinner continued, Mary asked more of his school life and he indulged her with answers. His stories were wild and lively, cracking up the entire table. After dinner was done, Anne cleared the table and he helped his Grand Aunt back to her room. After tucking her in, he left her to sleep to the sounds of whiteheads. He was worried about her health. She moved slowly, as though her entire joint hurt. He had to find time and look into that. As he left her room, he could not help feeling as though watched. He closed the door behind him and went out just in time to see Anne leaving.
"You don't stay around?" Jun asked her.
"No, I live in a cottage on the south side of the property." she answered. Jun pulled out his phone and stared at the transparent squared device with a sigh. He tapped on the surface and it sprung to life.
"No signal in the house?" he asked. Anne chuckled as she tied her scarf.
"Mary never liked those things. She picked this place because of this. No TV, no internet, no signal, no phones, oh, except the one in the east sitting room. The thing is ancient but you can still make calls. That's why I don't live here." Mary said and opened the door.
"Goodnight." she greeted and he nodded.
She closed the door behind her and before he turned away, he heard a click sound and paused. She locked it? He went towards the door and found the door easily opened from the inside.
He made his way towards the east wing, trying to find the sitting room she had spoken off. After a while getting quite lost, he found a sitting room he was not quite sure was the one she had been referring too and paused. Not all rooms were lit so he had to take a lamp with him. Almost about to move on, an ancient telephone by the corner told him which sitting room this was. He looked at the buttons and pulled out his phone. With his phone for memory, he keyed in the number he wished to call and picked the phone from its rest.
After a few rings, the other side picked.
"Hello?" a groggy voice answered.
"Hey" Jun asked.
"Jun! What happened man? You were supposed to call me hours ago." the person answered.
"There is no signal in the house; I had to some use some ancient thing." Jun answered.
"Jun, so how is your famous grandaunt? Does she sound like she does on TV?" he asked and Jun sighed.
"She sounds like a normal grandaunt; old and filled with stories." he answered.
"You've gotta take a picture for me, man. I told my Ma that my best friend is a Wu and she did not believe it."
"Did you ask you Ma about what I told you or did you immediately go out for some party the moment you got home?" Jun asked.
"If I went out, I wouldn't be back at this time. I would have, but my Ma's is the famous dragon ears, man. You move and she can hear you, no matter how big the house is."
"So, did you ask her?" Jun asked impatiently.
"Yeah, I said it was for you and she asked how a Wu would not know such a thing and did not believe me."
"Focus."
"That's what I'm saying man, My Ma says the black pearls of Little creek are only three in the world. They are famous because they were mined black but when some idiot polished them, they were white inside."
"White?" Jun frowned.
"Yea, word is, it was black because of the oil spill that had filled the creek during the oil war, killing all the oysters. When someone pulled out three pearls from the creek three hundred years after the solar revolution. The old man made a big deal out of it, but very few people have actually seen the black pearl. He gave the Russian president passing by or something."
"Myth." Jun scuffed.
" Man, you should just ask your aunt this, should she have one?"
"Why?"
"After the fifth great war, Russia gave New America one. Ma says that the government gave your grandaunt theirs after she survived the barley incident. Oh Yeah, did you ask your grandaunt all the juicy details about the incident? I'm on the side that believes that the incident was not an Asian rebel attack. Your grandaunt should know?You live on a farm, Jun. birds singing at night?" At the words spoken from the other side, Jun paused. He could also hear the sound of birds over the phone, but none in the sitting room.
"Whiteheads.." he whispered and immediately a light click sounded over the phone.
She was listening, Jun thought as he immediately put down the phone.
The house seemed to go still. The lack of noise at that moment seemed to make Jun's spine crawl. A lot of thoughts went through his head. But the one that bothered him most was the feeling of danger that rang in his mind. He rushed out of the room towards the staircase forgetting the lamp. In his hurry, it was quite hard to figure out which staircase led to his room. He needed to get to his documents. Just then, he heard a door open on the other side of the house and he stilled. Slowly and stealthily, an attempt to mimic those trained for war, he moved away from the light of the other room; his greatest fear, the squeaking wood floors under his feet. He felt that someone was coming closer so, he stopped breathing, paused in place behind the staircase; the lit lanterns, doing nothing to reveal his figure to the night.
Right then, a thought crossed his head, why was he hiding? There were quite many ways to translate the mystery of the black pearl.
"Aunt Mary?" he called out into the darkness, but no voice answered.
"Aunt Mary is that you?" he asked and right that moment, he heard a loud crash through the other door and he rushed towards it.
"Aunt Mary, are you okay?" he ran into the next room to find a music box fallen on the ground, with his Aunts' bent figure looking down at it with pained eyes.
"Are you okay?" he rushed to her side and helped her to stand straight.
"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked.
"I came to find you." she said and he froze slightly.
"You were listening to my conversation." he said wearily.
"You should not blame an old woman for her bad habits." she said, allowing him to lead her to sit down. "You are asking about the black pearls? Why?"
"Those pearls have a history to it, Aunt. It came up in our research of the war. I asked my friend to look into it. You have one black pearl? Can I see it?" he asked in fascination. The old woman chuckled at his behavior, "Sure. Tomorrow, I will show it to you." she said and he nodded. Silence returned as the two sat without a word for a long minute.
"Jun, something tells me you are not only interested in the bailey building for a project." Mary said, "You should not be looking into these things, Jun. It is dangerous." she said and he frowned.
"Things are not as you hear in the books." she said and Jun pushed his chair closer.
"Aunt mary, this is only for a school project, yes. But I found some things fishy. That is why I looked into it more and you are the only survivor of that incident." he said and she sighed.
"I was hiding for most of the incident. But, they did not find me in our home. I had come out with Suyi to make an escape. The things I saw.." a look of pain flashed though her eyes.
"Aunt?"
"The way they moved through the place searching every face, dead or not, they had to be looking for someone." she said.
"Who?" he moved closer.
"Anne. They say otherwise but when I led them to my building and they saw her lying on the kitchen floor they stopped looking. The people that died, Jun." she shivered slightly.
"It was not a foreign raid or Asian rebels but the government? How? Why?" he asked.
"I don't know. They said that I would be the mascot. Survivor?" she scoffed, "No, they let me live. They wanted someone to carry around to support their reform. My identity, a black woman married to an immigrated Chinese was just right and Suyi was alive, perfect." she sneered darkly as she spoke.
"The people who came in to rescue the building from the so called rebels were but reinforcement, not the police. That captain stone; I can't believe he was hailed a hero to the end." she scoffed.
"You are no more their mascot, Aunt. They can't force you."
"You think so? I live as a symbol of good administration. Every time I step out that is what I stand for." she chuckled darkly.
"What about Anne? What was so special about her? Did you later find out?" he asked.
"I moved around a lot. I heard talks; a dangerous spy, they said. Word is, she sneaked into America at the end of the oil wars. She was trained to stay in plain sight."
"Is it alright for you to know this?" he frowned.
"Just as it is not alright for you to be asking about this; Do you want to become like your uncle? You don't know how hard it was working with those who killed him. I got the family this far. Don't let your curiosity ?." her red eyes struck him a stern look.
"You are portrayed to be brave, Aunt Mary. The opposite is what I see." he laughed slightly.
"Jun!"
"Grand Uncle was your husband, how could you not even try to avenge him?" he asked and she stood slowly.
"My mother made me a bracelet once. She had heard that Kuni Jeans were quite expensive. So she went to the factory while she was pregnant with me and climbed the iron fence, stole scraps of Kuni and brought back home to make a bracelet. Good luck for her daughter, her daughter will be able to brave the world to touch gold someday, quiet yet strong. Who says, staying quiet and doing as told is not brave? It takes a certain kind of person to suppress their anger and look ahead." she said and turned back to gaze at him with sad eyes.
"You should go to bed, aunt. It's late." His deep eyes smiled and she nodded.
"We should both go to bed." she said and started walking away before pausing, "The staircase to you room is that way." she said and he chuckled in embarrassment.
Jun moved upstairs in regulated steps. With a look, one could not tell what was going on his in mind till he reached his room and shut the door. He took off his shoes slowly and placed them by the door, before he moved towards his bed in haste. He hurriedly placed his research and important documents out on the bed then rushed to the wardrobe and hurriedly emptied one of his smaller bags, before returning to the bed and throwing everything in. He grabbed the bag and towards the door and slipped on his shoe. As he bent to tie his shoe lace, he heard creaking and paused. Though subtle, he could still hear it because of his proximity to the door.
She was coming.
Realizing he could no more go out through that door, his mind spun. The staircase was the only way to get down from his room. He glided towards the window to try and manage the creaking of the floor boards and opened it. He found that the only way was to jump down. But from the third floor and the bottom shrouded in night, his chance of surviving the jump was low. He did not have that much courage either. He hurriedly poked his head out to glance at how far the window next door was. He had to take the chance.
Not thinking too hard, he stepped on the window edge and stretched to reach the next one. If he understood this floor right, the next door should have its own private staircase down. The segmented nature of this house may have just save his life as he found his grip on the next door window and slid it open as quietly as he could slipped in.
He could feel his hands shaking as he crouched down on the floor. He did not take the time to take a breath as he navigated through the dark to the door, opened it in haste and hurried down the staircase. He knew at this moment that he was making a lot of noise, but he was betting on his youth and speed to escape before caught. As he reached the second floor, he felt pain slice past his skin as something barely missed his cheek.
Fear gripped his heart, not allowing him time to stay and find out what it was. A figure loomed over him suddenly, and he crouched, tripped and rolled down the remaining steps, crashing into table legs. Lacking the time to take in his surroundings and process the pain on his arm, he scurried up from the floor in a hurry just in time to be missed by a descending hammer.
The dark room seemed to protest his movement, placing obstacles in his way.His hand felt his way through the room clanking on things as he passed and like ghost hunting, the figure was not far behind either.
He could already guess where he was from slamming into things; the Kitchen. His hands felt around even more frantically, slamming into the pots and the next second, a descending hammer missed his chest but caught his arm. As he grunted and crouched, his hand landed on what felt to be the switch to a stove and he turned it on. The burner sprung to life with fire, illuminating the face of his Grand Aunt as she swung her hammer again.
This time, he was not so quick, allowing it to descend on his shoulder. The strike resonated through his shoulder blades down his chest making him scream in pain and kick out his legs to push her back, but she only caught it with ease at her midsection and struck the leg with the hammer in hand and his scream echoed through the room.
Even with the pain, his blood pumped twice as hard. He was sure of one thing; she was going to kill him. He stretched his hand or the nearest thing and a metal bin came into hand. Without thinking, he struck her looming face. Once was not enough as he struck repeatedly and quickly, till her grip on his legs, lessened, allowing him to scurry away in panic. He retreated till his back hit the cupboards and it sprung back lightly. At that moment, without much thought, he pushed the doors open and crawled in before closing in haste.
He found at that moment, that he was in a large pantry. He hurriedly felt around for something to wedge between the door handles and grabbed a wooden spatula from a box nearby and secured the door, just in time for his aunt to try breaking in. Her heavy pounding as she tried to open the door seemed to echo the pounding from his chest. He hurriedly felt around the door for lock, but there was none, so he felt around the walls for a light switch then realized that he had not seen lights used during dinner. As night came, candles and lamps were lit. At the thought of why, he shivered lightly. This woman was too paranoid. Feeling round the boxes, for a match box, he found a lighter and clicked it on. It looked like something used to light lambs as it had a long nozzle. Small light illuminated the room allowing him to see a metal free standing bread shelf in the corner.
He hurriedly crawled forward and dragged it screeching on the wooden floors towards the door with all his strength. His legs hurt from the strike before, not allowing him to stand well, but he willed himself up and pushed till the shelf wedged close the door.
The pounding did not stop, so he knew she was determined to drag him out of there.
"Grand Aunt Mary!" he called, "Or not, that is not your name is it? You are not Mary Wu, are you?" he asked and the pounding seized as though confirming his word. To this, he chuckled.
"I can't imagine how easy it was to take up that name for this long. My guess is, the one they saved from the Bailey incident was not Mary Wu, but an imposter. Tell me I'm wrong." As he spoke, for the first time he could feel the sweat soaking his back, as his chest heaved trying to catch his breath.
"Your tenacity Jun; admirable." he heard her aged voice from outside and chuckled. There was not even a hint of stress when she spoke. Nothing of the tired old woman remained.
"Military trained; you have to be." he said, "Which country? I refuse to believe that America set up that entire incident to deceive their own." To this she chuckled lightly.
"Why are you hiding, Jun? I have always answered your questions. I just came up to check on you and you ran." she said, a hint of mockery in her voice.
"Oh? So you are saying if I was in bed sleeping, you would have let me go? Aunt, your lies are not consistent. You gave a sob story about your mother and those Kuni jeans. You did not realize that Kuni was introduced into the British market after the liberation. It did not have any factory till you were eighteen, unless aunt lied about her age. When you figured out you made a blunder to a history student, you came for me." he seemed amused by the entire situation. He had thought she would not realize she had made a blunder till he left the property.
"If I am not Mary Wu, who am i?" she asked.
"I too wish to know where my grandaunt is." he paused at the sight of the tool box in the corner and crawled over. Opening it, he saw a hammer much like that she had used on him, inside and took it out. The other side was silent. She had not said a word for a while.
"It was said that Mary Wu came out of that Bailey incident the survivor that brought together the nation." he chuckled, "If a foreign spy replaced her, can you imagine the amount damage that has been done by now?"
"You are in no position to be threatening, Jun." he could hear her approaching as she spoke.
"The nation worked hard to handle the rebels, trusted her so much, they held her to the skies, the height she would have to fall-"
"To the skies? Worked to repel rebels?" she scoffed. "Oh little Jun, there were no rebels." he could hear the metal hinges being unscrewed from her side, causing him to hurriedly feel round the door. Wasn't such a hinge to be on his side? As she unscrewed nails, he moved to feel for what she did on the other side. Suddenly, the wall beside the door was ripped from its sides. He blanked slightly. Not the door hinges? He panicked and kicked the wall and with it, the person on the other side. Not bothering to find out her state after his kick, he dashed across the kitchen dragging his injured leg. As he ran, he could feel his blood as it pumped in his ears.
He could not hear anyone following him behind, yet he did not stop. He was injured and she was not; he did not dare to stop. He was not sure where he was running to, as he took a sharp turn just in time for a knife to fly past his face nicking his ear in the process. He ducked and slide behind a wall, crouching down to make himself less visible. In the silence, he could hear her footsteps on the creaking floor boards.
"Come out, Jun. Don't make this harder." she said and he froze, slowing his breathing as much as he could. That she had talked meant she too could not see well in the dark. She must have been following the noise he made as he ran. As he tried to make as little noise as possible, he realized her accent was odd.
"You can't fight me, they could not; you can't." she said and he opened his mouth to ask when he froze. He must be stupid. She too must also think him stupid to play at his curious mind. That is why she was talking. He would not be able to hold down his curiosity and will talk giving away his position. His blood chilled at the thought of how well she knew him.
"That night, they came just like I did. Not rebels, Jun. the government. They attack an entire civilian building to kill one person. Do you think they are good? Do you think if you leave this place you will be able to tell your story, your discovery? Come out little Jun, let us figure this out." she said.
Jun tried hard to not be distracted by her words. What did she mean by those words? Her hunting him was one thing, but saying he will not be safe as long as he knows the story is another. What was this accent she was using? He could not place his finger on it.
"Anang, it is Anang." he looked up and she was standing right before him, making him realize he must have thought out loud. Without thinking, he struck towards her with the hammer in hand. She but swayed slightly out of the way and he missed. He felt, a sharp object descend upon his back and pain tore through him as it pierced deeply into his skin. No time to process the pain, fear controlled his mind and he struck at her chest and her hand holding the knife into his back weakened and let go. He staggered slightly and truck again, not giving her time to think. But she was much more experienced than he was. Her fist connected with his mid section, causing him to crouch in pain only to receive her knee to his head in the process. His head felt numb. He retreated slightly and his leg connected with nothing, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs.
It was a miracle his consciousness remained after the fall, as he heard her descend while he laid face down trying to get up. He crawled down slowly to escape from her. The smell of the room told him they were in the basement. She reached him easily at the bottom of the stairs and unplugged the knife from his back, allowing pain to rip through him. His groan tore through the dark, but fear did not allow his heart to rest. He felt death hover over him as he crouched like a child to his side. Seeing her stab at him again, he threw out his good leg in defence, connecting with her midsection, causing her to fall hard on her back. Hearing her groan, he tried to stand; unaware he was soaked in his sweat from fear.
Propping himself to sit up, he saw her still lying on her back unable to move. "You still are an old woman." he said between breaths. He felt his way through the dark, looking for something while she was down. He pulled himself up and retreated without turning his back to her. He dared not look away from this angel of death. He felt his hand connect with cold metal. From the shape of what he held, it was the handle of a spade or shovel. Grabbing the long body, he approached her again on the stairs.
"What is it Aunt, broke you hip?" he asked at her still figure in the dark. Slight moonlight shun in through the small basement window, just enough for him to see that she had not moved from her spot. He feared she was pretending to lure him in so he stood quite away and struck at her chest causing her to groan. At his distance he could not reach her head like he had hoped, he trotted forward and struck quickly multiple times till he saw that she was no more moving. He could not relax. A part of him wanted to kill her, but he could not bring himself to. He hurriedly descended and felt around or some lighting. After a minute or so, he approached a table with a lamp and struggled to light it. Soon, light from the lamp flooded the dark basement. He looked back hurriedly to find her still unconscious. He could not waste time. He needed something to tie her with. She soon found ropes and returned in a hurry. Afraid she would wake soon, he tied her hands and feet tightly together before sitting on the ground below the staircase. He took in breath after breath to clam himself. His mind was starting to blur. He knew it was the wound on his back, but he could not deal with it.
He looked up from the ground and was startled by her cold eyes staring at him.
"You are awake." he calmed his heart with difficulty. He was not sure how long he had been sitting down, but she woke up a little bit too fast. He had struck her face and forehead quite a few time and had hoped somewhere in his heart that she had died.
"You are stupid."
"I am not a killer." he said, "Not like you."
"Not like me?"
"A Nigerian spy hunted by the government. You expect me to believe you did not kill off those who hunted you?"
"As shocked as I am that you even recognize Anang is a Nigerian language, I'm more shocked at how much trust you hold for the government of this country. They did not mind a few Asians dying, why would they mind dying themselves?" she groaned on the stairs.
"Sure, they killed Asians that day." he scoffed.
"How do you think those in the bailey building died?"
"How did you live?" he asked after a moment of silence.
"After my maid was killed, I came out to hunt. I fought my way out."
"You expect me to still believe you really are my aunt?" he chuckled.
"I did not say so."
"No, you said you were hiding with the baby while they raped the maid. It can't be that you switched with my aunt long before the incident; I don't believe it. From this entire story, the only time you would have had the chance to switch with my aunt was during the raid. You were there and you knew them, to know so much about my grand uncle and enough about my grand aunt to replace her." he paused as though thinking, then looked at her in realization.
"You were the maid, Anne. It makes sense; you lived with them, you knew them more than anyone. You took grand aunt's identity, and took Suyi with you. They did not doubt you. People died to solidify your identity. You became a symbol for both the Asian and black community. The government killed those there and let you live as a puppet. You adopted a child that looks like you and named her Anne. Looks too much like you, one could even say you were the same one who dropped her at the orphanage and came back to pick her as someone else." He said.
"You are smart, Jun. but is this a good thing?"
"They used you, the very spy they came to kill. But it was not much of being used was it? Because of your identity, you gained access to a great many secrets right, how?"
"How? Have you not figured it out? That aunt of yours watched though the kitchen cupboard as they raped me. The look in her eye, she liked my pain. She was happy at the sight. I could have killed those soldiers, but I did not know they were there for me, so I tried to maintain my cover. I let them touch me. I remained a weak woman till I realized why they were there. They did not mind talking about the search. I had a gun in my mouth, there was no way I had any advantage. But they were distracted too. They were easy to kill."
"How did you take her identity?"
"I put a bullet through her brain, that's how?"
"There is no way the system did not know you were lying about who you are."
"Of course, they would not. Not for a while. I entered that cupboard in her place with Suyi and told them I was Mary Wu, by the time the police arrived. To cover up that the rebels were soldiers, they pulled attention to me, Mary Wu; the bailey building survivor. It was enough distraction; enough time to clean up all loop holes to solidify my identity. In that time with the technology of the north distrusted so much, it was easy. Just paper. Paper can burn. Many sinned that day, not just me."
"Uncle?"
"He died just like I said. He went out to find out what was happening and did not return."
"You've said a great many things aunt, very few are true."
"I've also spoke many truths in very little said."
"I want to know, truly. What happened that night? Why did the government sacrifice that many people to catch you?" he asked and she stared him straight in the eye without a word for enough time that he sighed and got up. He took the lamp with him and crossed over her and walked away. Even after he had left the basement and walked far into the house, silence alone followed him till he heard the footsteps from afar following in haste and he immediately broke out in a limping run. He could but drag his leg behind him and dash for the front door as fast as he could. In haste he opened it and slammed it close running for his car a bit away.
Panic filled him as he reached the car and heard the sound of the front door bursting open behind him. His heart in his stomach, his pain forgotten, he tore open the door and sat in. He had a clear mind to know to lock all the doors as he pressed the start button just in time for his window to shatter with one heavy strike of the butt of a vintage hunter's gun.
The moon light lit up its shape in the dark as it descended on his head missing his temple to his panicked foot on the gas. The car dashed forward, but the figure held on strong, Jun panicked and tried to shove her off. The third strike came, this time, it did not miss. Though weaker from the unbalance posture of clinging to a moving car, Jun felt his vision blur slightly as he reached out one hand to fight her off.
His left hand grabbed the gun as the two struggled; his hand to the handle and she bends it slightly to the side, his finger slips to the trigger guard and in haste he pulls the trigger letting of a loud shot randomly into the air. She moved to strike again and he took his right hand off the wheel to catch the wooden butt heading for his face. She pulls the steering to the right and the heavy duty pick-up truck slammed into a tree.
His ears buzzing, Jun stumbled out of the car into the woods dragging one leg behind him. He was sure of one thing; she did not want to shoot. The noise was deafening and would attract people. Even though he had let out one shot by mistake, the odds of someone hearing and coming over was slim. She wanted him to die quietly.
"That day, your aunt dragged her body around just like this. That pitiful look in her eye was disgusting. You were raised by my daughter, little Jun, stand and fight!" he could hear from her voice that he was leaving her behind. The woman, no matter what kind of experience she had, was old and had injured her hip. This was his chance. No matter how curious he was. He would not be stupid again. If he stopped, he would die.
"The slow painful death was her punishment. Thou shall not lie; yet she had sold me out, she told them I was there. Thou shall not bear false witness; she heard the government was purging spies on the news, so she thought to have me killed as a suspected spy. How could she have known she was right? Thou shall not kill; she knew what was coming, yet she still let him go out to the danger. Just because his eyes started to wander, just because his soul may have lost luster in lustful sin, she let him die. In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; that look in her eyes, she knew! She knew!"
Maybe the pain was getting to her head, causing slight madness to spill these to the night, but he was not stupid, he would not stop to ask, no matter how deranged her thinking became, no matter how justified she felt her actions were, today, he only cared to live.
He dragged forward till his ragged breath was all he could hear. Hearing nothing only caused his panic to rise. He paused to look back, just in time to see the gun swing for him and he ducked. Not connecting with the target, she lost her balance and fell down hill. She struggled to steady her body, but her hip stiffened further allowing her struggle fruitless as she slammed against a tree. Her arm numbed from the impact. She knew without looking, she had broken her arm.
Jun found the gun in the leaves under bright moonlight and approached in haste. He closed in, aimed and fired. He needed no telling that he had missed. Closing in, he fired again and heard her groan. Unsatisfied, he shot again and heard her wince. The moment he finally stood before her, she swept his feet from under him and he fell unto her.
Fear did not gain time to grip him before she hooked her arm around his neck and squeezed tight. Jun struggled hard trying to get her arm from around his neck.
"Do you know how hard it is to steal an identity? Do you know how many had to die that night for this Mary Wu to live? You dare call me a killer? I was trained to invade not massacre two hundred people. Oh, more than that, I forgot the soldiers." Her voice through the pain sounded slightly mad to Jun, "I had to get creative. Burning in mass, knives, a simple slit of the throat, the guns helped too. I was running out of ideas. It was easy, yes, they were mostly civilians, but they were many, too many. I killed till my hand hurt, little Jun. I thought they would never end. My hands were sore days after I was done." she seemed to relive the day as her voice felt slightly off in the night, or could be an illusion to lack of oxygen to his brain?
Jun no more struggled from her grip, but felt around her, till he felt warm sticky liquid on her other arm. One grab and he had found the wound. He pressed with all his might upon the wound hoping for her grip to weaken, and it did slightly; just in time to take a deep breath, enough for his brain to reboot. He felt greatly dizzy, he almost believed she wrapped her hand protectively over his shoulder and he heard the sound of sirens from afar or saw touch lights flash down from the top of the hill. The light rolled around a bit searching for them and he almost raised his weak hands to scream for help.
"Over here!" Mary's cracked voice sounded the moment the light hit them.
"Jun hold on, the police is here. Hold on jun." he thought he had heard wrong, he thought the world had gone mad until the torched pointed directly at his face.
"Ma'am, are you okay?"
"Jun, call someone. Jun?" Jun could barely feel his head. The frantic calling of Aunt Mary disturbed him greatly. He was at a cross road. The realization that hit him shook him. He should not have known. Now that he knows, he cannot tell. Her iron grip around him was a threat and an opportunity.
"Ma'am, calm down, the ambulance is coming."
"Jun?"
June swallowed. There was never a choice, there was only one path.
"Aunt Mary, I'm fine. Breathe Aunt Mary, breathe?" he croaked.
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