By the time I finished taking a shower the sun had already set. And there went many buses that would run on this side of the street. So, I had to wait for a long time before I got to board a bus.
Walking into the community I got lost walking through the barely lit walkway between two buildings.
What karaoke bar is located in such a gloomy place?
Crickets started rubbing their legs together and cats rustled in the narrow alleys nearby. It's getting colder.
Why is there no one I can ask where the dumb karaoke bar is? what if this was a prank?
Past memories flood into my mind as I recall the many times I was pranked by them. They found it funny to push me into pools, flower me, trip me under the saying that I always let my guard down.
But isn't that why people become close to others? So that they can let their guards down?
A hand touched my shoulder. Looking up I saw it was a fierce looking person with a large scar on his face.
Dressed in skinny black pants, combat boots, a loose military green shirt and the same black mark smeared on the face. He stood a head taller than me.
" Are you Wangkai?" he asked, glancing at me.
" Yes?" i answered.
" Come with me," he ordered.
"Why?"
" I paid and now I leave with the goods," the man said and forced me to walk with him.
I pushed him hand off my shoulder and tried to moved away.
" While I am still being nice you should walk with me honestly,"
" Hey! let him go!"
The person caught his hand and asked," Are you Guan Wu?"
" Yes, What does it have to do with you?"
Without much explanation the person kicked the old man down onto the paved walkway and punched him in the face as I just stood there in shock.
She then stood up and walked over to me," Are you okay?"
It was only then I noticed her face. It had the same black smear as the mysterious dancer that danced at the Victorian house rink.
" Pull out the kerchief in my pocket," he asked.
After a bit of hesitation, I pulled out the kerchief and gave it to him.
" Um thank you for that," I thanked him.
" Don't be, I honestly don't like human traffickers," he used the kerchief to wipe his hands," You don't know what good friends you have."
"They are short on money so they brought you here to see your horse, you should leave,"he looked at the figure wailing on the ground.
" But- I don't have any money, they took my wallet,"
He snorted," Really a pushover, follow me," he threw down the handkerchief onto the man.
Following behind him he led me the bus stop and handed me 50 silver.
" Where is your house?"
" East Earan,"
He frowned," Earan? What are you doing this far?"
" Sleep over,"
" At your friend's house? You mean the one's in the bar?"
I nodded.
Jeremey had been my friend since tenth grade, but it always felt one-sided. It must be due to my desperation for friends because I even kept in contact with him. However, Tang Min and Ricky were a bit different they seemed to always want to break the invisible glass, but Jeremy always stopped it.
He sighed," You are really pitiful,"
Yes, I am.
" Where is the bar?" I turned and asked.
" Where you were is a stop early, it's a place where many people go missing only 3 stops away,"
" Can you take me there?"
" I can." he placed his hands in his pocket.
Following behind him we walked to the Karaoke. As we walked past the alley, I moved a bit closer to him.
" What is your name?" I asked.
" Jiang Didi," he replied.
" Younger brother as in younger brother?"
" Yes younger brother as in younger brother, but not your younger brother,"
" Well my name is Hua Wangkai," I went to shake him hand but his response made me stop.
" I know,"
" You know?"
" Yes, the guy at the bar said it and your pictures are in the newspapers, No surprise,"
He suddenly stopped.
" What is it?" I asked.
" Let's run,"
Without warning Jiang turned and ran away.
Looking in the direction he ran from I realized why he ran. It was the guy from before and some others holding wooden and metal baseball bats stepping out of a grey bus.
Fast down the road like Usain. The two of us ran like idiots side by side.
Seeing that I quickly caught up to her he asked, "Can you go faster?"
"Yes," I affirmed.
Speeding up we quickly reached near the bus stop when Jiang saw a bus. He flagged it down and rushed in as it stopped.
The door closed as we got in.
" Jiang Didi your here in these parts again," The bus driver suddenly spoke to her.
" Yes," she took out her card and swiped it on the machine beside the driver's seat.
Looking outside I didn't see anyone so that means we haven't been chased.
" I though you said you wouldn't fight again?" the driver asked. 'Card accepted.' the machine said and the mini-iron bar that separated the driver side from the passenger side opened.
" No, I just working,"
"Who's your friend?" the driver asked as she stepped up the steps and sat in the seat nearest to the entrance.
"He's a person I just helped," She motioned to the machine, " Pay the silver I gave you."
Without thinking much, I dropped the coins in the machine and sat beside her on the seat.
Taking a deep breath in I laughed as leaned back.
" That was wild,"
She laughed and nodded, "yeah."
" I have seen you dancing, do you have a club?"
" No, I don't plan on doing any professional dancing or anything like that," she looked out the window.
" Well if you could give me some tips I would appreciate it very much," I told her.
" I don't even have a coach or mentor; how can I guide you?" She smiled and took out her phone from her back pocket and plugged her earphone into her ear. " Just stay healthy and go with the flow, that's how I did it."
As I looked at her in disbelief. How can someone do a A4 without a coach? Impossible, I refuse to belief.
" How long were you going to stay with those people anyway?" She asked.
" For a month,"
" Do you like, pay rent to them?"
" Yes,"
" How much?"
" 300,"
" Three hundred dollars?"
" No,"
" Thousand?"
I nodded. To my defense I paid down so that they could renovate and all that and keep my bags out of paw reach. They were real mice when it came to my things.
" If you're all friends, why would they ask for that much?" she asks.
" I don't know,"
" Then do you have a girlfriend?"
" No,"
" Well," he smacked him lips together," I can offer you a cheaper deal, I have a house and there are rooms that no one lives in."
" You could be my housemate for only 300 dollars honestly, I don't mind you living there as long as I get food and you don't bother me too much,"
" Are you serious?"
" Yes, in fact I hardly stay home but I need to eat and all that, and my place needs to be used,"
" Then can I come over today?"
" You can move in as early as you want,"
Outside the window we moved from this quiet flat area passing by the
After a while she tapped my shoulder and stood up. " This is our stop,"
Getting out of the bus she said take care of the driver and we walked up a slight slope and walked on the sidewalk through a quiet neighborhood.
Walking past the houses we walked for a while and before we finally stopped in front of a black gate.
"This is it," she pointed at the house and walked over and opened the gate.
Walked on the path, up the two steps and to the narrow verandah of the house and opened the front door.
" Welcome to my house Wangkai," he opened the door, turned on the light and invited me in.
" You can take off your shoes and put them there," she pointed at the shelf.
As I took off my shoes she pointed at the space behind the wall.
"The room over there is the bathroom," she frowned slightly as if she thought of something unpleasant." You don't have any diseases or illness do you?"
" No, why do you ask? Would you kick me out if I did?"
" No, I would have assigned you a bathroom, but I wouldn't look at you the same way,"
He's quite honest.
We then moved forward into the main space of the house. From here I could see onto the second floor.
" There is a room there and another room over there next to the stair, you can pick one," she pointed at the rooms.
The one in the main space was a sliding door and the one next to the stair was a normal hinged door.
She pointed at the opening. " In there is the kitchen and dining room, you can open the sliding door to go into the backyard,"
From the front door you can see the backdoor and from the back the front.
We went upstairs and there was a big sliding door. " Out there is a balcony." she pointed at the door.
We officially stepped onto the second floor/ 1st floor.
From here we can see downstairs into the main space of the house. There was a hanging gold and glass bell flower chandelier that emitted a soft white light that didn't hurt your eyes glancing at it.
And behind us was a sofa , looking out the window I could see out the backyard and the lights of the town.
" Up here are four rooms and a bathroom, that room with a sliding door is my room,"
" There aren't any beds up here, but empty rooms,"
The floor here is greenwood unlike the naseberry wood floor downstairs.
" Make yourself comfortable, there are drinks in the fridge I'm going to take a shower,"
I nodded and went back downstairs as she entered her room.
Going back downstairs I went into the kitchen.
After entering through the opening, I noted that to the right was the dining area and to the left was the kitchen and an island. If I were to go straight, I would open the sliding door and enter the backyard, as she said.
Curious, I opened the fridge that was beside the opening and examined what's inside. There wasn't much inside except for a few cans of fruit juice, water, eggs, a few vegetables and a slice of strawberry cake. I decided to take one of the cold bottles of water and go sit around the dining table.
I drank silently and looked out the window. Seeing not much but plants I brought my gaze back inside and noticed some pictures mounted to the wall.
Some of a dog, others of a woman and a girl but the most eye-catching one was of a man standing in front of a solid red background under a spotlight, hands in his pocket. He had a wolf cut and stared straight forward with a piercing gaze as if he was looking at me.
And the photo next to it warmed my heart a little. A little shirtless boy with buzz cut hairstyle and a silver chain around his neck stood atop a rock at a river whirling something like a piece of cloth or maybe his shirt in his hand with a big, crooked smile.
Turned around and laid my head on the dining table, a little bored.
Never did I ever imagine I would end up in a situation like this. I should pick up my things from Jermey's apartment tomorrow and confront them.
I wonder if they are okay. Nah, they'll be fine after all they were the contractors.
The fridge suddenly made a squeaking noise it made when I opened it before.
Looking behind, I noticed it was Jiang Didi.
Dressed in gray sweatpants and a black shirt, with a gray towel a top of the wet messy dark hair. But when I saw his face, I was stunned.
I forgot how to breathe.
His eyebrows thick and dark like his hair, near to his upturned eyes that were framed by the dark long eyelashes, his eyes weren't exactly that brown like the rest of us but looked a little gray, his face is a face that could make all the girls and animals go wild, especially weird nymphos who liked the androgynous type. His whole being looked ethereal.
I imagined what he would look like on the rink.
With a face like that, the scary, mysterious effect he gave off in the rink would not be achieved. It would be like seeing a shiny pearl covered in mud.
Giving a warm feeling like seeing the moon you never thought you would see so clearly on a dark cloudy night. But the smear of black on his face at that time took it all away.
I wonder if this was the original intent with the dance but in order to hide his identity, he painted it.
" What are you looking at me like that for?" she asked to take out a bottle of water.
" I-, I was just wondering what the name of your dance was?"
" I didn't name it as yet, but I think it should be called moonlight eclipse,"
" Moonlight eclipse?"
In all honesty it does feel like that, a rainy night full of gloom the moon comes out but it's an unexpected sight to see, the first ever eclipse ever experienced by the people and it made them feel fear and curiosity.
It's like hands have grabbed and covered the moon with evil. Or a pearl that not only has mud on its shell, but the beautiful pure white ball is also smeared, sliding on the ice covered with mud and seaweed in its clam. Personally, I think muddy pearl skipping would be a better name.
" You want something to eat?" he asked.
As if on cue my stomach hurt a little as if a hole was drilled across.
" Yes, what do you have?"
" Well," he opened the cupboard and then went back to the top of the fridge." I've got eggs,"
" Vegetables, like cabbage, carrots, there's pepper, are you allergic to anything?" he asked.
" No,"
" That's good, I'll make us something light, a scrambled egg fry rice mixture combined with vegetables, it will take like half an hour,"
" Okay," I agreed, I can wait half an hour after all it's not the first time I went on fasting diets.
" Let me tell you now just in case you need it in the future. I'm allergic to callaloo. I always throw it up or it just instantly passes out because it's mostly fiber."
" Callaloo? What is that?"
" It was a plant I ate when I went on vacation with my mother once,"
" I don't think that exists here so don't worry too much about that," I reassured her. Ha, Callaloo, never heard of it.
" Is there anything else?" I asked.
" I'm also allergic to a wildflower,"
" What is the name of the wildflower?"
" I don't know its name, but it makes my eyes swell up,"
" Well, I think that it's superficial,"
" It's true, it happened one time when I was in primary school,"
I nodded. " Have you ever thought it was some bug or something else? One time in primary school means it could have been literally anything present,"
" I haven't really thought about that,"
" There are lots of things we never think about, if it was plants you probably wouldn't have as many plants as you have in your house," I commented.
Seriously, this person has plants almost everywhere. I wonder if they are in the rooms as well. Her bed must be surrounded by plants.
She quickly finished making the fried rice and served it.
" Enjoy," she placed a bowl in front of me with chopsticks.
" Thank you,"
" If you want pepper sauce, here," she placed a tall skinny bottle of pepper on the table.
" Ethan pepper sauce?" I read and frowned where in the world did this come from?
" My Dad sent them to me, he currently lives far away but they were my favorite when I lived with him," she told me. " It's not that spicy but it tastes like nostalgia."
I poured some into the bowl, mixed and tasted it.
Slightly spicy, sweet and just fine. It tastes pretty normal to me but i didn't get a sense of familiarity at all.
" I don't taste home," I said, only causing him to laugh as he mixed his food with a bit of sauce.
" This is a taste I liked a lot especially in high school and I still like it,"
" What high school did you go to?"
" The Jean village high school,"
" Isn't that on one of the split islands?"
" Yes,"
" Good for you, able to afford to go to one of those places for education,"
" I did it all with the help of my parents, scholarships and hard work, okay,"
" I see,"
Silence engulfed us as we finished eating.
Finished I stood up," I'll wash the plates,"
" I should," she declined my offer.
" But-"
" Fine then but we should come up with a schedule," she suggested.
Schedule?
" Are you one of those eyes for detail and organized people?"
He nodded," I guess you could call it that,"
Noted. Now I have to walk carefully from now on. Lest I piss him off.
"But I would say aesthetic realistic optimism,"
"..." What?
Optimism and realism in one sentence. Who is he trying to fool?
" What do you mean?"
" I have realistic optimism and by that, I mean like it's like setting goals that are achievable and you are optimistic about it, like this affirmation, I am positive I can buy some Gas tomorrow at the gas station,"
" Why do you want to buy gas? "
" I own a car and a motorbike,"
" Oh,why didn't you cal-"
" They're not electric or self-driving, smart or human so I can't call my bike or car,"
" Oh," silly me.
I took her plate and chopsticks. Bringing them to the wash sink I didn't even bother to use the gloves and just washed them barehanded.
" I guess this is where we split, I'm going up to my room," he stood up and walked out the kitchen. " Good night,"
"Good night," I replied.
"Ohh," he stopped by the opening," we should get your things tomorrow,"
" I was planning to," I
" Then let's meet tomorrow then,"
He waved and walked away as I turned the plates down in the dryer.
Wiping my hand with a towel I walked out the room and decided to sleep in the room with the sliding door.
Jumping into the bed It felt soft.
Wow, I miss this. This bed is nostalgic. Reminds me of my mother her bed was also this soft and cozy.
Without even realizing it I fell asleep.