Kerry Young - Pao

‘What else you know ’bout him?’

‘I’ve heard about two other young girls with whom he was associated.’

‘Associated! You mean this man do it before?’

‘I don’t know that it involved any pregnancy, but I do understand that he has been involved in at least two such liaisons.’

Amazing. You got one doing what he doing with children, and another one talking ’bout liaisons. So I tell Morrison to tell this army captain to come meet me over the Blue Lagoon and to bring the money with him.

‘How much it cost for an abortion anyway?’

‘How do you expect me to know a thing like that?’

‘Well go find out, man, and tell the captain to bring the money in US dollars. I don’t want no pounds, shillings and pence.’

When I meet up with Captain Charles Meacham him look just like I expect him to. Not so much because he tall and broad but because he so straight. He is upright, and stiff like a piece of board. And even though he not wearing his uniform you can tell that he think he rule the whole British Empire. Him alone. And him alone command everything and everybody in it.

He walk up to the table and hold out the money to me. Just like that. He not even got the decency to put it in a envelope. So I just sit there with my elbow on the arm of the chair and my hand on my chin and I tell him to sit down. And even though he look surprise, he do it anyway.

I say to him, ‘It look like you trying to make a bad habit outta this?’

And he look at me and lift up his head and say, ‘I know who you are.’

‘And who is that?’

‘Just some local thug who thinks he has the upper hand and can use it to intimidate an officer of the British army.’

‘So you reckon it working or not? The intimidation thing, I mean.’ Meacham just look at me and put the money on the table and get up and walk out.

When I get back to the shop I tell Finley to go open a bank account for Merleen and put the money in it.

So now we all set with the Cedar Valley thing because when I talk to Merleen she say she happier to think the baby going have a home rather than it not even get a chance to live at all. I tell her she really need to think careful ’bout it because this mean she going have to carry the baby for the whole nine months and she only twelve years old. And she tell me that she think about it and it OK. She done meet with Mrs Morrison and she think she a nice lady. And the doctor seem a nice man too. And they done take her to Cedar Valley and she think the house nice. It in a quiet little valley with a river run through it, and a little river-water swimming pool, and beautiful hills, and sugar cane and orange trees. She think it all going to be just fine. And Mr Morrison being a doctor and all, she know everything going to work out good. So I say OK and then she ask me what she going tell her grandfather and I say to her, ‘Is OK, you don’t need to say nothing to him. I going sort all that out. You just get yourself ready because we going do this soon before you start show.’

But there is no way I can talk to Mr Chin ’bout any of this. Mr Chin is a whole generation older than me. It not seemly for me to go talk to him ’bout anything so personal as his granddaughter’s condition. The only way ’round it is I have to go explain the whole thing to Zhang, because he is the only one old enough and honourable enough to go talk to Mr Chin.

When I tell Zhang he mad as hell. He mad at Meacham, and he mad at Merleen.

‘He beat her? He force her?’

‘No. Meacham tell her she a woman and he treat her like she grown and it make her feel important.’

‘She bad girl?’

‘No, she just young, that is all. She just young and she make a mistake.’

‘And you not know better? Now you mix up in it?’

‘What you want me to do? Just leave the child crying on my doorstep?’

‘You tell her grandfather.’

‘And what you think going happen then?’ And that is when Zhang stop because he know the answer to the question just the same as I know, and Merleen know as well.

‘What captain say?’

‘When she tell him he laugh. But he done pay me the money already so at least he accepting the baby is his.’

Zhang shake his head from side to side and start mutter to himself ‘money, money’ and then he turn and walk off up the yard to his room. And all I hear is his wooden slippers slapping on the concrete path.

When I tell Gloria ’bout it, it turn out that she know about Meacham as well. He ask some girlfriend of hers if she had any girls and when she say yes he say, ‘I mean young, young girls,’ and she say, ‘Go ’way, man, what you think this is?’ and that was the end of it. But she know he was asking ’round the place.

Then she say to me, ‘Is Zhang going help you?’

‘I dunno.’

‘So what you going do?’

And that is when I realise that this time I really done get myself in a jam because there is no way that this can turn out OK unless we can save face for Mr Chin. And Zhang is the only person that can do that.

So the next few days I worry myself sick. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, all I can do is fret ’bout how Merleen belly going start swelling up soon and how everybody going lose face and it being a damn mess. I so worried I even tell Father Kealey ’bout it, which afterwards I think most probably a mistake, but all he say to me is that he will pray for me. And I think well maybe I need all the help I can get.

Then finally Zhang say to me, ‘Chin come dim sum tomorrow. Eleven o’clock. Make sure you here.’

Early morning Zhang get up and prepare everything himself. Chicken soup, glutinous rice and sausage, pork and peanut dumpling, prawn dumpling, roast pork buns, chicken feet, beef and ginger dumplings, choi sum. A feast for Mr Chin.

I don’t know what he say to everyone, but by the time I get up the house is empty. And Tilly and Ma even take Mui with them wherever they gone. I shower and get ready. And eleven o’clock on the dot Mr Chin is at the gate.

Zhang welcome him and we all sit down to eat. Zhang happy and gracious. He waiting on Mr Chin hand and foot. Nothing is too much trouble.

‘More rice, Chin, more pork, more soup?’ Zhang cook enough food for ten people. Then he chat ’bout the news from China and how business is doing in Mr Chin’s bakery now that his son running it for him. Finally, when Mr Chin cannot swallow another morsel, Zhang invite him to walk up to the top of the yard where he has put out a straight-back chair and his own rocking chair under a bit of shade next to the duck pond.

I look at the two of them a walk up the path with their heads bow and I can’t imagine what Zhang going say to him. Then they sit down and Zhang invite Mr Chin to sit in his rocking chair, and the two of them start talk.

They stay up there over three hours, with Zhang motioning to me to bring more tea every time the pot go cold. And when they finish, they walk down the path together to where I am still sitting and waiting.

I stand up when they get to me. Zhang say, ‘Mr Chin’s granddaughter is going away on an educational trip and he would like you to see to the arrangements.’ And that was it. Mr Chin just stand there and nod his head in agreement. And then they bow to each other, slow and low, and Mr Chin walk outta the gate.

Then Zhang look round at the mess of pots and bowls and wave his arm at them and say to me, ‘This need clean up.’ And him turn and walk back up the yard and step into his room taking the rocking chair with him.

Everybody and everything was getting ready. Even the British army decide to leave us in peace. We so happy to wave goodbye to the Royal Hampshire Regiment because it was three hundred years since they been lording it over man and beast and it was well time for them to be gone. That was when Charles Meacham take off as well. So by the time Merleen come back from Cedar Valley Meacham wasn’t there to say no goodbye.