Bitter Winds (27 page)

“I’m so sorry, Ye Ye.”

Benfu immediately felt ashamed at his burst of anger. “No, Lily, I’m not angry at you. I just can’t stand the thought of that boy taking advantage of you because you can’t see.”

“I don’t think it had anything to do with her ability to see or not see,” Linnea said. “He would’ve done the same thing to Ivy. He was obviously after the violin from the start.”

“But—” Benfu was interrupted by Li Jin as she made her way into the kitchen.

“
Aiya,
I really overslept. But what’s going on?”

“That new friend Lily made wasn’t really a friend. He swindled her out of the violin,” Linnea said.

Li Jin dropped into a chair at the table. “Oh no. But how? Why the violin?”

“We were working together to find a buyer for it. I was going to use the money to pay Ivy’s fine and get her home.”

Li Jin dropped her head in her hands and mumbled something.

“What did you say?” Calli asked.

“
I said
, you didn’t have to try to sell the violin because I got the money for Ivy’s fine last night.”

At the counter, Lily’s face transformed and she threw her arms around Linnea. “She got it! Li Jin got the money! Ivy can come home. Let’s go right now, Ye Ye, come on.”

“Hold on, there. Where did you get that kind of money, Li Jin?” Benfu asked.

Li Jin sat up straight and Benfu saw her take a deep breath and pull her shoulders back. “Sami and I went to a shadow lender, like we talked about.”

Benfu felt a rock of dread forming in his stomach. He thought he had successfully discouraged that idea when it had come up. What had his daughter done? Did she even realize the scope of making a deal with those sorts of people? And there was only one thing she could’ve exchanged. He ran his fingers through his hair a few times before looking up to see Lily making her way around the counter and starting down the hall.

“I’m going to change and get my shoes on. Ivy’s coming home! Hurry up, everyone.”

“We’ll be ready in just a minute, Lily. Let me talk to Li Jin first,” Benfu called to her, then turned his attention to his other daughter. “You gave them the deed to Rose Haven, didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t
give
him anything. He’s holding it until we repay the loan. And I got enough to get Sky out, too. We borrowed thirty thousand.”

Thirty thousand?
Benfu shook his head. How would they ever get their hands on that kind of money? He held his tongue. He was afraid to ask about the conditions of the loan, the interest, and even the time allowed for repayment. It wouldn’t do any good to scold Li Jin for her actions. She was a grown woman, and after all, Rose Haven was technically her place. And she’d just jeopardized it for Ivy—for their family. Wasn’t that what he’d wanted, for her to finally feel like she was a part of their family? Well, she’d just proven her loyalty, not just to him, but to her sisters and herself. He swallowed back a lump in his throat. He wouldn’t let her see how moved he was by what she’d done.

“Baba, I know you’re worried. But I got an idea while we were there. You know that empty building we’re using for storage right now?”

Benfu nodded. The least he could do was to hear her out.

“It’s just wasted space. But we can turn it into a hostel and start bringing in money right away. It doesn’t have to be fancy; our customers will be foreign backpackers and university students traveling around China. I was up half the night when we got home, talking it over with Sami. I know exactly how to do it.”

A hostel? Benfu had never considered that before but it made sense. Right now he was opening his doors to people for free—but there were those out there who could pay for a safe bed and shelter over their heads for a night or two. It might just work.

“A hostel sounds like a very good idea, don’t you think, Benfu?” Calli asked. “I mean, we’re already in the service business, we might as well start a side we’ll be paid for.”

“How much time do we have to pay back the loan?” Benfu asked.

He could see Li Jin shift nervously in her chair before she answered him. “Four months.”

He took a deep breath. “That means we’d have to work really fast to even have a chance at this. We need to clean the building and paint it. Buy bedrolls and blankets. Oh—and we need to get approved for a permit—and that might take forever.”

“Jet’s father can help with that,” Linnea said. “Calm down, Ye Ye. We can do this.”

Benfu’s mind was swirling with possibilities and instant lists of what would need to be done to make the building habitable. There’d need to be two areas, one for men and the other for women. There was an old bathroom there but they’d need another. And a common area with a television and couches was standard for hostels. And foreigners were needy people, so the place would have to look nice and hospitable. They might even have to offer meals. It was going to be quite an undertaking, but what else could they do?

“This is a good idea, Baba. And after the loan is paid back, the revenue from the hostel will help us take care of those under our own roof—the ones who have nowhere to go or money to get there; the ones who really need us.”

She was right. He’d been spending more and more time worrying about what would happen when he was gone. How they would all survive. This could be the answer.

“Let’s talk more about it this afternoon. Right now we need to go get Ivy and bring her home. Everything else can wait.”

“Mama, just let me go to my room and get the money. I’ll stay and watch Lan until Sami gets up so you, Lily, and Baba can all go.”

“But don’t you want to go with us?” Calli asked.

“No, there’s no more room in the taxi, so I’ll see her when she gets here,” Li Jin said.

“Li Jin, one more thing before we go. I have bad news I haven’t had the chance to share yet,” Benfu said. “Because the officials believe there was an escape attempt, they have raised the fine to twenty thousand. There won’t be enough for Sky, too. I’m sorry.”

He saw Li Jin’s face fall and he was proud of the compassion she continued to show to everyone around her. She composed herself quickly and met his eyes.

“Oh, Baba, that is terrible. But our first priority must be Ivy, I understand,” Li Jin said.

“
Hao le
. Get us the funds then, Li Jin. We need to get going before Lily finds us still standing here talking.” Benfu urged them along, anxious himself to get Ivy out of the clutches of the hospital administration.

I
vy woke up to find Fengniao gone and her Ye Ye’s coat tucked firmly around her. The woman must have taken the blanket, as Ivy felt around her but did not find it. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, realizing immediately her bladder was about to explode. She wasn’t sure if it was day or night, but she was sure she’d finally slept soundly. She last remembered Fengniao rubbing her hair and singing softly. She felt her face burn with shame at the memory. Instead of holding firm to her anger, she had folded in a moment of weakness and allowed her birth mother to break through the walls she’d spent years building. She was glad it had happened in the dark, in a solitary room with no one else to witness it. Still, she felt an instant of regret that the woman was gone before she pushed it back and got her head on straight again.

Throwing the coat off, she crawled over to the door and pressed her ear against it. She hollered out, knowing no one would hear but unable to stop herself. She needed the bathroom.

Standing now, she crossed her legs and bounced up and down. Seriously, she could barely hold it. Her eyes watered as she tried to think of something else—anything else—to keep her mind off her urge to squat. She should never have drunk the milk Fengniao had brought and she didn’t even want to think of the pork and rice. Her stomach was already begging for something new.

Pacing now, she began to replay the previous night in her head. Fengniao had told her more than a few stories of when she and Lily were little. She stopped for a moment, thinking hard. Ivy knew it was impossible, but the woman had sounded as if she held affection for them both. But she had tried to kill Lily, so why did it sound like she had loved her? Ivy felt so confused. She started pacing again.

Strange, for the last few days she’d stopped thinking about home so much. She guessed it was because she knew Lily was safe and that left her to concentrate on just surviving her own experiences. If anything, being away from her family had given her loads of time to think—figure out her life a bit. Maybe even examine all the hurt and resentment she’d been carrying and analyze if it was worth all the energy it took to keep it.

Finally she heard the doorknob turn and the door opened.

“Come on.” A nurse stood waiting in the hall.

Ivy couldn’t make out her face, since she was so blinded by the light, but she could hear and feel the impatience. That was okay, she was a bit irritated herself. The overwhelming stench of hospital cleaner in the hall was like a sucker punch and her stomach rolled.

“Finally. You sure took long enough. I’m about to wet myself.” Ivy squinted in the bright light and held on to the door frame for support as she walked into the hall, then pushed her arms through her Ye Ye’s jacket.

“Oh, I’m not taking you to the bathroom. You’ve been processed.”

With that the nurse turned and brusquely led the way, Ivy following.

“Processed? What does that mean?” Ivy cringed. She didn’t want to go to the reeducation center. She wanted to go back to the room with Mo. There she knew how to keep herself safe.

“I mean discharged. Your fine is paid and your family is here.”

Ivy stopped in midstride and her heart beat rapidly. “Are you telling the truth?”

The nurse continued toward her station. “You’d better hurry before they change their minds.”

“I can really go home?” Ivy muttered, starting after the nurse again.

She looked at every person as she passed, scrutinizing them to see if they were in on some sort of cruel joke and maybe they’d be taking her back to the isolation room after all. A nurse’s assistant passed her, carrying a ceramic urine pot, her face screwed up in a disgusted scowl. An old man pushed a dust mop but he didn’t look up. They all seemed oblivious to her sudden freedom. Ivy felt a tingle run up her spine
. It was real, wasn’t it?
she thought.

Suddenly she remembered the night before and her joy turned to confusion. Should she say good-bye? She hesitated, then took a chance.

“Excuse me, is there any way I could see the patient you call Fengniao?” The least she could do was to tell the woman she was leaving. After the comfort she’d brought her the night before, Ivy owed her at least that.

The nurse stopped. “I really don’t have time for this. Who are you talking about?”

“Her name is Fengniao. She does the laundry for this floor.” Ivy hoped she wouldn’t get the woman in trouble.

The nurse shook her head. “I’ve worked this floor every day for ten years and I can promise you we don’t have anyone by that name.”

The nurse started walking again, and Ivy followed. She was confused. Why didn’t the nurse know who Fengniao was?

“Just one more question, please.”

At the nurses’ station the nurse used a heavy red chop to stamp papers on her clipboard; then she went around the other side and picked up a plastic bag. She let out an exaggerated sigh.

“What? Last question for the day. Spit it out.”

“When I was caught in the laundry room with my friend Mo, it was the woman named Fengniao who was with us. They would have it in my records, right?”

The nurse looked back at the clipboard and flipped through the papers, reading entries. She finally pointed at one sheet in particular. “It says here that the orderly Cho caught you and another patient—your friend Mo, I assume—hiding in the laundry area. No other witnesses.”

Ivy’s head swam with confusion.

“Can I talk to Mo before I leave? Where have you put her?”

“You can go and meet your family now, or I’ll personally escort you back to the ward to wait another week for discharge. While you’re there you can catch up with your friend Mo all you want. What’s your fancy?” She glared at Ivy.

That was an easy choice. Her loyalty was to her family, not the woman who’d abandoned them so long ago—a woman whom no one else knew of.

“Home.”

“Then take these into the bathroom across the hall and put them on,” she said, handing the bag to Ivy.

Ivy took the bag and looked into it. There she saw the clothes Lily had worn the day she’d been snatched by the police team. With the familiar garments in view, Ivy felt a burst of relief. She was going to get out of there! She turned to the bathroom and practically raced in, almost colliding with another patient shuffling out. The woman wore the same striped pajama clothes and didn’t even lift her head to look at Ivy.

Ivy rushed around her and emptied the bag right on the floor, then quickly skirted into the toilet cubicle and did her business. Breathing a sigh of relief, she emerged and took off her Ye Ye’s jacket and folded it, then gently laid it on the counter. She pulled the thin shirt over her head and threw it down. She untied the drawstring and the pants dropped to a puddle around her ankles. Ivy made quick work of putting on Lily’s clothes and even her shoes that were at the bottom of the bag. Less than two minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom, the jacket in one hand and the soiled but bagged hospital clothing in the other.

“Here are the clothes.” She set them on the counter. She hoped she never again had to see or wear a pair of striped pajamas in her life.

“Let’s go. I’ll transport you to the waiting room. Since you are underage, your family has already paid your fine and signed all the release documents.”

Ivy had forgotten about her empty stomach and even the trauma she’d endured. She was going home! She practically glided after the nurse, stepping into the elevator behind her and crossing her arms over her chest to contain her joy. A small family including a mother holding her sick child and a man with his hand on the attached IV pole stepped back to make room for her.

The elevator seemed to take forever to go the few floors down. Ivy sighed once, twice, then another time before the nurse shot her a scolding look. Then Ivy held her breath as the first-floor number lit up and the doors began to open slowly. Immediately Ivy heard the tail end of a heated conversation between her Ye Ye and the officer who had originally brought her in.

“The government needs to go ahead and pass that law! People need something in place to control these shenanigans from you government officials to prevent you from sending innocent and sane citizens to the mental hospitals. This was a travesty, and you know it.”

The chime indicating the arrival of the elevator stopped any response and the doors opened completely to show Ivy the sweetest sight she’d ever seen. There, standing together, were all her family members, their faces bright with anticipation as they waited to see if she was among the passengers.

Of course, a smile as big as the Yangtze River lit up her Ye Ye’s face and her Nai Nai burst into loud sobs as soon as she saw her. Ivy could see the exact second Lily realized it was her getting off the elevator. Her sister took a step forward and Ivy ran to her, throwing her arms around her. They hugged each other and cried, and a second later were wrapped in the middle of their Ye Ye and Nai Nai’s arms, one big pile of hugging and crying.

“I’m so sorry, Ivy. I should’ve never let you trade places with me,” Lily whispered into Ivy’s ear, through her sobs. She reached up and Ivy felt her hands on her face, searching it to be sure this was really her sister.

“I’m okay. This was the plan and we stuck to it.” Ivy tried to comfort Lily but even she hadn’t known what she was getting herself into. Still, she’d do it again if it meant keeping her sister out of harm’s way.

They all stepped back to give her some room. Ivy put an arm
around her Nai Nai and kissed her cheek, then smiled at the feel of the soft, crinkly skin under her lips. She inhaled the familiar scent and instantly felt reassured.
Aiya,
how she loved the woman!

Her Nai Nai used a crumpled handkerchief to mop at the tears running down her face as she studied Ivy.

“Oh,
Nuer,
what have they done to you?”

Ivy looked down at herself. “What? I’m fine. Just a little rumpled.”

Ye Ye gave her a concerned look. “You look a bit confused. And you’re skinny, girl. Let’s get you home so your Nai Nai can fatten you up.”

“Here’s your jacket, Ye Ye. It kept me warm and gave me a lot of comfort in here.” Ivy passed the jacket back to her Ye Ye and he held it to his nose.

He wrinkled his face. “Whoa, where they been keeping you—the pigpen?”

Ivy laughed and threw her arms in the air. Everything was funny now. She could laugh and run. She was free! She could even go outside to smell the sweet Wuxi air and with that thought, she started leading them toward the door. She was a happy girl—as long as she was leaving the large, cold building. Every other worry could wait. She was going home.