Chook Chook (4 page)

But Cap drew back, his face white. ‘You can't tell
anyone
. Not even your brother.'

‘But I'm sure Guo can help,' I protested, but Cap shook his head.

‘No. They'll send me back to Uncle or put me in an orphanage. Promise me, please.'

I watched him, unsure. I really didn't want to keep secrets from my brother. But Cap was begging me silently – I could see the fear in his eyes.

‘Okay, I promise.'

Before we could say anything else, the door opened. Guo was back.

Chapter Seven

Guo flopped onto the bed with his hands over his eyebrows to shield out the light from the window. He let out a deep sigh.

‘Ma was pretty angry, but she's glad you're safe.' He took his hands away and looked at me. ‘Why do you keep causing so much trouble, Mei?'

I bit my lip, unsure of what to say.

Guo got up. ‘You guys can stay with me tonight. But Jin's coming to get you first thing in the morning.'

‘NO!' I cried. ‘You can't send me back with him. I won't go.'

‘That is
ENOUGH
!'

I froze. I had never, ever,
ever
heard my brother raise his voice. The sound of it made the thin walls of the room tremble. The chooks, who had been shuffling about in the corner, fell silent. I watched Guo pull himself up to his full height, his fists clenched by his sides. My empty stomach was squeezing itself and I felt ill.

‘Mei, that's enough,' he said again through gritted teeth as he tried to keep his voice steady. ‘It's time to grow up and stop being a spoilt brat.' His body stiffened. ‘What would Pa say?'

The tears I'd been holding back dribbled down my cheeks. A sob escaped, then another. I drew my knees up to my chest and cried into them. I couldn't stop. Cap and my brother just stared as I sat on the floor, red-faced, snotty-nosed and bawling. It was Cap who came over and offered me the dirty hanky from his pocket. I blew my nose. The rough fabric scratched my face.

Finally, Guo sat down beside me and wiped my tears away. He tilted my face up and I looked into my brother's eyes. Even though his face was hard and thin, his eyes were warm and gentle, the same ones I had always known. He touched my cheek and gave me a small smile. I threw my arms around him, hugging him tight.

‘I'm sorry,' I whispered so only he could hear.

‘It's okay, Mei. It's okay,' he murmured as he stroked my hair.

After a long moment, I pulled away. Guo stood up again, messing my hair, and I giggled. ‘Alright, I have to study,' he said.

‘Aw, can we play? Cap taught Little such a neat trick.' I wanted to show off her new skills.

Guo settled himself at the desk. ‘You guys play quietly, I have to work.' And he hunched his shoulders over a thick textbook and began to read. I noticed that he mouthed the words, like Pa used to when he read to himself.

Cap and I couldn't leave the room, so we sat on the bed and played noughts and crosses, although Cap insisted that it was called tic tac toe. Cap was really, really good. Often we tied, but he never, ever lost a single round.

‘You're cheating!' I cried as I threw my pencil down and crossed my arms in a huff. I had just lost my tenth game.

Cap smirked. ‘I'm not cheating. There's just certain ways to win.'

‘Oh yeah, show me.'

Cap explained how you could play the game so you would never lose. It was really clever. Even Guo stopped reading for a while to learn.

‘How do you know all this stuff?' I was amazed at how smart he was.

Cap shrugged, like it was no big deal. ‘I saw there was a pattern and worked it out.'

‘That's pretty neat,' Guo said and Cap beamed.

Evening came and Guo snuck us out of the dorm so we could have dinner. We couldn't risk going to the school cafeteria in case someone saw us, so Guo took us to a noodle restaurant nearby. I was super excited. We always ate at home and I had eaten at a restaurant in the village only a few times in my life.

I spent a long time looking at the menu hanging over the counter, trying to decide what to get.

‘Come on, Mei. I have to go back and finish my homework,' Guo grumbled.

Cap and Guo had both ordered a combination noodle soup that came with fish balls, tripe, liver and sheep's intestine. The idea of eating intestine sickened me so I was being extra careful with what I chose. Eventually, I settled on wonton noodle soup with barbecue pork. We sat at the counter of the restaurant with our steaming hot bowls and a plate of salty fried bread Guo had ordered for us to share. I speared a plump wonton with the pointy end of my chopstick and bit into it, licking up the sweet, meaty juices as they dripped down my chin.

‘What are you studying at university?' Cap asked my brother, his mouth full of noodles.

Guo sighed. I realised he looked tired even when he was just talking about his schoolwork. ‘I'm writing a paper about farming and agriculture. But Professor Law is really strict and difficult to please.' He shook his head. ‘It's like everything Pa taught me about farming was wrong.'

I snorted, spraying half-chewed bits of noodle all over the counter. ‘That's impossible,' I said. ‘Pa was the best farmer around.'

Guo stared solemnly into his half-empty bowl. ‘That's what I thought too. But maybe . . .' his voice dropped, ‘. . . maybe the way we've been doing things is old-fashioned.'

I scoffed but I could tell that Guo was lost in his own thoughts. We finished the rest of our meal quietly, except for the sound of our slurping.

Guo hustled us out of the restaurant. Everything in the city looked magical at night. The restaurant signs, the buildings and the grand gated entrance to the university were all lit up by blinding bright lights. We went past a beautiful stone fountain gushing water and it seemed to glow in the darkness. It was like something out of a fantastic dream. But Guo didn't stop to look, not for a second, as he hurried us back through the campus.

As we walked through the main plaza, a high-pitched and nasal voice called out, ‘Mr Lin'.

We turned. A short, plump man stepped out of the shadows. He was dressed in a grey vest and matching trousers and wore thick spectacles. His mouth was pinched towards his nose and he squinted in a way that reminded me of an underground mole.

‘Good evening, Mr Lin,' he said. He walked with surprisingly long strides for a short man. The glow of the streetlights bounced off the dome of his bald head and the soles of his tan shoes clicked sharply against the footpath.

‘Good evening, Professor Law.' Guo bowed his head respectfully, but I could tell from the way he gripped my hand that he was nervous.

‘Out for an evening stroll, are we?' Professor Law stopped in front of us, his hands clasped behind his back as he rocked gently on the balls of his feet.

‘Yes, Professor. It's a lovely night.' Guo's voice trembled when he spoke.

I shrank back when the professor looked at me. ‘And who do we have here?' The professor's eyes were as dark as coal and they looked big and monstrous behind the lenses of his round glasses.

‘This is my little sister, Mei, and her friend. They're here visiting.'

Professor Law raised a questioning eyebrow. ‘I certainly hope they're not staying with you.'

Guo shook his head firmly. ‘No, of course not,' he said, trying to keep his words steady. ‘I'm just giving them a tour and our aunt is going to come and pick them up.'

Professor Law nodded but didn't take his eyes off us. I could sense Cap clenching his fists beside me. He didn't like the professor either.

‘Well, that's good to hear. You don't want to be distracted from your studies. I trust your assignment is complete already?'

Guo nodded eagerly. ‘Oh yes, of course, sir, to be handed in tomorrow.'

‘Good. No extensions, no excuses.'

‘Of course, sir, of course.' Guo's head was bobbing up and down like a rag doll's.

Professor Law yawned loudly and then sniffled. It sounded like an elephant's trumpet. ‘Well, I guess you'd best be on your way. I'll see you at 8.30am for class, Mr Lin.' And he spun on his heels and marched off, disappearing back into the shadows.

Guo waited until he was out of sight before letting go of my hand. I felt the blood returning to my fingertips. ‘Come on, we'd better get you guys out of here in case he comes back.'

We scurried back to Guo's tiny room. Little and Lo clucked softly as I pulled out the leftover bits from dinner. They gobbled up the noodles. I think it reminded them of the worms they were always digging up on the farm.

‘You guys should go to bed,' Guo said. ‘I still have to finish my assignment.'

He took an extra pillow and blanket out for Cap, who happily settled on the floor beside the bed. Little and Lo nestled together next to him amongst the blanket. I lay down on the bed and Guo turned off the light. I squished myself up against the wall to make room on the narrow mattress for when Guo came to bed. Guo switched on his desk lamp and sat down in front of his books once again.

It didn't take long for Cap to start snoring. He snorted and snuffled in, and then whistled out; he was worse than Bao! I pulled the pillow over my head and squeezed my eyes shut, trying my best to drift off. The gentle scratching of Guo's pencil on the page eventually lulled me into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Eight

When I woke up, light was shining in from the window. It was morning already. I thought I would have woken up when Guo came to bed. But then I saw him still slumped over the desk, his head propped up by the mountain of books. Poor Guo had been working all night.

A door banged open down the hallway and Guo awoke with a start. ‘Present, Professor,' he said, shooting up straight in his seat. He looked around, confused, but then he saw me and his face softened.

‘Good morning,' I said and gave him a cuddle, burying my face in his shirt. It stank a little from not being washed, but I didn't care because it reminded me of Pa when he was coming back from the fields. It smelt safe.

‘You shouldn't work so hard,' I said. ‘Ma would be worried if she knew you weren't sleeping.' His eyes were red with dark circles underneath.

‘Hey, who's the big brother here?' he said jokingly. ‘I have to get ready for class or I'll be late. Are you and Cap going to be okay here?'

Cap was sprawled on top of the blanket, his legs and arms sticking out everywhere. His snoring had died down to soft whistles. Little and Lo were roosting nearby, their sleepy chook heads tucked into their thick feathers.

I nodded. Guo punched me lightly on the shoulder and stood up. His joints creaked from sleeping in the chair all night and he had to twist his neck about to loosen up his sore muscles. He fetched some clean clothes and a towel from the laundry line on the balcony and stepped into a pair of oversized rubber sandals. I could hear them slapping loudly as he padded down the hall to the bathroom.

I sat at Guo's desk for a while. It was completely covered with books, their pages marked with notes that Guo had scribbled in the margins in his neat handwriting. There were also pages upon pages of yellow papers that I guessed were his notes from class. At the corner of the desk was a neatly stacked pile of crisp white paper. I didn't know all of the characters in the title, but I could read Guo's name at the bottom of the front page. I picked up the paper. Inside were long sentences strung together with very difficult characters. I could read the words ‘animal', ‘sheep', ‘chicken' and ‘farming', but a lot of the other words were too hard to understand. I thought Guo was really smart to write such a long assignment with very complicated words. Pa would have been so proud of him.

BAWK! BA-KAW!

A flurry of feathers flew into my face and I dropped the pages.

‘Stop it! Stop it, Lo!' My rooster had leapt onto the desk and was pecking and scratching madly. I reached for him but he tumbled over the edge. He landed right on top of Little, who shrieked when his sharp talons dug into her side.

‘Huh, what? Who's there?' Cap was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Lo let go of Little and she scampered around the room, screeching her head off. Pages flew up and scattered everywhere. Lo bounded onto the floor and beat his wings rapidly, his tail twitching this way and that.

‘Cap, catch him, quick!' I cried. Lo skipped and hopped his way around, pecking at the pages on the floor. He stopped beside the desk and let out a mighty bellow.

CAW CA-CAW CAAAW!

The door crashed open and a sopping wet Guo stood in the doorway. His hair was sticking up at soapy angles and he had a towel draped around his waist. He smelled fresh and pleasant like spring rain. But the wild look on his face reminded me more of a monsoon.

Guo looked over at us and then at the floor. He let out a wail and dived for the ground.

The pages of his assignment were lying in tattered ribbons on the floor. Lo bopped and bobbed his head. His beautiful rooster tail was fluffed out to its fullest, his dark eyes furious. He let out another ear-shattering crow.

Guo shoved Lo out of the way and retrieved the remains of his work. I pushed my fist against my mouth as Guo let out another howl.

‘You stupid bird! This is half of my grade! Professor Law is going to fail me.' He sank to the floor, burying his face in the scraps of paper. Lo pecked at some of the pages on the floor, still fighting his paper enemy.

Cap managed to catch hold of Lo's legs before he could do any more damage. ‘Do you have another copy saved somewhere?' he asked my brother hopefully.

‘It's no use. I won't be able to print out a new copy before class.'

‘Surely if you explain what happened, you'll get more time,' I said.

Guo shook his head. ‘Professor Law is very,
very
strict. You heard him.' He put on a stern, teacher look and mimicked the nasal pitch of Professor Law's voice. ‘No extensions, no excuses.'

‘But it was an
accident
!' I insisted. Lo had finally calmed down and was looking more than pleased with himself, his head cocked and his tail feathers flared out in triumph.

Guo moaned and covered his face in defeat. ‘There's no point. I might as well come back to the farm with you. I'm not cut out for studying.'

I felt my heart lift a little when he said that, but then I saw how unhappy he looked. ‘No,' I said firmly and held out my hand. ‘We're going to see your professor and explain. Now.'

Guo sighed and slapped my hand away. ‘Mei, it's no use. You can't fix everything. I'm doomed.' He glanced at the small clock on the desk. ‘Oh great, now I'm going to be late! This day can't get any worse.' He stood up and dried his hair with a towel and threw on a shirt. He didn't look at me as he gathered up books and pages, shoving them into a tattered backpack.

‘Guo.' I tried to get his attention. ‘Guo, wait.'

‘Mei, I don't have time for this. Haven't you done enough?' He gritted his teeth and his right hand balled into a fist. I couldn't tell if he was trying not to yell or not to cry. ‘Jin's coming just after lunch. Please, just stay out of trouble until then.' And he left, slamming the door behind him.

I felt my heart thumping hard in my chest. I screwed up my face and stared down at my hands, opening and closing my fingers a few times. I felt angry, hurt and confused all at the same time. I didn't know what to do.

I looked up and saw that Cap had gone out onto the balcony. He was once again staring down at the courtyard, bowed so far over the railing that only his toes touched the ground. I could hear that the boys were kicking around a soccer ball.

‘Hey!' a voice suddenly called out. ‘Hey, kid upstairs.'

Oh no!

‘Cap, come back inside,' I hissed but he ignored me and waved to the boys below. I rushed outside to bring him back in. I
really
didn't want Guo getting into any more trouble.

‘Hey, kid!' the voice cried again. ‘You want to play?'

‘Cap, I don't think that's a good idea,' I said as I glanced over the railing. Five of them were down there. The one shouting up to us was the one called Chun. He waved at me. ‘Does your friend want to play too? Come on down.'

‘Cool,' said Cap and he was already heading for the door. I grabbed for his hand. ‘I don't think this is a good idea.' I was really worried – I didn't know who those boys were. What if they told on us?

But Cap ignored me. ‘It's okay, it's just a game. You should come.' But I shook my head.

Cap shrugged and left, closing the door behind him. I sucked in my breath as I waited, peering over the edge of the railing. The boys resumed their game, idly kicking the ball back and forth. Then Cap appeared running, but he slowed down as he neared the group, suddenly shy. He was much smaller than the others and his dirty clothes and rat's tail looked out of place next to the boys' clean haircuts and uniforms.

‘Hey, look it's the kid. Here, think fast.' Chun swung his leg outwards, sending the soccer ball sailing through the air. Cap was caught by surprise but moved quickly, positioning himself under the ball's falling arc. He headbutted it back in one smooth hit. Chun looked impressed as he trapped the ball under his foot. He glanced around the circle and the boys all nodded their approval.

‘Not bad, kid. What's your name?'

‘Cap – Captain. But everyone calls me Cap.'

Chun looked up towards the balcony at me. ‘You're with Lin, right?'

Cap nodded.

Chun pointed to the other boys in turn. ‘That's Cho, Leung, Fan and Yip. I'm Chun. With you, there are six so we can have a game. You can be the goalie on my team.'

I watched them kick the ball around, passing it back and forth, shooting at the goals marked with rubbish bins. While Cap may have been good at heading the ball, he was a hopeless goalie. He kept diving blindly whenever the ball came towards him, often in the entirely wrong direction. I giggled as he landed on his bottom for the fifth time, another ball sailing past him. He stomped his feet in a huff.

‘5–2!' Chun shouted. ‘Come on, Cap. You have to keep your eye on the ball.' But Cap let another goal go in, this time right between his legs.

I was so busy laughing that I didn't hear the soft click of the doorknob turning.