Running on Empty (30 page)

‘Never used one Brad, never had the chance to’.

‘Well, feel free to mess around with it if you like, and don’t worry, if you happen to break it, it’ll be no loss to me I assure you. I’ve an early start tomorrow, so I’m going to hit the hay’ he said as he finished drying the dishes. ‘Are you ok, you don’t need anything?’

‘No I’m fine thanks, you fire ahead.

‘Ok, goodnight’.

She pulled a book from the bookshelf ‘Computers for Dummies’.

‘Mind if I read awhile before I turn in?’ she asked.

‘Suit yourself’ he answered, before heading off to bed.

Sally finally put the book down, stretched, and looked at the wall clock.

4:05 a.m.

The following morning when Sally woke up, Brad had left for work. He’d left a note, telling her he’d be home around six, and to forage for whatever she could find to eat. After a cereal and some coffee, she began on the crutches. Initially, she fell over a couple of times, but after about two hours of practice, and lots of sweat, she found herself becoming more confident on them. She then, with a lot of difficulty, managed to take a shower. Finally she sat down at the computer, and went to work. When Brad arrived home, the table was set, with a bowl of salad in the centre, and a pizza in the oven. They sat down to eat.

‘Y’know Brad, the Crawford Import and Distribution Company is a pretty poorly run business if you ask me’ she began.

‘How come?’

‘Well, for starters, it must be the only business in operation in the last ten or twenty years, that doesn’t have a website’.

‘No?’

‘No. And it’s not in the Dawes Region business listings either. And furthermore, when you do track down their number, all you get is an answering machine. It appears to be a business that doesn’t want any custom’.

Brad chewed on his pizza thoughtfully for a while.

‘You know Sally, I’m due a few days off next week. How would you feel about us taking a little vacation’.

‘Vacation, to where?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. I hear Nebraska’s nice this time of year’.

Shan Xang dropped a pitchfork of hay onto the frozen white carpet.

The two oxen in the field began making their way over, the breath from their nostrils obscuring their approach amid a white vapor. On the sound of an approaching vehicle, he looked up, squinting through half closed eyes across the snow covered wilderness, and observed a silver Toyota Landcruiser as it came to a stop outside his dwelling.

Shan Ou pulled up outside her father’s house, and studied it from the vehicle for a few moments, before lifting a cardboard box from the passenger seat and carrying it inside. When Shan Xang arrived back, he entered to see Shan Ou standing beside the box, which she had placed on the kitchen table.

‘Hello father’

Her coat was open, revealing a navy cashmere sweater and black leggings, tucked into handmade brown leather boots.

‘You have returned, however judging by your attire and your silver transport, I fear it may not be for long. Hello daughter, you are looking well’.

She proceeded to remove items from the box.

‘I’ve brought some gifts for you father, tins of pork, sugar, tea, rice, cured meats, salted fish, and other items which will help to see you through the winter months’.

‘That is indeed a most kind gift, daughter, now sit, and I will make us a meal’.

He threw some kindling on the fire, and set to preparing the food.

‘Tell me, daughter, are you happy with your new life?’

‘Yes father, Shanghai is an interesting city, an exciting place to be’.

‘Ah yes, big cities are a great attraction to you young people, exciting and vibrant, full of life and exotic sights. But big cities also devour. They have an insatiable appetite, an appetite for workers, for money, for everything. Be careful daughter, for they also have an appetite for the souls of the unwary’.

Shan Ou removed a cell phone from her pocket, and placed it on the table.

‘And what is this’ he asked, pointing to the phone as he placed some dishes in front of her.

‘It’s a cell phone, father’ she answered. ‘I can be contacted at any time, in any place, through this’.

He looked at it curiously.

‘I have heard of these things, but have never seen one in real life, and was not sure if they really existed, or if they were just the fanciful wish of some dreamer. Amazing’.

He picked it up, and as he turned it over in his hands, it erupted into life. He emitted a loud gasp, dropped it on the table and pushed back his chair in fright.

‘It’s all right father, don’t be frightened’ says Shan Ou, as she picked it up and answered the incoming call. She talked for a few moments, then turned to Shan Xang.

‘Tomorrow morning I must depart father, I must return to my work’.

‘Well, at least I have the pleasure of your company tonight, and we can talk of the days when you were here, and the days since you left’.

They sat by the fire, talking, Xang occasionally throwing on more pieces of kindling to keep the cold at bay, sending sparks dancing up the chimney, until it was time to sleep.

Shan Ou went to her room, and as she was putting her bag in the press, noticed a dress hanging there. She picked it up.

A lot has happened since I last wore you,
she thought to herself, as she studied the yellow rose petals on red. She returned it to its place, and prepared for bed. She lay in the inky blackness, listening to the wind on its journey from the mountains as it whined through the wooden eaves of the old house. It was a sound she missed living in the big city. It reminded her of her childhood, when she used to imagine those sounds were those of animals or birds, calling to her in the blackness. Sometimes the sounds would frighten her, and she’d call out in the darkness, and her father would come to comfort and reassure her. Never her mother. What of her mother? Shan Ou struggled to recall the little of her that she knew. She had left when Shan Ou was three, unable to come to terms with the bleak existence on the land. She had heard later that her mother was in Hetian, and later still, she was selling herself for money.
Maybe we’re not so different after all mother, you and I,
she thought to herself as she lay awake in the darkness.

‘I must leave now father’

He walked round the table to stand facing her, looking into her eyes.

‘Shan Ou, you have come a long way in a short time. I am happy to see you successful. But be careful. An eagle soars the highest, but it is also the swiftest to fall back to earth’.

‘I will be careful. Goodbye father’.

Shan Ou boarded the flight for Shanghai, the suitcase safely stowed, and closed her eyes as the plane took off. On arrival, she took a taxi to the Shanghai Trade & Export Corporation offices. She climbed the stairs, suitcase in hand, and knocked and entered the office as before.

However, sitting behind the desk was not her usual contact Mr. Li, but Chung, who had recruited her in Hetian.

‘Where’s Mr. Li?’ was all she could blurt out.

‘Ah, Shan Ou, our paths cross once more. I’m afraid Mr. Li is no longer working for this company. Apparently he had a disagreement with our colleagues in America. I’m your new boss, Shan Ou. I must say, it’s a pleasure to see you again, and I hope the pleasure will increase as we get familiar with our closer working relationship. I have to admit to you, although the women of Shanghai are attractive and interesting, I still sometimes long for the more ‘earthy’ qualities of you rural girls, girls who know their place and will do anything to please. You will do anything to please Shan Ou, won’t you?’

‘I always do whatever is required’ she replied hesitantly.

Chung stood up from his desk, unbuckling his trousers as he did so.

As they fell to the floor, he looked back to Shan Ou.

‘You know what is required now, don’t you? Come over here, you’re mouth is required to satisfy me, as it was in Hetian. You know what to do’.

Shan Ou, back at her apartment, washed her mouth several times, then cleaned her teeth so ferociously, her gums began to bleed.

*****

Fielding pressed the intercom. ‘You can send him in now’.

‘Carter, take a seat. You’re getting a promotion. You’re my new right hand man. I just want to fill you in on the situation, what’s required of you, and so forth’.

‘But, what about Lowanski?’

Ah Stan, yes indeed. Tell me Carter, are you familiar with the children’s book ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’ by chance?’

Carter shook his head.

‘Well, let’s just say that Stan met the same fate as Alice. He fell down a rabbit hole’.

Tom stared into the half light of dawn, listening to the waves as they crashed upon the rocky shoreline, trying to figure out everything, resolving nothing.
What happens now? Where does he stand in relation to Fielding, to the police? Is he a wanted man by the authorities? Is Fielding going to send more goons after him? And what of Sally, of Grainne?
What a mess you’re in Feeney, what a total mess.

He became aware of Pat approaching, coming to stand beside him. The two men stood together for a while, saying nothing, until Tom finally broke the silence.

‘So, what happens now?’

‘Well Tom lad, I had a feeling you were going to ask that question, and I’ve been mulling it over in my head this last while’.

‘And?’

‘And, the conclusion I’ve come to, is that I haven’t a fucking clue’.

‘In that case, I’m lucky to have a wise old head to rely on in my time of need, aren’t I?’ said Tom sarcastically.

‘Look Tom, in spite of what you might think, I haven’t got all the answers either. Older doesn’t necessarily mean wiser, sometimes it can just mean older. Let’s go for a walk. Sometimes I think better when I walk’.

They began strolling along the rocky shoreline, the jagged black outcrops sometimes necessitating climbing rather than walking. Tom was curious at the vast amount of small shellfish, clinging grimly to the slate colored stone.

‘What are all these?’, he inquired, gesturing.

‘Oh, the larger cone shaped ones are called limpets, and the smaller circular ones are winkles. You can cook and eat them, if you’re so inclined. I’m not, as it happens, I think they’re disgusting, but then, I’m not really a fish person. There used to be an old woman who came down to the shore on a regular basis, collecting sacks of them. Maureen O’Hara, her name was, can you believe that? She was a real character, a lovely woman. She used to sell them somewhere, don’t know where, after which they were exported to France. The French love them apparently. Nobody else bothered harvesting them when she died. Guess the younger generation figured it was too much trouble for the money they’d get, too much hard work, I suppose’.

Pat stopped, and turned to Tom, the early morning light illuminating his steel grey beard, and the freshening off shore breeze intruding on the dawn calm.

‘The way I see it Tom, is that basically you’ve got two options. You can be a limpet, like one of the thousands we’ve just walked over, or you can be a conger, like our imaginary friend in the bath. You can keep your head down and stay here, hoping that Fielding doesn’t think you’re worth wasting any more effort or resources on, and hope no one kicks you off your rock, like this’ said Pat, as he made a swipe at some limpets with his boot, dislodging a couple. ‘Or you can be the conger, lurking in the shadows, but capable of striking if need be, if you feel threatened, or if you feel the time is right’.

‘I think I can guess which option you’d go for, if you were in my position’

‘Ah now Tom, could you really see me as a limpet?’

Carter turned to Fielding.

‘So, what happens now boss, where do we go from here?’

‘That’s a good question Carter’.

Fielding stood up from his desk, and walked to the window, staring out over the Boston skyline for a time. Finally he spoke.