Chapter 11 (1/2)

He turned up at my door early next morning. Not only did he come back, he came back injured. He was wearing a jacket in the middle of summer and had his shoulder and arm wrapped up in bandages.

“Bodyguards, yannoe, gotta get hurt every now and then.” He made it sound like nothing.

I stared into his eyes, those s.h.i.+ny, black eyes.

I really wanted to ask—what kind of bodyguard is he because don’t security guards usually just stalk around in their uniform so how did he get hurt so easily and why did they have to get him who was out of town to go and how did he come back so fast and is this even a legitimate company—but I did not want him to think that I didn’t trust him.

My major was kind of related to biology but we did not need to dissect white lab rats or look at red lumps in formaldehyde. I saw some red seeping out from the white dressing and although I did not know if it was blood or disinfectant, my heart started clenching. It felt just like the time in junior high when my old lady was diagnosed with uterine cancer.

“I’m fine, really.”

He held my hand with his uninjured left one and told me that they needed someone at Wuxi so they asked him to lead the team to protect an entrepreneur from the Northeast doing business in Wuxi. Maybe the man had enemies because they ran into trouble on their way to Shanghai.

“Those people were way too trashy. I mean they had watermelon knives. G.o.dd.a.m.n, they seemed so legit too. I finished them all with my baton before my guys even acted.” And he got cut on the arm, not too deep though.

“Heh, the boss was a good guy though. Paid for all the medical expenses and gave me a week off with pay, too!”

“I’m fine, ge, I’m fine.”

I must have looked really bad.

Could you not work for that security company? Couldn’t you find a normal job like Lin Dongfu?

But I couldn’t say that. How could I? He wasn’t the same as Lin Dongfu and them. He had gone behind bars for killing someone. He could never be the same.

And it was my fault.

But, but you promised me that you wouldn’t go down the wrong path! This is not a good path, is it?

Or was I just too d.a.m.n naïve even after my twenty-something years on earth?

I fixed my expression. “You rest in the shop. I got to go home for lunch but I’ll be back right after with yummy food for you.” I did not know he would be back so I promised my ma to eat lunch with some relatives who came from the country.

Immediately, he pouted. I pinched his cheeks. “Be a good boy!” I said as if I was talking to a kid, a kid who had gotten cut and beat a whole bunch of people up.

Fortunately, Ah-Fen was watching the new shop while I stayed at the old shop by myself. I closed the shop when I headed home, leaving him inside to sleep. However, we were very close with the other shop owners nearby so it was only a matter of time before my mom caught wind of him.

Perhaps I was not meant for big things because I could not get my nerves to settle down during the meal. My responses to the questions of the aunts and cousins from the country were utterly garbled nonsense and soon I gave them the excuse that something came up at the shop so I could leave. On my way out, I pa.s.sed by the kitchen, tore off the two fat drumsticks from the chicken that had been stewing for a whole day, grabbed a few marinated pork feet and stir-fry veggies, poured some chicken soup and scooped out some rice. I remembered my ma saying that eating soy sauce while healing would leave a dark scar but none of these looked like it had soy sauce so it should be fine. Eating eggs caused infections but did eating chicken also? I wasn’t too sure but he could not go wrong with eating the part that was injured.

The brat still could not move his right arm. He could only have either the drumstick or the soup in his left hand but he also wanted to eat the pork feet and have some rice. He was so frustrated he was clawing at his hair.

I sn.i.g.g.e.red. “Is it good?”

“Mmm, delish.” He couldn’t speak clearly with a mouthful of drumstick.

I did not know what he liked but my mom was a good cook. I doubted prison food could even come close.

I held the chicken soup up for him and then fed him the rice and stripped the meat off of the pork feet. Oh boy, was he delighted. He outright dropped everything in his hand while beaming brighter than the sun. He ate until his mouth was all oily and s.h.i.+ny and he burped from being stuffed, but he still said he wanted to eat.

You just want me to feed you, right? You spoiled brat.

I cleaned up the table and he fell asleep on the cot. There were dark circles under his eyes. He had not slept last night and had come straight to my place after getting treated at the hospital. Must have been hard on him.

Wow. I mean I had thought not long ago that everything was over between us, that anything he did would have nothing to do with me.

How did we come to where we were today?

I felt guilty and sympathy towards him. I liked him. Did I do it with him because of that?

So was this how things were going to be from now on? He goes out and gets into danger—he might be a “bodyguard” but who really knew what would happen? —while I get worried at home. The more I thought about it the more it seemed like he was the big gangster and I was his wife, like Andy Lau and Suki Kwan, in those Hong Kong movies. Ahhh, what was I thinking about? I hid my head in my arms.

I just closed the shop, turned the TV on and stared at it for a whole afternoon. By the time he woke up, I had already brought dinner back.

With the previous experience, he merely looked at the food in front of him like a poor puppy, not even bothering to move his left hand.

Sighing, I fed him. I bet he wished he could be injured forever.

Oh, did I have to wipe him down and change his diaper too? Lai Yiu-fei enshrined Ho Po-wing but Lai Yiu-fei was the one on top and today, I-I had to… OMG!

As expected, after plenty of sleep and food, the brat tried to satisfy his remaining needs, nagging me to come to bed with a crooked smirk on his face.

I was still a bit scared even though I had already prepared lubricant ahead of time.

“C’mon!” He could not even wait another moment. “We agreed on this. You gotta keep your word!”

I hissed back, “Stop fussing. I have to take off my clothes, don’t I?” I flung off my tee and pants and, after a moment’s hesitation, my underwear, too, before standing in front of him.