Tangled Vines (29 page)

Li Jin thought that Wan must truly be an angel, just like Shuwen. She had no words but the feeling of being insulted by the girl
slipped away. Now she only felt sympathy for her—the girl had no one, and at least Li Jin had Jojo.

Shuwen stood up and yawned, stretching her arms over her in a Tai qi arc. “Come on, Li Jin, it’s time for you to get settled in for the night. You have a big day tomorrow. And if the gods are watching out for you, maybe we’ll be lucky enough to find your son.”

Li Jin followed her down the path toward the inn. She certainly hoped the gods would indeed show her favor.

The women in the room were all dressed in their nightclothes. Because their living quarters were right above the inn rooms, everyone naturally moved and spoke in hushed tones. Some wrote in their journals while others gathered in the tiny family area around the small television. A cartoon played quietly and the few mothers who had brought their children to the shelter chatted while the kids watched. So far Li Jin had tried to avoid looking at the children—especially the little boys. It hurt too much.

“His father took him.”

“What makes you think that?” Li Jin responded to Sami’s remark as she hugged her pillow close. She knew the girl was trying to goad her into an argument; she could tell by the nasty tone of her voice. Li Jin wouldn’t bite—she was still a guest here and wouldn’t insult Shuwen that way. She took a few deep breaths, reminding herself the girl had a lot of hurt inside her. She pulled the coverlet up over her legs and noticed a few girls shooting her looks and whispering. They were probably shocked she was even having a conversation with Sami.

She was finally in bed, after waiting for all the other girls to finish and allow her time in the bathroom. As the newest resident, she was last on the rotation. By the time she’d gotten her shower, the water was ice-cold. She’d climbed the stairs to the attic with a towel wrapped ineptly around her head, to find a group of giggling grown women who thought it funny that she’d had to be last. She hadn’t cared; at least they were talking to her now—just a little but it was something.

In the bed next to her Sami sat cross-legged while she pulled a brush through her long hair. Li Jin had noticed that Sami didn’t join any of the other activities and had never seen Sami even talking to anyone else. She was usually alone, oblivious to everything and everyone around her.

Beside her Sami stopped, holding the tip of the brush to her mouth. “It only makes sense. You say your son doesn’t know his father, but what if the father has been following your lives and finally decided he wanted his son? So he waited until you were in a busy place before he took the opportunity to snatch him. If I had a son, I have no doubt his father would turn over every rock and climb every mountain to find him. Men are obsessed with sons.”

Li Jin didn’t answer. Sami’s explanation of what she thought had happened to Jojo was so far out of reality it didn’t even deserve a reply. Jojo’s father didn’t even know Jojo existed; she’d left that morning after he’d attacked her and never looked back. As far as she was concerned, Jojo didn’t have a father. And it couldn’t have been Erik, for he didn’t know she was on that bus and why would he want the responsibility of Jojo anyway? It had to be random. Little boys were taken every day in China and given or sold to families who needed sons. Because of one distracted moment, Jojo was lost somewhere.

“He’ll find a way to get word to me. He has the number to my cell phone. He just has to find it.” She remembered before they’d left Jing had scratched the number on a scrap of paper and stuffed it into the small zipper of Jojo’s bag while he was still sleeping.

“Just in case,” Jing had said, smiling at Li Jin. Had she known something even then? But why hadn’t Jojo used it? He wasn’t a baby; if he saw the paper, he would know to call the number. Maybe whoever had him had taken his bag? She prayed nonstop that he would find the number and call it. She kept her phone in her pocket at all times, sneaking looks at it to make sure it was still working. But so far nothing.

She was brought out of her thoughts when Sami threw her brush over at her and it landed with a heavy thud on her knee.

“Want to use this?” she asked, laughing at Li Jin when she jumped.

Li Jin felt sorry for the girl but not so much she was going to let her get away with acting like a brat. She’d already put up with days of the silent treatment from her, and now this?

“That hurt, Sami,” Li Jin said. “Be careful. I have a broken arm. You could’ve made it worse.” She picked up the brush and tried clumsily to pull it through her hair. It was amazing how much in life required two hands, things she’d never thought about before. So far since her arm had gotten hurt, she’d only used the fingers of her good hand to pull the tangles out of her hair.

Sami got up and crossed the small space between them. “Here, let me have it.”

Li Jin handed her the brush and Sami jerked it out of her hand, then climbed on the bed and sat behind Li Jin.

Li Jin tensed, expecting the girl to be rough. She was surprised when Sami began brushing her hair gently, so gently in fact that Li Jin closed her eyes and savored the moment. Sami still acted as if she didn’t quite know what to think of her new bunkmate, but she was softening, Li Jin could tell.

“So how did you get your broken arm? And the scar on your face?” Sami asked in a whisper as she gathered up Li Jin’s hair and began to separate it into three parts. It felt heavenly and Li Jin could feel the frustration and fatigue of the day slipping away. At least she could until Sami asked that question. She wouldn’t admit it but she had craved conversation, though talking about Erik wasn’t something she was ready to do.

She hesitated. To speak about it out loud would make it feel so much worse—so much more humiliating. But with the one nice gesture, she realized she’d never really had someone she could call a true friend. She knew that, like her, Sami had been hurt badly. Maybe because they had something in common, their friendship could work.

“My boyfriend did it,” Li Jin said, then took a deep breath. She’d done it. It was the first time the words had come from her mouth but it actually felt good. Suddenly her body felt lighter. “He beat me and raped me so bad I thought I would die. And it wasn’t the first time.” She was glad Sami was behind her and she didn’t have to look her in the eyes. Saying the words was hard enough, but the eyes were the windows to the soul and Li Jin wasn’t ready to let anyone know just how deep Erik had hurt her.

Behind her Sami’s fingers stopped their braiding. Li Jin waited for her to say something, or to continue working at her hair, but the girl didn’t. Li Jin turned around and saw Sami was sitting there with her eyes closed, silent tears running down her beautiful cheeks and an expression of total torment spreading across her face. Li Jin’s heart broke for the girl, and she leaned over and gathered her against her with her good arm. In the embrace Sami finally let go and the sobs erupted from her small body. The room around them went dead silent and Li Jin raised her eyes to see the other women staring solemnly at them.

One by one, they turned away and padded quietly to their beds. The few children followed their mothers and climbed in beside them, knowing a milestone had been reached in the room. Until Li Jin came, no one had been able to break through the tough exterior of the girl. Now even Li Jin’s own tears began to flow as she rocked Sami back and forth, sharing in the anguish the girl finally released.

T
he next morning Li Jin woke to find Sami fully dressed and waiting on the bed beside her. The girl sat cross-legged, staring serenely at Li Jin when she opened her eyes. It was a bit eerie, she had to admit. Then Sami spoke softly.

“ ‘Waiting forever, searching for your face so fair. Just one small touch, reaching for you, and I know I’m almost there.’ ”

Li Jin sat up and rubbed her eyes. “That was nice, Sami. Did you write that?”

“No, it’s by a poet who died trying to catch the reflection of the moon goddess in the waters.”

Li Jin didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t surprised that Sami could recite poetry and she felt sorry for the girl that she was robbed of her chance to further her schooling. It was unfair to be so intelligent but held back because of poverty.

“The others are downstairs having breakfast,” Sami said, her voice low and even but not as unfriendly as it usually was. “I waited for you.”

Why was Sami waiting for her to wake up? Li Jin wasn’t going to ask. She looked at her watch and saw that she had only half an hour before Shuwen’s driver expected her. She climbed out and went to the trunk at the end of her bed. She opened it and pulled out her clothes and bag, then turned to Sami.

“I probably won’t have time for breakfast. I have to be ready to go back to the police headquarters and then the train station to look for Jojo.” With that she walked past her and down the stairs to the bathroom to wash up and get dressed. She was finally at the point where it didn’t hurt so much to take off her sling, so she guessed she was healing. As quickly as she could manage, she tugged on her jeans and shirt, brushed her hair and teeth, and washed her face. She looked in the mirror and grimaced at her face. She reached up and touched a line around her eyes. She looked at least a hundred.

“This could be the day.” She said a prayer under her breath and opened the door.

She was startled to find Sami leaning against the wall outside the bathroom, a small paper bag in her hand.

“Auntie Wan put us something together to eat on the way.” She gave Li Jin her usual sullen look, then headed down the hall. “The driver is waiting for us. Hurry up.”

Li Jin sighed. What would a day with Sami be like? She didn’t know if she was glad for the company or nervous about what lay ahead. But she followed, quickly passing by the kitchen door and the hushed morning chatter from the others. Auntie Wan was cooking something spicy and the aroma almost tempted Li Jin to stop, but thoughts of Jojo kept her moving behind Sami.

The police were even less helpful than they’d been each day before, and Li Jin and Sami were soon on their way to the train station.

“So do you have a picture of your little boy?” Sami asked, munching on one of Wan’s steamed buns. The girl had already harassed Li Jin until she’d eaten half of one.

Li Jin picked up her backpack and dug around until she
found her wallet. She flipped it open and pulled out the most recent photo of Jojo. It was from the year before and he had a gap where his front tooth had fallen out. Li Jin stared at it a moment, smiling as she remembered the day they took it. It was an unusually balmy winter day and they’d spent it at the local park.

She handed it over to Sami. “Here he is. He was hamming it up for the camera. And he doesn’t have that gap anymore. Both his front teeth have grown in.”

Sami studied it. “He doesn’t look like you.”

“I know.” She didn’t say aloud that he also looked nothing like his father, and she hoped Sami wouldn’t bring up the subject. Speaking about Erik and what he’d done to her was hard enough, and nothing could make her tell the story about her foster mother’s son.

Sami handed her back the photo. “So what do you really think happened to him?”

Li Jin looked out the window. She wasn’t going to cry. She’d done enough of that and her heart felt emptied.

“I think someone took him to be their son. But I know Jojo and he is smart enough to find his way back to the train station. As soon as he gets a chance to get away, he will come.”

Sami nodded. “So that’s why you go every day. The other girls are saying you’re just trying to get out of working.”

Li Jin jerked around and looked at Sami. “Don’t they know about my son?”

Sami shook her head. “No, Shuwen doesn’t tell us anything about the new girls. She lets us give our stories in our own time. I only knew because I overheard her talking to Auntie Wan the night you came in.” She narrowed her eyes at Li Jin. “And you haven’t been exactly social, you know?”

Li Jin laughed and pointed her finger at her chest. “Me? Who are you to talk?”

Sami gave her a small smile. “That’s just me. I’m naturally quiet. But usually when new girls come in, they want to talk about their experiences. Everyone has expected you to join them, but so far you’ve stayed to yourself.”

“Like you, you mean?” Li Jin asked softly.

“Yes. Like me.” Sami stared out the window.

The silence settled around them as the driver weaved in and out of traffic. It was the same driver that she’d met the first day. He knew the story about Jojo, and Li Jin was astonished that even he had kept it to himself. She thought about her conversation with Shuwen the night before. She really hoped today would be the day Jojo made it back to her, but if it wasn’t, she planned to dig in and do whatever job Shuwen gave her to show the others she could work just as hard as them.