This Is a Bust (18 page)

I fol
ded the note up, put it in the wastebasket, and lifted the toilet seat.

—

When I came into Martha's on Monday, Lonnie wasn't there. Dori was impatiently showing a new girl what to do. It was unseasonably warm that day and Dori seemed hotter under the collar than usual.

“Don't put the tongs on the counter, otherwise the
customers might steal them. Put them on the shelf behind you,” Dori said. The girl nodded and didn't say anything.

“Is Lonnie okay?” I asked Dori.

“Ha! She never came in this weekend. She had to be
replaced.”

“She never showed up? What happened?”

“You're the policeman, you tell me. Ask your missing
persons department. If Lonnie's not working here, you don't have a reason to come back, right?” She was gloating.

“Aren't you worried about her? You've been working
together for years.”

“I could always tell she wasn't going
to make it,” said Dori
with a smile. “She was very clumsy and she wasn't too smart.” Then to the trainee, Dori said, “This is the policeman who was in love with the old girl. If you don't look out, he's going to start liking you, too.”

“I'll
have one hot-dog pastry and an iced coffee,” I said to the
trainee, absently. Where was Lonnie?

The trainee picked up the tongs and looked uncertainly
from tray to tray.

“Here, here, I got it,” grunted Dori as she threw aside a
sliding window and spanked a pastry into a cellophane bag. “Go make the officer an iced coffee,” she said to the trainee.

When the new girl returned with my drink, Dori snatched
it from her and held it up, looking at the color of the coffee through the transparent-plastic cup.

“You didn't shake it enough,” Dori snapped. She gave it a
shake and the lid flew off. Coffee poured all over her shoes and ice cubes skittered across the counter. “You stupid, stupid little girl!” Dori screamed. “You didn't seal the lid properly!”

The trainee gave Dori the finger and came around the
counter. I tried not to laugh, but I couldn't help it when everyone in line behind me applauded the girl on her way out the door.

“You don't deserve to work here!” Dori screamed. That
was so true. I thought about her spending the rest of the day in soggy socks. Some people deserve that.

She took a towel and wiped off the counter and her legs.
Then she went to pour me a new iced coffee. She dropped it into a brown paper bag and tossed in my hot-dog pastry. Her face was red enough to stop traffic.

I paid Dori and stepped aside. I couldn't imagine being
behind that counter by myself and handling all those Monday morning customers. She was in for it.

On my way out, I saw Moy cramped in the corner seat by
the window. He looked unusually well-dressed in a button-down knit and wool trousers.

“Moy, shouldn't you be dusting off some G.I. Joe dolls?”

“Oh, no! I'm waiting for someone.” He smiled a little.

“A woman? Are you on a date? Little early for that, isn't it?”
It was five to seven.

“No, not a date. She's my girlfriend. We've been together for
almost two weeks now. We got together over New Year's and we're going out.”

“You've got a girlfriend and you never told me! I
can't

believe it! After all the years I've known you! Congratulations!”

“I wanted to keep things private. I haven't even told 
my
father.”

“That's amazing. Where is she?”

“It's Dori,” he said. I was dimly aware of dropping my bag.

“Moy, are you crazy?”

“I know you two don't get along. She's a tough woman. You
didn't have to laugh at her just now, when that girl quit.”

“I'm sorry about that. But Moy, you know Dori hates me.”

“She said you gave her cousin a parking ticket a few years
ago.”

“I probably did. It's my job.”

“But it was her cousin. Do you understand?”

“I'd give a ticket to my own mother if she broke the law.”

“What's wrong with you?”

“Moy, what happened to Lonnie?”

“She quit, I guess. I don't know where she went.”

—

I was on the footpost, coming up to Jade Palace and the hunger strikers. This time Willie Gee's hired gorilla was standing in the street. He would say something into his shirt from time to time. To the left of the entrance, the stool-pigeon waiters held waist-level signs reading “Jade Palace Is Fair Employer” in English, and “Go Bury Your Parents” in Chinese, directed at the protestors.

To the right, three hunger strikers lay on cots surrounded
by protesters with signs that read “Stop Stealing Money” in English and “Stop Killing Us” in Chinese.

It was about 1000 — too early for anyone to show much
enthusiasm. People on both sides, apart from the hunger strikers, were drinking coffee and reading newspapers. I looked at the hunger strikers and saw a girl with her arms crossed and her eyes closed. She had a thin blanket wrapped around her. It was Lonnie.

I went up to her and shook her awake.

“Lonnie, what are you doing out here?” I asked.

“R
obert!” she said, smiling weakly. “I haven't eaten
anything
for two days.”

“You've got to get out of here. This is hurting your body.”

“I
want to thank you for listening to me the other night. You
told me how hard it was for you to be a policeman, but it was something you really wanted to do. You told me to find something I believed in, and this protest is it.”

“Yeah, but I didn't tell you to join the hunger strike.” “Yes, you did.”

“Well, I didn't mean it. I was drunk, you shouldn't listen to
me when I'm like that.”

“I feel so much better, I'm working for justice here.”

“You're not helping anyone by not eating,” I said.

“My mind's made up. I'm staying here.”

“No, you're not,” I said. I reached in and pulled her up.
“We're
going to get something to eat.” She came up easily, but then something pulled her away from me.

“What t
he hell are you doing, you fucking pig!” said a young
man who looked like a campus liberal.

“She's leaving here right now!” I said. He put his hand on
me and I pushed him against the wall of Jade Palace. I put my elbow into his gut. “You take her place on the hunger strike. I'm feeling a lot of fat here that you could lose.” He was running out of air and the rest of the protesters were jumping around as if someone had turned a hotplate on under their feet.

“Stop that cop!”

“Get that pig!”

“He's working for Jade Palace!”

I grabbed Lonnie's arm and led her away to a chorus of boos.
I turned back and saw Willie Gee's King Kong character smiling. He waved at me daintily with his fingers and made kissy lips.

—

I got Lonnie into an over-rice place and ordered pork, chicken
, and preserved greens for her.

The cook was in the back of the tiny dining room
straightening out a small altar for Guan Gong, an old Chinese general
who was now worshipped as a god.

He
flicked his lighter and lit up the incense sticks and a cigarette. The cook grunted when the waitress tapped his shoulder. He took a long drag on his cigarette before dropping it to the tile floor and mushing it with his filthy sneaker. He pushed into the kitchen's swinging doors and disappeared.

Lonnie poured us two cups of tea.

“I don't understand you, Robert. Why did you pull me out?”
She sipped her hot tea and shivered. “I know it's warm out but I feel so cold. It's almost 60 degrees in February can you believe it?”

“Lonnie, a woman your age still has to develop. Not getting
the proper nutrition now could lead to birth defects.”

“Who said I wanted to have children?”

“Lonnie, you don't even know these people. They could be
brainwashing you, like what happened to Patty Hearst. You could be doing this against your will.”

“Nobody made me do anything. I believe in the cause.
Anyway, I cheated a little on the hunger strike. I drank some soy milk this morning.”

“Soy milk. I'm sure that made a big difference.”

We were quiet for a bit.

Lonnie said, “
This is the second time we've sat together in a
restaurant.”

“Sure it is. You're the only one who's going to be eating,
though.”

“Is this our second date?” she asked, smiling.

“No. This is my feed-the-children program.”

“Are you surprised I wasn't a virgin?”

“I'm
not surprised by anything, Lonnie. I'm trained to expect
the unexpected.”

The food came in and Lonnie went to work at it.

“I'm so hungry, I have to eat slowly or I'm going to choke.”

“Take your time, Lonnie. I stopped by Martha's and Dori had
a new trainee in your place.”

“I feel sorry for her — the trainee.”

“Actually,
she quit. I'm sure Martha's would take you back in
a second.”

“Maybe. I was a really good worker.” She ate quietly for a
while, then asked, “Do you remember what else we talked about that night?”

“I don't. I barely remember you coming over.”

“You said you would help my younger brother out.”

“What's wrong with your brother?”

“Our stepmother keeps beating him and throwing him out
of the apartment. He has a girlfriend and she doesn't want him to start dating until he's in college.”

“That doesn't sound too bad. She should learn to live with
it.”

“She's evil. She doesn't want me to move out until I get
married, even though I probably have enough to get a place with some roommates. If I did, I'd give it to my brother so he could live somewhere else. He's really smart and talented. He really deserves a chance to get out of here.” Lonnie twisted her mouth like she was trying to stop herself from crying.

“Does she ever hit you?” I asked her.

“No, as a matter of fact, she thinks she's my best friend. She
always wants to share makeup.”

I took a deep breath and then I asked, “Has your family
been to counseling? Or maybe you want to consider family court?”

“Counseling? That's only for sick, crazy people! And family
court just breaks up families. We already have one divorce, we don't need another.”

“Yeah, you're right,” I said, crossing my ankles.

“I'll tell you what. Your brother can stay with me, but he has
to get a job and pay part of the rent. How about that?”

“That's what you said that night!” she said. “Do you really
mean it, now that you're not drunk?”

“Sure, I do. Any brother of yours is a brother of mine. Of
course, he also has to do some work around the apartment.”

She nodded and chewed.

“Lonnie, I've got to go make my rounds. It doesn't look good
for a policeman to be sitting around.” I stood up.

“Thank you so much for helping my brother. I'm going to
tell him to stop by your place.”

“No problem. I'll tell you what, this food's on me, too.”

Lonnie's mouth was full, so she smiled and chewed.

I went up to the counter and paid the tab. I pointed to
Lonnie and warned the cashier: “Don't let her go until she's done eating everything. I don't care how long it takes.”

February 20th was a warm but cloudy day in Chinatown. For the first time, the covers on the Taiwan and the communist newspapers were the same: ex-President Nixon and his wife were visiting the mainland for a week-long tour. Maybe the Chinese wanted tips on bugging offices.

I shivered. Cold sweat stuck my undershirt to my chest.
It was about 1400. The park was devoid of cheer but had plenty of gray people and gray pigeons.

I saw the midget sipping a cold soybean drink, his arm
propped up on the back of the bench he was sitting on. Opposite him, an Asian man in his mid-40s, about five-four, was twisting his lips with his left hand. He was in a spot. The midget waved to me.