months after he married Jo-An. How did he make it?" She frowned. I could see Jefferson as a subject bored her.
"I don't know. Jo-An didn't tell me. One day I found her alone and crying. She said he had left her. He no longer needed her because he was now making money."
"She didn't tell you how?"
"Why should she? It wasn't my business."
"Did he come back?"
"Oh, he came back from time to time." Leila pulled a face. "Men come back when they want a change. He only came back for a night now and then." "What did Jo-An do when he left her?"
"Do?" Leila stared at me. "What could she do? She worked as before."
"Entertaining gentlemen?" "How else could she live?"
"But if Jefferson was making money and she was his wife, surely he gave her something?"
"He gave her nothing."
"Do you know where he lived after he left her?"
"Jo-An told me he had rented a big villa belonging to a Chinese gambler at Repulse Bay. I have seen the place." Leila heaved an envious sigh. "It is very beautiful ... a big white villa with steps leading down into the sea with a little harbour and a boat."
"Did Jo-An ever go there?"
Leila shook her head.
"She was never asked."
The waiter came in smiling and bowing. He gave me the check. The price of the meal was ridiculously cheap. I paid while Leila watched with a happy expression on her face.
"You are pleased?" she asked.
"It was a wonderful meal."
"Let us go back to the hotel then and make love."
I was in Hong Kong. There was this odd atmosphere of surrender to the senses that made argument difficult. Besides, I had never made love to a Chinese girl. It was something I felt I should do.
"Okay," I said, getting to my feet. "Let us go back to the hotel."
We went out into the noisy dark night with the clatter of Mah Jongg tiles following us. We began to walk down Nathan Road.
"Perhaps you would like to buy me a little present?" Leila said, taking my arm and smiling
persuasively at me.
"I could be talked into it. What had you in mind?"
"I will show you."
We walked a little way, then she steered me into a brilliantly lit arcade of small shops. Before each shop stood a smiling, hopeful Chinese salesman.
"I would like to have a ring to remember you by," Leila said. "It need not be an expensive ring."
We went into a jewellers and she selected an imitation jade ring. It wasn't much of a ring, but it seemed to delight her. The salesman asked forty Hong Kong dollars. Leila and he spent ten minutes haggling and finally she got it for twenty-five dollars.
"I will always wear it," she said, smiling at the ring on her finger. "I will always remember you by it. Now let us go back to the hotel."
It was after we had left the ferry boat and I was waving to a taxi that I lost her. It is something I haven't been able to understand even now. Three heavily-built Chinese, in black city suits, jostled me as the taxi moved towards me. One of them bowed and apologised in imperfect English while the other two surrounded me, then the three moved off to a waiting car. When I looked around for Leila she had vanished. It was as if the sidewalk had opened and had swallowed her up.
3
I spent fifteen fruitless minutes walking up and down the vast approach to the Star Ferry without seeing Leila, then with a feeling of uneasiness mixed with irritation I took a taxi back to the hotel. The old reception clerk was dozing behind his counter. "Did Leila come back?" I asked him.
He opened one heavy eyelid, stared blankly at me and said, "No speak English." and the eyelid snapped shut.
I went to my room. Leila's door was shut. I turned the handle and the door swung open into darkness. I groped for the light switch and turned it on. I looked into the clean little room: no Leila.
Leaving the door open and the light on, I entered my room, also leaving the door open. I sat on the bed, lit a cigarette and waited.
I waited a little more than an hour. Then because it was more comfortable, I stretched out on the bed. In half
"I don't know. Jo-An didn't tell me. One day I found her alone and crying. She said he had left her. He no longer needed her because he was now making money."
"She didn't tell you how?"
"Why should she? It wasn't my business."
"Did he come back?"
"Oh, he came back from time to time." Leila pulled a face. "Men come back when they want a change. He only came back for a night now and then." "What did Jo-An do when he left her?"
"Do?" Leila stared at me. "What could she do? She worked as before."
"Entertaining gentlemen?" "How else could she live?"
"But if Jefferson was making money and she was his wife, surely he gave her something?"
"He gave her nothing."
"Do you know where he lived after he left her?"
"Jo-An told me he had rented a big villa belonging to a Chinese gambler at Repulse Bay. I have seen the place." Leila heaved an envious sigh. "It is very beautiful ... a big white villa with steps leading down into the sea with a little harbour and a boat."
"Did Jo-An ever go there?"
Leila shook her head.
"She was never asked."
The waiter came in smiling and bowing. He gave me the check. The price of the meal was ridiculously cheap. I paid while Leila watched with a happy expression on her face.
"You are pleased?" she asked.
"It was a wonderful meal."
"Let us go back to the hotel then and make love."
I was in Hong Kong. There was this odd atmosphere of surrender to the senses that made argument difficult. Besides, I had never made love to a Chinese girl. It was something I felt I should do.
"Okay," I said, getting to my feet. "Let us go back to the hotel."
We went out into the noisy dark night with the clatter of Mah Jongg tiles following us. We began to walk down Nathan Road.
"Perhaps you would like to buy me a little present?" Leila said, taking my arm and smiling
persuasively at me.
"I could be talked into it. What had you in mind?"
"I will show you."
We walked a little way, then she steered me into a brilliantly lit arcade of small shops. Before each shop stood a smiling, hopeful Chinese salesman.
"I would like to have a ring to remember you by," Leila said. "It need not be an expensive ring."
We went into a jewellers and she selected an imitation jade ring. It wasn't much of a ring, but it seemed to delight her. The salesman asked forty Hong Kong dollars. Leila and he spent ten minutes haggling and finally she got it for twenty-five dollars.
"I will always wear it," she said, smiling at the ring on her finger. "I will always remember you by it. Now let us go back to the hotel."
It was after we had left the ferry boat and I was waving to a taxi that I lost her. It is something I haven't been able to understand even now. Three heavily-built Chinese, in black city suits, jostled me as the taxi moved towards me. One of them bowed and apologised in imperfect English while the other two surrounded me, then the three moved off to a waiting car. When I looked around for Leila she had vanished. It was as if the sidewalk had opened and had swallowed her up.
3
I spent fifteen fruitless minutes walking up and down the vast approach to the Star Ferry without seeing Leila, then with a feeling of uneasiness mixed with irritation I took a taxi back to the hotel. The old reception clerk was dozing behind his counter. "Did Leila come back?" I asked him.
He opened one heavy eyelid, stared blankly at me and said, "No speak English." and the eyelid snapped shut.
I went to my room. Leila's door was shut. I turned the handle and the door swung open into darkness. I groped for the light switch and turned it on. I looked into the clean little room: no Leila.
Leaving the door open and the light on, I entered my room, also leaving the door open. I sat on the bed, lit a cigarette and waited.
I waited a little more than an hour. Then because it was more comfortable, I stretched out on the bed. In half
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