Thank you for the kind reviews for the previous chapters. :-)
Slang glossary included below
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Part 1
Shanghai, Cathay Hotel, New Year's Eve, 1934
An insistent knock at the door broke Wilson's concentration. His bow tie would have to stay askew for now. Smoothing his starched shirt against his chest, he walked to the door. "Yes?"
"Room service."
"I didn't order anything."
"A bottle of champagne for New Year's Eve, sir. Compliments of the management."
The welcoming sound of tinkling glasses carried through the door. He swung it open and scowled when he saw who was holding the ice bucket and champagne.
"Richard."
"Sorry about my little subterfuge, Jimmy, but you did give me the slip for over a year. Turnabout's fair play." He wedged through the opening and proceeded to set up an impromptu bar, twisting the wire off the bottle, and producing champagne glasses from his pockets.
"What are you doing here, Richard?" Really, there was no reason to ask that question, but he wanted to hear what baloney his brother was going to hand him.
A soft pop issued from the bottle with the cork's release. Richard handed him a glass and spoke quietly. "You ran away from home and now big brother is here to bring you back." He rested his hand on Wilson's arm. Slightly shorter, Richard tilted his head up and inspected Wilson's face. For a moment, the cool façade dropped and Richard's features crinkled with concern. "How are you?"
Wilson dropped his gaze and studied the bubbles swirling upward in his champagne, erupting into tiny geysers when they reached the surface. He tossed the liquid down in one swallow. "I'm fine, Richard. You wasted your time tracking me down."
"Unlike you, I take my duty to my family seriously, and you are family, James. For crying out loud, didn't you think everyone would notice when you didn't show up for Great Aunt Lillian's birthday? Gran, our cousins, everyone there thought you were too ill to attend. I spent the whole night making up excuses. I wasn't about to tell them you were globetrotting."
"How selfish of me. If I were a better brother I would have died and provided you with a better explanation."
"The point is, you should be resting, not exerting yourself. This is foolishness, traipsing halfway around the world. You should be under a physician's care."
Wilson poured more champagne, downing it as quickly as the first. "I am under a doctor's care, my own."
"Yes, yes, I know," Richard agreed impatiently. "You have the sheepskin and stethoscope to prove it."
"Hear me out, Richard. I spent most of my early life looking through windows at Central Park because of my asthma. When I entered high school, I thought the family's cardiovascular problems were behind me. That Danny..." Wilson paused to clear the huskiness that suddenly threatened to overtake his voice. "…was its last victim. Then after Ernestine and I got engaged, I wanted to start our life out on the right foot and went for a physical."
He shook his head. "Normal was never in the cards for me. I want to make the most of the time I have left." He grabbed a cigarette from the nightstand and lit it as he sank onto the bed. "I refuse to live like an invalid."
Richard joined him. "And you're not hiding anything from me? You're feeling okay?"
The sincerity in his brother's voice and behavior was hard to resist. He was pleased he could answer honestly. "I am."
"Good!" Richard bumped shoulders. "No hard feelings?" he said, just like when they were kids and made up after an argument.
Childhood memories flooded his thoughts. Wilson remembered the good times he shared with his brother. When cold weather prevented Richard and his friends from going outside, he would allow Wilson to sit in on their conversations. That was mostly how he had learned about music, movies, and girls. He smiled and bumped back. "None."
"Then you'll help me out of a jam?"
Wilson closed his eyes and chided himself for being a chump. He had fallen right into Richard's trap. "What kind of jam?"
"When months went by and you didn't come home, I promised the family I'd find you and bring you back. You gotta do me this one favor and let them see for themselves. They're worried sick."
"Were you not listening?"
"I heard. But you know how the folks are, and Gran's not getting any younger. If anything happens to her the family will say it was my fault and put me in cold storage until 1950."
"Explain to me how family members notmeddling into your affairs could be considered bad?"
"James, please. They're not Rasputin's spawn. This would only be a visit, a month tops."
Wilson demonstrated his unwillingness to consider the offer by blinking and not saying anything.
"Come on, two weeks?"
He carefully flicked ash from the cigarette's smoldering tip into a glass ashtray.
"All right." Richard raised his hands in surrender. "One week, and I'll personally escort you back to a ship, train, or zeppelin of your choice. We gotta deal?"
Admittedly, he'd spent over a year kicking around Asia's larger cities and was due for a change. New York would be a good launching point to see Paris. He always wanted to walk down the Champs Élysées. If Richard proved to be uncooperative he could always escape. He did it once. He could do it again.
He put out his hand to shake on it. "Deal. When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow. Actually, the ship sails at dawn the day after, but we're expected to board the evening before." His brother withdrew two tickets from inside his jacket. "Start packing."
"Your confidence is awe-inspiring, Richard." Wilson returned to the mirror to adjust his lopsided bow tie.
"I'm offering you an adventure. How can you resist?" Richard loosened his tie and stretched out on the bed, his arms propping his head. "An ocean liner with stops in Hong Kong, Yokohama, Honolulu, and San Francisco. From there we'll breeze into New York on the new streamliner. I have it all figured out."
Wilson turned and gazed at his cock-sure brother. He envied how Richard could map out months and years in advance. Since the day in the specialist's office, Wilson never planned beyond a sunrise.
Glancing one last time at his reflection and satisfied that the bow's loops and tails were even, Wilson hooked his tuxedo jacket off the bedpost and shrugged it on. "Already saw Hong Kong and Japan, but not the rest." He walked to the door. "My suitcase is in the closet if you want to get a jump on packing. I'm going out. Happy New Year, Richard."
As he opened the door, he heard squealing mattress springs and the pounding of feet. He tensed as an arm clasped his shoulder, but the touch was light and friendly, not restraining.
"Hey, I'm not letting you out of my sight until we board ship, little brother. Besides, I just arrived in Shanghai and want to see the sights. It has been a long time since the Wilson boys painted the town red."
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Next installment: House and Wilson's reunion. Should be up by next week.
Slang Words
Baloney = Nonsense
Chump = Fool, dupe
Cold storage = Shun