Chapter 9

I saw Hitomi look at me from the corner of my eyes, asking the same question I was asking the boy in my head.

"He drew this . . .?"

"You did?" I asked him & he nodded.

I couldn't help, but feel relieved that we were going to get our answers quick & smile at the fact that this boy drew this picture of Jann Lee. But the question is why?

"Why are you asking? Am I finally being acknowledged for my skill?" the boy asked, getting a little cocky, "How did you get a hold of it anyway?"

"Why did you draw this?" I ignored his questions, because I was too caught up in my own affair.

"Um . . . well . . ." he started to speak, scratching his head, "My sister, Bi, wanted me to. For her. To give to that . . . guy."

"Jann Lee?" Hitomi & I asked.

But before we could answer, there was a loud bang, the sound of the door meeting the wall. The boy quickly rushed to the front door to see who it was.

Who is that?

Hitomi had gone off to see, but I stayed put & was about to tell Hitomi to do the same thing. But she was already gone. I was afraid it would be that man again. Trying to kill me for reasons that I didn't know. It was too similar to a typical action movie.

I heard a girl the sound of someone falling to the floor. I ran to the front door only to find Hitomi firmly up against the wall somewhat frightened & looking down at someone on the floor. It was a girl. Face-first on the floor. The boy was kneeing down beside her.

What's going on? Is she okay?

"Don't tell me you did it again . . ." I heard him whisper to the girl.

"Is she okay?" I asked the boy.

He nodded, rolling his eyes, too.

Is that Bi?

"C'mon, Bi, stand up. I'm not carrying you all the way," the boy said to Bi, obviously, while throwing her arm over his shoulder.

He started carrying the girl over to the living room. She was limp & hanging off his shoulder. I just watched as her feet dragged across the floor, leaving a wet streak behind on the floor. She was wet all over. Her blue jeans & jacket were soaked. And she couldn't be any taller than me.

"I'm sorry, but my sister's a nut. Maybe you should come back tomorrow," the boy said when he came back.

"Who is that?!" Bi shouted from the living room.

"They're . . . um . . ."

"I'm Leifang. And this is my friend, Hitomi," I said, entering the living room with Hitomi behind me.

She was sitting on the couch & I could see her face now. She had dark, long, & wavy hair & green eyes. My first interpretation was that she wasn't Chinese. Or she could have had some Chinese in her . . . And she was staring at us.

Need I say more?

"We've just wanted to ask you a few questions," Hitomi said before I could say anything.

"What're are you? The FBI?" she said, sounding rude.

"We're not the FBI . . . My friend has died. You know him . . . I'm Leifang. I was his fighting partner."

I didn't want to sound as if I were speaking to a child, but it somehow came out that way. She was giving me a sort of annoyed look now, but it turned gloomy in an instant.

"He saved me. It was funny though. He didn't seem like the type that would save someone," she began to speak.

From lowlifes?

Me & Hitomi were sitting on the floor in front of her as if she was telling us a story. Maybe she was, because I haven't even asked my questions. Her brother had sat down beside her.

"I don't know how to swim. And I fell into the river that night. Don't ask how, because I barely remember how it all happened. But he was there & jumped into the river in a nice suit just to save me . . . And he kept asking me what I was doing, drowning in a river at night. I thought that was funny . . ."

I asked her when it all happened & she told me only a week ago. It was strange, because I never heard Jann Lee say anything about this girl. But it wasn't like he'll just come out & say it. I saved a girl today! I'm a hero! No, that wouldn't happen . . .

"I'm a sucker for love. I've fallen in & out of it so many times with so many guys so easily. As a matter of fact, I've never fallen out of love. I must be pathetic, right? Maokang, here, says that I need a hobby, but I don't think that would help any. I have an eternal flame in my heart that burns for the ones I love & that's all I need."

Love? How could she possibly love Jann Lee?

I hate to admit it, but I was sorta feeling jealous. She was saved by Jann Lee, I was saved by Jann Lee . . . sort of . . . She loved Jann Lee for it, I didn't. She even gave him a drawing made by her younger brother just for him. And Jann Lee kept it. Me. I gave him nothing. I was just a pest.

"You'll end up dead soon if your 'eternal flame' doesn't go out," her brother, Maokang, said.

She gave him a look.

"She jumps into the river, thinking that guy'll come by & save her again & everything'll be alright! Say that's not insane!"

What? She does that?

"Shut up! . . . What I do is my business . . ."

"It's suicide!"

"Big deal! I'll do what I want!" she screamed.

Everyone was silent now. I was beginning to think she actually was crazy. Jumping into rivers when you can't swim is definitely crazy! And to think that Jann Lee would appear out of nowhere & save you. She must have been obsessed with him. Hitomi had already got up from the floor & was leaning on the far wall. That was my indication to leave. She didn't like the situation & I wasn't blaming her.

"Bi, he's dead & when you're dead, you don't see the light of day again," I told her, standing up.

I have faced the truth, but she didn't.

She looked up at me, angry, "So you don't believe in the afterlife & spirits?"

I couldn't say I did & I couldn't say I didn't.

"Let's just say he won't come back."