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Chapter 4 – No Woman is an Island
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Beep Beep Bring
-
Ulala's phone jumped in her purse and sang out the
first three notes of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". She and Baofu were
standing at the corner of a busy intersection, and she dug it out frantically
while he scanned the street for an opening to cross.
- Bring Bring Beep -
"Hello?" she said, plugging her other ear.
"Ulala!" It was Maya, her
voice thin and shrill over the line. "Where were you last night?"
"I stayed at Bao's," she said, raising her
voice over the noise.
"Whaaat?"
Maya shrieked. "You didn't..."
"No!" Ulala said hastily. "It's not like that! I was sick!"
The traffic finally slowed and Baofu turned. "Come on, we can get across
now," he said, then noticed that she was still on
the phone. He sighed and grabbed her free hand, pulling her across the street
with him.
"What? No, he's here," said Ulala. "He's holding my hand right
now." She giggled evilly and Maya's clucking could be heard even over the
street noise.
Baofu growled and yanked her across roughly. They arrived safely on the other
side and he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Are you quite done
yet?"
"Hold on," she said into the phone, then
looked up at Baofu. "Ma-ya wants to know if we
want to meet her for lunch somewhere."
He took out a cigarette. "I'm not hungry."
"But I am," she said, pouting slightly.
He shrugged and lit up. "You meet her then."
Ulala looked at him for a moment, then said into the phone, "Ma-ya? Yeah, I'll come. No, Bao's
not coming. I dunno, he's
just being sullen." She turned back to Baofu. "What are you gonna
do?"
A familiar cloud of smoke blew around his head. "I'm going to Sevens. If
you feel like working, meet me there." He turned and she watched him set
out down the sidewalk, ashes drifting behind him. I wonder what's eating him? she thought.
"Ulala?" Maya's voice startled her. "Are
you still there?"
"Oh, yeah Ma-ya, sorry. I'll meet you at that
coffee shop across from Kismet, how's that sound?"
"Sure, see you there!"
Ulala snapped her phone shut and after a moment of thought set out in search of
a taxi.
She was glad that she did, because soon after she slid into the back seat of
the cab the skies darkened and rain started pattering the windows. As she rode,
she leaned her head back and watched the murky water run down the glass. She
saw a young man duck into an entryway and thought idly of Baofu, who was
undoubtedly very wet and regretting his decision to walk.
She snickered. Serves him right.
The cab turned a corner and she heard the driver sigh very softly under his
breath. Feeling curious, she leaned forward to talk to him.
"What's wrong?" she said, smiling warmly. "Weather
getting you down?"
The driver turned his head, slightly surprised. "Oh,
sorry, lady. Just got some stuff weighin' on
my mind." A light turned red and they came to a stop.
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked.
He looked out the window and his shoulders sagged. Ulala couldn't see much of
his face, but he seemed to be getting on middle age, if his thinning hair was
any indication. After a moment he spoke. "I guess it's the rain. Makes my
back ache, which then makes me think on how old I am, and that's never a good
thought, if ya know what I mean."
She laughed. "Yeah, I never want to think about how old I am."
He looked at her in the rear view mirror and grinned. "What, a pretty
thing like you? You got years before time starts to catch up on you, m'dear." The light changed and they pulled forward.
She sat back, surprised. "Thank you," she said. "I'm not really
used to being told that."
The driver chuckled softly. "What, you don't have nobody special to
whisper sweet nothings to you?"
She felt her face flush. "No... well, I mean
there is someone, but he doesn't say things like that."
They turned another corner and the café came into view. The driver nodded
sagely as he slowed. "See, I could tell the moment you got in. You got it
written all over you."
Ulala looked up. "What? What's written all over me?"
"It's something in the face. You look thin, hungry, like you haven't been eatin' enough." He glanced at her in the mirror.
"You've got it bad for someone who doesn't get it."
She froze and her eyes widened. "N-Now wait..." she managed to stutter
out. "How would you know something like
that?"
They came to a stop and the driver turned to face her, his arm slung over the
back of the seat. "A girl like you, you've got a lot of love to give.
You're always filling other people's buckets, ya
know? But," he looked up, searching for the words. "Your bucket's
bone dry, has been for some time. If you don't fill
your bucket up, you'll just waste away to nothin'
inside. So," he waggled a finger at her. "If your
somebody special can't be bothered to share the love a little, well... I'd say
you should go find somebody else special. Somebody who
can."
She looked back at him, her face completely limp. He held her eyes for a
moment, then nodded resolutely and turned back to settle in his seat again.
Outside, the rain still fell, and as it beat against the windows she imagined
that the cab was the only safe place in the world. She reluctantly reached for
the handle and pulled it down with a click, pushing the door open with her
shoulder. She stepped into the torrent and turned to knock on the driver's side
window.
He rolled it down. "Thank you," she said, for lack of anything else
to say. His answer was a smile and a nod, and then he pulled away before she
had a chance to pay him.
She stood in the rain for a long time before realizing where she was.
* * *
The inside of the café was heated, thankfully, and after Ulala recovered from
her daze, she turned and eagerly went inside. That was very strange, she
thought simply, sluicing water off of her arms.
"Ulala!" She looked up to see Maya grinning
and waving from a booth. She hurried over and greeted her roommate with a soggy
smile.
The seat squeaked as she sat down. "I got stuck in the rain," she
said apologetically.
Maya pushed a mug of hot cocoa over to her. "Here, I ordered you
this." She grinned devilishly. "You should be more careful! You might
get sick and have to spend more nights at Baofu's apartment."
Ulala groaned into her cocoa. "Am I going to be hearing about that from
you for the rest of my life?"
Maya nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so. It's just too good to pass up."
The waitress came then, bearing two hamburgers and a basket of fries. Ulala's eyes widened. "Ma-ya,
are these what I think they are?"
Maya reached for the ketchup. "Yup! One hundred percent dead cow. Love me?"
"You're a goddess. All is forgiven."
They both dug in, too busy eating to hold much of a conversation. Once Ulala
had put away her hamburger and half of the fries, she sat back and asked Maya
how her day was going.
"Busy," she said around a mouthful of burger. "I just got a new
assignment. Something about an accident at Sevens."
Ulala looked up in surprise. "Sevens? Bao and I
are looking for a runaway girl who goes there."
"Really?" said Maya. "That's a strange coincidence. Do you
remember the girl's name?"
"Mai something," she said. "She's a senior. Now that I think of
it, she might be in - " she stopped suddenly.
"Tatsuya's class?" she asked, without looking up from her burger.
Ulala nodded sheepishly. "Uh huh. I'm sorry, I
didn't think."
"No, it's okay," Maya said, her eyes softening. "The Tatsuya I knew is
gone. This one is... sort of like a piece of his clothing, or something that
reminds me of him. It's painful at first, but eventually the association fades
and you can see if for what it is." She smiled and reached over to take
her roommate's hand. "Thank you for caring, though."
Ulala smiled and squeezed her hand. "That's the spirit! And maybe you'll
end up liking this Tatsuya even better," she said conspiratorially.
"Ah," she blushed. "Well, I suppose anything is possible! But
I'm definitely not expecting it," she said seriously. "I'm weaning
myself off of high school boys. It's a twelve-step program."
Ulala laughed. "Okay, okay, I get the picture. Sue me for being a romantic."
She leaned back and took a sip of her drink. "So tell me about this
accident."
"Something happened on the roof and a couple of students got roughed up. I
think it might've been a prank that went wrong." She bit her lip. "I
don't know much about it yet, but I'm going to visit this afternoon."
"That's excellent!" Ulala said happily. "Bao is there right now,
and I'm supposed to meet him after lunch. We can go together!"
"Right!" Maya grinned. "Hopefully
things will go better than our last visit there, yeah?"
"Ugh," Ulala slumped in her seat. "Yeah.
I put in a vote for no serial killers this time."
Maya laughed nervously. "Sorry about that. Bad stuff just seems to follow
me around. But on the bright side, it makes me the perfect reporter."
Ulala stuffed more fries into her mouth. "Umph. That's what Bao said about his condom."
Maya's head shot up. "Whaaat?"
Her roommate smiled sweetly. "Nothing, Ma-ya! I, naturally, know nothing about the state of
Baofu's stock of prophylactics."
Maya eyed her. "I should hope that... Hey! Stop eating all my fries!"
She made a grab for the basket, but Ulala giggled and snatched it out of her
reach.
"They're for meee," she sang, and they
fought over the table like little girls. Eventually Maya won out, and she sunk
her teeth into one victoriously. Her face immediately fell.
"Awww... they're all cold," she pouted.
Ulala grinned and dug her wallet out of her purse. "Why do you think I let
you have them?"
"Dummy," Maya said, but there was nothing mean about it.
