Chapter Twenty-Six
"Shenhua… I'm scared…"
"Oh, it normal you be nervous, yes it is. You be fine, Sawyer."
"You're nervous too, aren't you?" Sawyer asked. Shenhua sighed.
"I feel like I losing friend. Where you go when you married to Rock? What if you forget us?"
"I could never forget you, Shenhua… Or Lotton or any of the people in Roanapur. You're more of a family to me than my own family was. My stepmother cut my throat and abandoned me. My father cared about me, but clearly no major red flags went up when I disappeared. What could she have said to him that he didn't worry about me?"
"Oh, I think you maybe find he no forgot you so easily, yes you will."
"What do you mean?" Sawyer asked. She had come to be able to understand Shenhua really well, given how long she had lived with her. But this was all nonsense. What could Shenhua possibly know that Sawyer wasn't in on?
"Rock do something. He do much research… Well, I think those superhumans help a lot too. We find your father living in Ireland still and bring him here."
"You what!" Frederica demanded angrily. But more than that, she was terrified. She hadn't seen her father in almost ten years. What would she say?
"Frederica?" Came an uncertain voice from the doorway. Frederica gasped and looked around. Shenhua hadn't been pulling her leg. The man in front of her looked much older than she remembered. He looked very tired too.
"Dad… What are you even doing here? You couldn't even be bothered to look for me when I disappeared, and now you want back in my life?
"That's not true at all. I looked desperately for you. I called the police, all of our friends. But it wasn't until your mother confessed that she abandoned you in Dublin that we even knew where to start looking… But by then, you weren't even in Dublin anymore. Nobody knew what happened to you. We didn't think you could have left the country. But…"
"The homeless look after each other… There was a small band of Gypsies travelling through. I stayed with them for protection. I eventually made it to mainland Europe. But I decided to leave, as far away as I could go. She cut my throat… I couldn't scream for help. A friend helped me recently and I got my voice back. So if I still sound a bit raspy, it's because I haven't been able to talk for almost ten years." Frederica said.
"Oh, sweetie… I'm so sorry this happened. Your stepmother was arrested and she's still in prison. I doubt if you want to come home now. You seem pretty settled here."
"I couldn't go back to Ireland. Do you know what I do for a living, Dad?"
"I'm not sure I want to know. I always wanted to be able to have the honor of giving you away at your wedding. I met your fiancé. He's so different from the rest of the people here.
"He's so civilized and well spoken."
"Yeah… He was a businessman back in Japan before he came here. I fell in love with him because he was so different. He sort of reminded me of you. Gentle, soft-spoken, intelligent, talented… I can't pretend that I didn't miss you for the ten years I've been away." Frederica muttered, tears filling her eyes. Her father nodded, hugging her tightly.
"Well… The crowd is gonna be wondering where you are. You better get out there, right?" He asked. Frederica nodded, putting on her veil and heading out to the chapel in the Ripoff Church. Yolanda had given them a good deal on running the wedding. Only 1,000 dollars. Normally, she charged five times that if she liked a person and ten times that if she didn't like them or didn't know them.
Frederica ran out of her dressing room and made it to the chapel with her father, who was now gasping for breath, but took a moment to compose himself and took Frederica's arm, leading her into the chapel. He was looking very well dressed as well. He had definitely dressed for the occasion. Finally, they made it to the altar, where Frederica's father looked at Rock and silently said with his eyes that he better treat Frederica properly. Rock nodded to him.
"Dearly beloved… We are here today to join these two in the bonds of holy matrimony. If anyone has a reason these two should not be wed, please speak now or forever hold your peace." The priest said. He had to read the lines from the book. He had actually never done a wedding in Roanapur before. Most people didn't get married here. They just lived together, and nobody questioned it. When nobody spoke, the priest spoke again.
"Alright… Rokuro Okajima… Do you take Frederica Sawyer, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health until death do you part?" The priest asked. Rock smiled.
"I do." He replied.
"And do you, Frederica Sawyer take Rokuro Okajima to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do." Frederica said.
"Then I declare these two husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." He said. Rock pulled Frederica's veil back and kissed her tenderly on the lips before walking out with her, their hands laced together.
"Alright, everyone… Let's get to the after party. It's fifty dollars at the door to get in." The priest said. Yolanda nodded and headed to the hall, where the party was already beginning. She and Eda stood at the door, taking people's money as they lined up to head in. Haydn struggled with the idea of the Church extorting people like this. But he had been told how different everything was in Roanapur. So he took out his wallet and offered the money to Sister Yolanda.
"I think we'll give you a pass today. You are the bride's father, correct?"
"Um… Yes, sister."
"Go on in. Enjoy the party." Yolanda said.
The party was already well underway once he got in, with several people well on their way to being filthy stinking drunk. Haydn was Irish, but he never understood the urge to get hammered. He had always almost completely abstained from alcohol. Maybe a beer with his friends on rare occasion. But that was it. He sat down next to Frederica, making sure not to sit between her and Rock.
"It's wonderful to be here. I know I can't make up for the mistakes I've made in my life. I saw how my ex-wife treated you, and I didn't act. I'm sorry, sweetie. I only hope that you can somehow find it in your heart to forgive a foolish old man." Haydn said. Frederica sighed, hugging Haydn tightly.
"I'm happy you're able to be here. Happiest day of my life and everything." She said.
"You will want to go back to Ireland after this, though. You're more suited to a comfortable life in a country like Ireland where you won't get robbed walking to the mailbox in the morning." Frederica sighed. Haydn seemed sad about this.
"Is there no chance that I could convince you and Rock to join me on the trip back? I know you've both done some questionably legal things in your time here. But I'm sure that with a bit of help, you could come back into civilized society."
"You know, Mr. Sawyer… Roanapur isn't the savage place it seems. It actually has a very strict order enforced by the mafia families that run the city.
"It's actually quite effective at keeping this city from descending into anarchy. It takes a while for outsiders to get used to such a hierarchy. It certainly took me time. But I had help from Lagoon Company and Hotel Moscow. Most people who come here from places like Ireland and other First World countries end up on the chopping block within a week or two. Outsiders are noticeable. Everyone effectively knows everyone here and we have a certain way of doing things that keeps us alive.
"So before you go decrying the people who live here as savages who've completely surrendered their humanity, you might want to learn about this place first… Or as I suggested, don't. You'll be far more comfortable back in Ireland." Rock said. Haydn nodded.
"I know I will. But I don't want to leave Frederica's life so soon after I found my way back to it. Is there no chance you could help me acclimate to this place?"
"That's really up to Frederica. I'm not sure what you would do here."
"Well… I was an accountant for a major bank back in Ireland."
"Mm… You could launder money here then. It wouldn't be too different from your job description back home." Rock suggested. Haydn gasped.
"Oh, dear! Isn't there anything legal I could do?"
"You're really asking that here of all places? Even the churches here launder money, sell drugs and weapons and do illegal activities. What do you expect of the businesses in a mob town?" Rock asked. Haydn nodded. He couldn't really argue with that.
"So… Frederica… Miss Shenhua said you run a successful business in town. What exactly do you do?" He asked. Frederica looked hesitant, but finally she answered.
"I run a meat packing business. But I also work for the Chinese Triad as a Cleaner. I execute those who make trouble for the Triad in brutal and creative fashion to send a message to others who would think to cross them. As you can see, I wouldn't have much of a place in Ireland anymore."
"Oh, dear. Well… Point is you run a successful business… Whatever you do, I'm sure it's important here." Haydn said. Frederica laughed.
"Someone has to do it… I do bounty hunting work too, sometimes… But that's just for a little extra money when I want it."
"So you're still just as multitalented as when you were growing up in Ireland… You've branched out a bit… Do you still sing?"
"Not very much… Having my throat cut kind of killed that dream…"
"She's getting back into it, though… Her voice is much better than it was before." Rock said. Frederica blushed slightly.
"Oh… I guess so… It's not up to my standard yet."
"Well… If you were as good at singing as I suspect you were, I doubt much could be up to your standards, Frederica…" Rock said, smiling gently at his love. The night was marching on, though and the party was winding down
Eventually, Rock and Frederica left, heading back to Frederica's home, which had been cleared out for the evening to give the newlyweds a night to themselves.
