Kiss & Die

‘Sir?’

‘Yes, Lilly?’

‘If your father is a Triad do you have to be one?’

‘No. Everyone has a choice.’

Lilly had a smug look on her face. She made sure she was heard. ‘And sir, is it true your father was a Triad?’

Ma

‘Yes.’

‘What happened to him, sir?’

‘He was chopped to death because he disobeyed the society.’

‘Did he make a lot of money, sir?’

‘Yes, but…’

‘Did you inherit it, sir?’

Ma

Ma

The room fell silent. All eyes were on Ma

‘But, when you become an adult you are judged on who you are, not who your parents were or are. You stand alone. You have a choice. Yes, you may have it hard but that will make you harder. Yes, you may have it tough and that will make you tougher. And you need to be. Hong Kong can fulfil all of your dreams or it can be the cruellest place on earth. You can be anyone you want in Hong Kong. It doesn’t matter who your father was. It only matters what you achieve in your life and what you do with it. Don’t throw it away on being just a number. The girl who died yesterday evening was left to die alone in a cardboard box. She was left like a piece of rubbish. That’s all you are to the Triad bosses. I saw her body. I found her. No one should die like that. That’s what happens when you join the Triads. They make you feel like you matter but you don’t. In the end they use you and control you and you are not free to make your own decisions. When I look around this hall I see a lot of familiar faces looking at me. I know some of you were involved in what happened last night. I have come here today to offer you help. I will leave my card on the notice board in the corridor. Anyone want to talk to me? I will listen. I will be able to help. As Lilly pointed out, I know first hand about the dangers of belonging to a Triad society. I know what it can do. You ring me. We’ll fight it together.’

Chapter 13

Lilly stood up and slow clapped Ma

‘Sit down.’

Lilly sat and looked around the room as if she were bored.

‘Tell me, Lilly, what’s a bright girl like you doing coming out of a Triad initiation ceremony?’

She turned and stared hard at him, tried to read his expression. Her eyes were the colour of caramel. She had freckles across her nose. Her skin was light. She was taller than most girls her age.

‘I saw you coming out of the building where the girl got murdered last night.’ Ma

‘Not me, Officer. I was at home last night doing my homework. Now, if you don’t mind I have a lesson to go to. You know what it’s like for us mixed-race kids – we have to work hard. We don’t all have our dad’s money to fall back on.’ She went to stand.

‘Sit. You’ll go when I say.’

She sat back down with a groan and looked at her watch.

‘Let me explain something to you. You’re in shit up to your neck. The girl who died last night was mutilated, her hands cut off before she had her throat severed.’

Lilly snapped her head as she looked at him. ‘I wasn’t there.’

‘But you were in the area. What do you think happens when people play with Triads, Lilly?’ Ma

A crack appeared in Lilly’s bravado. She looked towards the hall entrance, agitated, fidgety. She went to stand again.

Ma

She blew an ‘I don’t give a fuck’ out of the corner of her mouth. But he could see her bravado starting to dissolve. She was just a scared little girl. From the corner of his eye, Ma

‘All right, Lilly, you can go, but it won’t be the last we see of each other. I will be watching every move you make from now on.’

Lilly got up from her seat in her own time and she pushed the chair back noisily, it grated across the floor, and then as she walked past Ma

Lilly left the hall and caught up with Tammy on the stairs.

‘Hey, what did you think of the talk?’ she shouted as the din of the girls hurrying on to their next class filled the stairwell.

‘Yeah…it was…’

‘Exactly – bullshit.’

‘Were you there?’

Lilly nodded.

‘What was it like? Did you see the girl get killed?’

Lilly shook her head. Tammy wasn’t sure whether she believed her or not.

‘Doesn’t it worry you, Lilly? Don’t you wonder if they might do that to you?’

Lilly shrugged. They stepped out of the way as other kids passed them. ‘It won’t happen to me. She must have done something bad. We are told the rules. She must have broken them. It serves her right. There’s a code. Anyway, it’s worth it. You’ll see. It will be your time soon.’

They were stood at the long window, overlooking the car park below. Tammy glanced down at Ma

‘He’s hot. It would be great to get him in bed.’ Lilly laughed at her expression. ‘Sure…I’ve had other policemen. In the evenings I see them in the bars. I can always spot them. They have this way of looking at everything. They don’t relax. But him…’ she watched Ma