CHAPTER 7
The fog always seemed to follow the Peking Empress . Even on a clear day like today, the giant red Chinese barge floated toward the dock enveloped in a mist. Slowly it drifted to the pier on the river, a figure in a black silk shirt hovering like a ghost on the deck.
As the barge neared, I heard the figure’s familiar voice. “Mr. Baxter, welcome back.”
The boat docked and a gangplank was lowered. I stepped on board, unsure whether it was me or the boat that was swaying, given the number of gins I’d downed at the bar before leaving Stella to her own devices.
“Good to see you again, Wuzhou,” I said to the man in the silk shirt. “Have you been well?”
“Always, Mr. Baxter. Madame Chang awaits your company.” He bowed graciously and gestured to the set of stairs leading below deck.
I knew the way, even drunk as I was.
Downstairs, the veil of smoke was as thick as ever. The only thing that penetrated the shroud was the glow of lanterns swinging from the beams of the barge and the cast-iron burners filling the air with plumes of opium smoke.
From behind the swirling curtains of mist I could hear the moans of stoned lovers, knowing they were languishing on cushions, exploring one another in a drug-induced haze, tasting each another’s lips, tongues, bodies.
My tingling fingers were already peeling the jacket from my shoulders.
I let it drop to the floor as I continued walking through the veil of smoke, stepping out of my shoes, loosening my tie, sliding the shirt from my skin and unbuckling my trousers, until before I knew it I had reached Madame Chang’s lounge and was standing there naked before her.
Upon sensing my presence, she sat up, her sightless white-marbled eyes turning in my direction, the silks of her robe floating like tendrils of smoke in the air.
“Mr. Baxter, what a delight. Have you come to lose yourself… or find the answers to a riddle you seek?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer the question, other than to say, “I think I’m looking for answers. Answers to the mysteries of love.”
Madame Chang smiled, then reached forward and touched my hand. “Come. Lay before me.”
As I took a step forward, two large shapes on the floor on either side of me moved forward. I heard hissing and the scraping of claws on the deck, then saw the protective glint in the eyes of Madame Chang’s guardians—her two Komodo dragons.
With a silent wave of her hand, Madame Chang commanded them to stand down.
The dragons each let out a low growl and slid back behind the veil of smoke.
“Come, Mr. Baxter. Lay yourself down.”
Like a slave boy in some strange opioid-laced opera, I did as she asked and laid myself down at her feet, my body naked, my eyes glazed, and my head spinning in a slow ethereal swirl .
Gently she stroked my temples, and my eyelids fluttered shut. “Speak to me of your woes, Mr. Baxter. What is perplexing you now? What twisted and tangled troubles do you need me to unravel, my darling love detective?”
“I… I…” I didn’t know where to start.
“Shhh,” Madame Chang soothed in her hypnotic tone. “Let the words find you. Don’t breathe a single sentence until the words find you .”
As she spoke, my reply drifted through the haze in my head and took shape behind my eyes. “I’m working on a case that involves Harry’s mother, but the deeper I delve, the more I fear that Harry’s relationship with his parents might one day derail his relationship with me.”
I wasn’t sure what chest of unexplored feelings Madame Chang and my drug-infused daze had just unlocked, but the honesty and clarity of my words surprised even me.
Madame Chang on the other hand seemed completely unfazed by my admission. “Family is a strange and powerful creature, and one that is relatively unknown to you, Mr. Baxter. You grew up alone, relying on nobody but yourself to survive. You are yet to experience what family can do. Sometimes it can be trusted, sometimes it cannot. Sometimes it needs love to nourish and feed it, and sometimes it tears love apart, leaving it butchered and bleeding. The love of a family—the love of a mother or father—can be one of the most puzzling mysteries of all.”
“Will it change him? Harry, I mean. He… he changes when he’s around his father. He becomes someone I don’t even know. He’s like a stranger to me when he steps into his father’s shadow.”
“Then you have a choice. Nudge him out from that shadow and into the light, or leave him in the darkness.” Madame Chang stroked my cheek with the back of her hand, a touch as soft as satin. “You love him, don’t you? ”
“Yes. I think so.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
“Is he under your skin? Do you feel him in your veins?”
“Yes. Oh, yes.”
“Then you must decide—is he a parasite or a love potion? Is he your poison… or the antidote to your pain and loneliness? Only you have the power to answer that Mr. Baxter. Just remember, whatever you do, be gentle with him. You do not know the power his father wields over him. Perhaps one day you will.”
I caught my breath as I suddenly sat up, remembering—“Bugsy. Oh shit, I have to meet Bugsy for dinner.”
I jumped up, the plumes of smoke swirling as I scooped up my trousers and slid them on. I elbowed one arm into my shirt, scooped up my jacket and tie, then jiggled the shoes onto my feet as I hopped and stumbled my way toward the exit of the opium den.
“Mr. Baxter,” Madame Chang called after me. “Know one last thing before you go.”
I turned back, slinging my tie around my neck.
“The secret to true love,” said Madame Chang. “Is never keeping secrets from the one who loves you. Heed my words and one day you will find your happily-ever-after. Ignore them, and the mysteries of love will forever remain a puzzle unsolved.”