The Stone Monkey

water on full. He stripped off his clothes and stepped into the shower, resting his head against the tiles that Mei-Mei had somehow found the time to scrub last night.
    He showered, shut off the scalding water and dried himself with a towel. He cocked his head, hearing the sounds of clanking metal in the kitchen.
    Mei-Mei was still asleep and the boys knew nothing of cooking. Alarmed, he climbed out of bed and pulled the pistol from beneath the mattress and walked cautiously into the main room of the apartment. He laughed. His father was making tea.
    “Baba,” he said, “I’ll wake Mei-Mei. She can do that.”
    “No, no, let her sleep,” the old man said. “When your mother died I learned to make tea. I can cook rice too. And vegetables. Though not very well. Let us take tea together.” Chang Jiechi lifted the iron pot, the handlewrapped with a rag, and took cups and hobbled into the living room. They sat and he poured the tea.
    Last night, when Chang had returned, he and his father had taken a map and located the Ghost’s apartment building, which was not, to their surprise, in Chinatown but farther to the west, near the Hudson River.
    “When you get to the Ghost’s apartment,” his father now asked, “how will you get inside? Won’t he recognize you?”
    Chang sipped the tea. “I don’t think he will, no. He only came to the hold of the ship once. It was dark too.”
    “How will you get in?”
    “If there is a doorman I’ll tell him I’m there on business and give the name Tan. I practiced my English all night. Then I’ll just take the elevator up to his door and knock on it.”
    “And if he has bodyguards?” Chang Jiechi said. “They’ll search you.”
    “I’ll hide the gun in my sock. They won’t search carefully. They won’t be expecting me to be armed.” Chang tried to picture what would happen. He knew they would have guns too. Even if they shot him as soon as they saw the gun he would still be able to shoot one or two bullets into the Ghost. He realized that his father was gazing at him and he looked down. “I will come back,” he said firmly. “I will be here to take care of you, Baba.”
    “You are a good son. I could not have asked for a better one.”
    “I have not brought you all the honor I should have.”
    “Yes, you have,” the old man said and poured more tea. “I named you well.” Chang’s given name, Jingerzi, meant “shrewd son.”
    They lifted their cups and Chang drained his.
    Mei-Mei came to the door, glanced at the teacups. “Have you taken rice yet?” she asked, the expression meaning simply, “Good morning.” It wasn’t a reference to food.
    “Wake William,” Chang told Mei-Mei. “There are some things I want to say to him.”
    But his father waved for her to stop. “No.” She did.
    “Why not?” Chang asked.
    “He will want to come with you.”
    “I’ll tell him no.”
    Chang Jiechi laughed. “And that will stop him? That impetuous son of yours?”
    Chang fell silent for a moment then said, “I can’t go off like this without talking to him. It’s important.”
    But his father asked, “What is the only reason that a man would do something like you are about to do—something foolhardy and dangerous?”
    Chang replied, “For the sake of his children.”
    His father smiled. “Yes, son, yes. Keep that in mind, always. You do something like this for the sake of your children.” Then he grew stern. How well Sam Chang knew this look of his father’s. Imperial, unyielding. He had not seen it for some time—ever since the man had grown sick with the cancer. “I know exactly what you intend to say to your son. I will do it. It’s my wish that you don’t wake William.”
    Chang nodded. “As you say, Baba.” He looked at his wristwatch. The time was seven-thirty. He had to be at the Ghost’s apartment in an hour. His father poured him more tea, which Chang drank down quickly. Then he said to Mei-Mei, “I have to leave soon. But I wish that you come sit by me.”
    She sat beside her husband, lowering her head to his shoulder.
    They said nothing but after five minutes Po-Yee began to cry and Mei-Mei rose to take care of the girl. Sam Chang was content to sit in silence and watch his wife and their new daughter. And then it was time to leave and go to his death.
    •   •   •
    Rhyme smelled cigarette smoke.
    “That’s disgusting,” he called.
    “What?” asked Sonny Li, the only other person in the room. The Chinese cop