The World of Angy Wong

The rain subsided as we huddled inside a lobby of a deteriorated  hotel. The walls were covered with mud, bullet holes and black dust most likely from the smoke that had consumed the building weeks prior. Furniture was sparse yet there were limbs of chairs and tables randomly scattered around the room. The only light came from the setting sun which was disappearing slowly. It would not be long before we would be sitting in complete darkness listening to the sounds of gunfire and bombs which despite being quite a distance a way, still felt closer than we were comfortable.

There were six of us, though I could only make out the faces of three people – Leoma, Tracy and Aaron. We sat on two makeshift benches facing each other. None of us said a word as we waited and Leoma finally stood up and spoke, “Well, I guess I should get going now.”

All of us had been dreading this moment. The idea of losing a friend was unbearable and I could not stand the idea of her leaving alone. I immediately stood up and said, “I’m coming with you.” The rest of the group remained silent. Nobody protested or even lifted their heads to acknowledge our departure. Their guilt ate away at them but yet, they said nothing. I held Leoma’s left hand in my right and she said one final good-bye before we turned and walked towards the glass door. We heard a faint “good luck” as we exited the dilapidated building.

As we walked towards the setting sun, I noticed the sky was streaked with pink, orange and red. It was remarkable to see such beauty still present in this hub of destruction and despaire. We walked mainly in silence and suddently it  me. I became consumed with trepidation and could not focus on anything but my fear of dying. I realized the severity of my decision and the inevitable consequence.   I was not ready to die. I did not want to die. At that moment, all I wanted to do was let go of her hand and run back to the hotel as fast I could. Ironically, after days of thinking that death was imminent in the hotel, I could only see the hotel as a sanctuary in that very moment. Yet, despite my fear, I did not let go of her hand and I continued on the journey. It was Leoma that let go.

She stopped abruptly and looked at me. “Why are you coming with me? You don’t have to.”

“I know but I don’t want you to go alone.” I replied, tears forming in my eyes.

With an almost eerie calm about her, she said softly, “but they did not summon you. They summoned me. I will go alone. They want to execute only me. You had nothing to do with what I did. Go back.”

At this point, tears streamed down my eyes uncontrollably and I threw my arms around her. “But I don’t want you to die alone.”

She patted my back and said, “It’s okay. Just go back. I have to go alone.”

I pulled away from her and said, “But I will never see you again.”

“I know but maybe we will. We don’t know for sure. Please go back. Please.” With those last words she turned towards the sun which was barely visible at this point, and continued walking.

I watched her until she disappeared from my sight. When she was gone, I stood there trying to find some comfort in her peaceful demeanor when she said her final words to me. Leoma had accepted the idea of her ultimate demise and in doing so, she no longer feared dying alone.

Turning around, I walked towards the direction of which I came. By the time I arrived back the the hotel, the sun was completely gone and the moon stood in its rightful place against the velvet black night. I could see the faint outline of my companions. They had not moved as they sat motionless, staring at the ground. I took a seat next to Aaron and rest my head on his shoulder.

“I have to go tomorrow.”

I jerked my head up and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“They sent a letter summoning me. I have to be there by May 15th.” He said calmly and showed me a piece of paper he was holding the whole time.

“But you can’t! You didn’t do anything. You can’t go.” I cried irrationally as I pushed the paper out of my way.

“There’s nothing I can do. If I don’t go, they’ll come here and kill us all.”

I could sense the fear in him and at that moment, I was glad for the darkness. I did not want to see the guilt-ridden faces of my companions nor the hopelessness in his eyes.

“You can’t go. I heard that they are going to give everyone who has been summoned until May 30th to report for execution. You don’t have to go tomorrow. Wait until May 30th, maybe the war would be over by then. Maybe they will be overthrown and leave by then. Please, just wait until May 30th.” I pleaded with him desperately and squeezed his hands, tears forming in my eyes.

“I can’t. I was summoned for May 15th. I can’t take that chance. It’ll be okay.” He replied, his voice cracking when he said “okay.”

“Just wait. I swear I read it somewhere. I’ll find it. Please just wait until May 30th.” I let go of his hand and ran to the other room. I knew I was lying and that there was no evidence of my words, and yet, I convinced myself to frantically search for something that transform my lie to truth. I searched through the rubble of the other room as I felt time slipping by quickly. After an immeasurable amount of time had passed, I ran back to the other room with a plan to convince Aaron to stay until May 30th. I would talk until he agreed to it. I would grab his arms and not let go until he agreed to stay.

When I returned to the lobby, he was gone.

In a dark restaurant that also had a movie rental section, there were three rows of tables and chairs in the middle and the video racks were located on the right side of the room. I was standing in the middle row of tables with a group of women who were lined up directly facing a string of men. Each person had a silver platter of miscellaneous food items. Mine was filled with fruit. I stared at the man across from me who had blue eyes, spiky blonde hair and an amicable demeanor. He smiled at me and said that we were paired up, but for what it was still unclear. The lines dispersed as the couples all went their separate ways except for me and my partner – he was pondering which direction to go in while I stood there awkwardly, waiting for his lead.

Suddenly, a bright flaming object near the the middle of the first row of tables erupted into a huge explosion. I ducked under the table in front of me as panic engulfs the room. People were crying and screaming as disorder ensues. The fire went out quickly though the front section of the room was in ruins and the front window was completely shattered. I was still hiding under the table unsure of what to do. I wanted to leave but I overheard others murmuring that the local Israeli mob boss was coming.

I started looking for my partner again and I see him escorting two young children and their grandparents towards an exit by the video section. I followed them and was surprised to find that the exit led to a brightly lit and extended hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was a room with the door opened. I walked towards it and the closer I got, the more I heard. My partner was accusing the young boy with the big brown eyes and the shaggy brown hair who did not look older than 9 years old of causing the explosion. Immediately, I quickened my pace and entered the room. The grandparents looked completely oblivious to the accusations and their granddaughter of about 4 years old was hugging her grandma tightly. The boy just stood there with wide eyes and remained speechless. I asked my partner – who’s eyes no longer held the friendliness it initially did upon our first meeting just fifteen minutes ago – what was going on.

He stated matter-of-factly, “This kid here is guilty of causing that explosion.”

“That’s impossible. He’s a child and they were sitting at the table on the other side of the room when it happened.” I noted.

“Well, there’s proof that his mother sent him to do it.” He said and whipped out a polaroid of a woman in her thirties in a mug shot pose.

“Certainly you can’t blame the child for his mother’s actions.” I reasoned, and I could tell that he was conflicted with what he was ordered to do and what he thought was rational.

“Think clearly for a moment.” I prodded and took a step towards him. He was silent for a few minutes but immediately snapped out of his reverie and said, “I am going to slit their throats. You can stay or you can go.”

Horror overcame me but I knew he was serious. He was a soldier and this was his order. After one last glance at the pitiable family, I ran out of the room and down the hallway. About three people were walking towards me and I screamed, “You don’t want to go in there! He’s going to murder that family!” The three others quickly turned around and followed me. As soon as I stepped foot into the video store, a man with slicked black hair, dressed in a suit and holding a machine gun bursts through the front door. He had a pair of dark shades on and was smoking a cigar. He fired a round of shots and I immediately ducked for cover. This was the Israeli mob boss that people were whispering about earlier. While taking cover behind a video rack, I wished I had left right after the explosion instead of following my partner to the murder room.

“Get me all the good movies!” The man ordered and a fellow next to me quickly started grabbing movies off the shelf. I crept around the corner to one video stand away and started grabbing DVDs off the shelf.

“Don’t worry. Only some of you will die today.” The man said with a manic smile.

As I grabbed the videos, I could only hope that I was not going to be one of those that die but my fate seemed sealed. I knew I’d eventually have to hand him the videos as he had already took notice of me and I imagined that once the exchange was made, he would shoot me right there on the spot. I remember my last thoughts were, “please don’t kill me”, as I stood up with five movies in my hand, made eye contact with the sociopath and held my breath.

Even though I was in a small nameless town in China, I found a Future Shop. The store itself resembled those one would find in any western city – there were many Caucasian employees and the store (besides being divided into 7 floors) sold the same electronics, computers, and entertainment systems. When I had entered the store, the first floor was incredibly busy with employees and customers buzzing around. This was not what I expected as I recalled feeling rather lethargic and wanting a place to just rest.

I climbed up the stairs to the third floor where the CD’s and stereo systems were sold. As soon as I reached it, all the noise from the floors below vanished. The first thing I noticed about the third floor was that there was a counter to the right of the stairwell and a tall lanky guy standing behind it, dusting off some merchandise. I greeted him with a smile and “hello” before surveying the rest of the area. I could tell that the CD selection was slim for there was only one aisle full of CDs. The CD aisle did not interest me as much as what was at the end of it; there were three leather lounge chairs – each with a blue blanket and a pillow. A feeling of exhaustion swept over me as I gravitated towards the lounge chairs and buried myself deep underneath the blanket.

The sales person didn’t seem to mind that I had decided to take a nap in his department. I slept for two hours before the sound of his voice woke me. I opened my eyes and lifted my head slightly to see what he was rambling on about. Apparently, there was a deal going on with Craig Cardiff albums and if I bought two, I could get the third one for free. I nodded in agreement before resting my head on the soft pillow again. This sales guy who, according to this name tag was named “Bram”, walked towards me with the CDs and sat down on the edge of my lounge chair.

Immediately, I became alert as I wasn’t sure of his intentions. I looked up at him and noticed he had shaggy brown hair, long side burns, blue eyes and patches of facial hair. He looked typical enough at first glance, but when I looked into his eyes, I knew there was something devious about him.

He started talking to me but I didn’t hear a single thing he said. All I wanted was for someone to come up the stairs, interrupt us and provide me with an excuse to leave. Nobody arrived though, and I was stuck with feigning interest. Then out of nowhere, he leans down to kiss me which made me jump and turn my head away.

I moved farther from him and asked angrily, “What do you think you’re doing?”

With the sleaziest look ever, Bram replied, “I thought you were interested…”

“No, I’m not. Isn’t this against store policy – sexually harassing a customer?”

He didn’t seem to hear me as he asked, “Well, why can’t we?”

I replied firmly, “Because I don’t like you. I have a boyfriend. Don’t you dare try anything.”

Bram turned towards me quickly and looked as if he was going to deny my wishes outright, but just when it seemed like he was going attack me, he got up, turned towards me and said with a smirk, “who’s going to believe you anyway?”

He leaves and I follow. When we reached the first floor, I was so enraged and promptly approached the young dark-skinned with platinum white hair cashier  to make a complaint against Bram. She looked at me with disgust and said, “Who do you think you are? Bram would never do that. You are so lying.” As soon as she said that, Bram smiled deviously before giving me a wink that I took as his way of saying, “I told you so.”

Not one to give up so easily, I found the manager walking towards me. He was a stout bald man and was named “Don” which I learned when we made our introductions. I explained to him my situation and he apologized profusely for what happened. HOWEVER, he could not reprimand Bram until the whole staff believed my side of the story; thus, he had to hold a staff meeting.

He told me to wait outside of the staff room as they held the meeting. By this point, the store had already closed. The cashier glared at me and said underneath her breath, “this is so typical of middle-class status.” I was infuriated by her comment (even though I did not know exactly what she meant), went up to her, gave her my meanest glare and said, “I don’t know what your problem is, but my behavior in wanting justice is not ‘typical of middle-class status’ but is typical of my character!” She rolled her eyes at me, but I could tell she was going to keep her comments to herself from then on.

Everyone disappeared behind the door for the meeting and I waited nervously outside. I had a feeling that the manager had absolutely no control over his employees and sure enough, the manager rejoined me after 10 minutes. Apparently, he was not allowed to vote and I knew right then and there that I was not going to get any justice.

Right before I woke up I remembered feeling so angry about the situation. I was angry at Bram for his actions, at the unfair process of deciding whether or not he was guilty, and at my general feeling of helplessness. My dreams will never actualize into reality but somehow, I have an inkling that I may be faced with a situation which could stir up similar emotions. If there’s one thing I learned from the dream, however, is that it is “my character” to always fight for what’s right and I intend to keep doing just that.