them.
Then Wu spoke. Honourable Father, you are wise in all things. We, your sons, bow to your will as the rice stalks bow to the north wind.
All four of them bowed so low that their foreheads almost touched the table-top, but when they straightened the other three were looking at Cheng. Cheng realised at that moment that it might be possible to attain too much face. His face was greater than that of all his half-brothers combined and he felt an icicle of fear slide down his spine, for his brothers were watching him with the eyes of crocodiles.
He knew that he dare not fail in Ubomo. They would be waiting to rend him if he did.
Once Cheng was back in his own apartment, the fear fell away to be replaced by the clarion of success. There was so much work to do before he returned to Africa, but for the moment he could not concentrate his mind upon it. Tomorrow certainly, but not now. He was too charged with excitement, his mind restless and unfocused. He needed to steady'himself, to burn off the excess energy that made him both physically and mentally overwrought.
He knew exactly how to achieve this. He had his own special ritual for purging his soul. Of course, it was dangerous, terribly dangerous.
On more than one occasion before it had brought him to the very brink of disaster. However, the danger was part of the efficacy of the ritual. He knew that if anything went wrong he would have lost all.
The monumental successes of these last few days, his father's selection and the ascendancy over his brothers would all be wiped away.
The risk was enormous, completely out of proportion to the fleeting gratification that he would achieve. Perhaps it was the gambler's urge to flirt with self-destruction. After each episo he always promised himself that he would never indulge in the madness again, but always the temptation proved too strong, particularly at a time such as this.
As soon as he entered his apartment his wife made tea for him, and then called the children to pay him their respects. He spoke to them for a few minutes and took his infant son on his lap, but he was distracted and soon dismissed them. They left with obvious relief.
These formal interviews were 2 strain for all of them. He was not good with children, even his own.
My father has chosen me to go to Ubomo, he told his wife.
It is a great honour, she said. I offer you my felicitations.
When will we leave? I shall go alone, he told her, and saw the relief in her eyes.
It annoyed him that she made it so obvious. Of course, I will send for you as soon as I have made the arrangements. She dropped her eyes.
I will await your summons. But he could not concentrate on her. The excitement was fizzing in his head. I will rest for an hour. See that I am not disturbed. Then I have to go down to the city. There is much work to do before I leave. I will not return tonight, and I shall probably stay at the apartment in Tunhua Road. I shall send you a message before I return.
Alone in his own room he teased himself with the telephone.
He placed the cordless instrument on the table and stared at it, rehearsing every word he would say and his breathing was short and quick as though he had run up a flight of stairs. His fingers trembled slightly when at last he reached out for it. The telephone was fitted with a special coding scrambler. It could not be tapped and it was impossible for any other person, Civil or military or police, to trace the special number that he punched into the key panel.
Very few people had this number. She had told him once that she had given it to only six of her most valued clients. She answered it on the second ring and she recognized his voice instantly. She greeted him with the special code name she had assigned him. You have not been to see me for almost two years, Green Mountain Man. I have been away.
Yes, I know, but still I missed you.
I want to come tonight. Will you want the special thing? Yes.
Cheng felt his stomach clench at the thought of it. He thought he might be sick with fear and loathing and excitement. It is very short notice, she said. And the price has risen since your last visit. The price does not matter. Can you do it?
He heard the high strained tones of his own voice. She was silent, and he knew she was baiting him. He wanted to scream at her and then she said, You are fortunate. Her voice changed. It became obscenely soft and slimy. I have received new merchandise; I can offer you a choice of two. Cheng gulped and cleared his throat of a plug of phlegm before he could ask. Young? Very young. Very tender. Untouched.
When will you be ready? Ten o'clock tonight, she said. Not before.
At the sea pavilion? he asked. Yes, she replied. They will expect you at the gate. Ten o clock, she repeated. Not earlier, not later.
Cheng drove to the apartment building in Tunbua Road. It was in the most prestigious part of the city and the accommodation was expensive, but it was paid for by Lucky Dragon.
He left his Porsche in the underground garage and rode up to the top floor apartment in the elevator. By the time he had showered and changed it was still only six o'clock and he had plenty of time in which to prepare himself.
He left the apartment building on foot and set off down Tunhua Road.
tHe lo ed the renao of Taipei. It was one of the things that he missed most while he was away. Renao was a concept that was almost impossible to translate from the Chinese to any other language. It meant festive, lively, joyous and noisy all at the same time.
It was now the ghost month, the seventh lunar month when the ghosts return from hell to haunt the earth and have to be placated with gifts of ghost money and food. It was also necessary to keep them at a distance with fireworks and dragon processions.
Cheng paused to laugh and applaud one of the processions led by a monstrous dragon with a huge papier-michi head and fifty pairs of human legs beneath its serpentine body. The jumping-jack fireworks popped with spurts of blue smoke about the ankles of the spectators and the band beat drums and gongs and the children shrieked. It was good renao and it heightened Cheng's excitement.
He threaded his way through the crowds and the bustle until he reached the East Garden area of the city and left the main thoroughfare to enter a back, alley.
