This Is a Bust by Ed Lin

Author:Ed Lin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kaya Press
Published: 2012-11-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

I was waiting at Chatham Square, which is actually shaped more like a triangle squeezed in by Bowery, East Broadway, and Catherine Street.

The bank on the northern tip of the triangle used to be a movie theater with haunted bathrooms on the basement level. Before the building had even been a movie theater, it had been a brothel, and both bathrooms were supposedly haunted by Chinese girls who had hung themselves. When we were kids, Moy had told me that he’d once been washing his hands and had seen the ghost of a woman with no face in he bathroom mirror.

I felt a chill and walked away from the bank to the western part of the triangle that was overshadowed by a stone memorial arch for Lt. Benjamin Ralph Kimlau, a Chinese American who had fought in World War II. The arch didn’t say anything about what had happened, but I had heard a tour guide say that Kimlau had been piloting a bomber in the Philippines when the plane took a hit. Kimlau had ordered all his men to bail out. Kimlau had stayed on to steer away from civilian homes and had crashed into a river.

Everybody knew that sitting at one of the benches carved into the memorial would bring bad luck. Only tourists and foreign Chinese sat there.

The midget came by and slapped my elbow.

“Policeman Chow, you’re looking pretty nervous.”

“I’m just here to meet a friend.”

“Are you working undercover right now? Are you trying to get a drug dealer?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. We’re going to the Latin American Chinese Benevolent Association.”

“For dominoes, right?”

“Yes,” I said. I was waiting for Yip. After hearing Vandyne complain about me interfering with the case, I’d decided that I couldn’t hang out with Yip anymore. I’d tell him not to follow me around, too. He could wave if he saw me from across the street.

It sucked that I had to meet him in order to tell him I wouldn’t be hanging out with him anymore.

But a night out in the fancy association building was a big thing for Yip. I personally never liked gambling, even for fun and not money. I felt like I was reinforcing the stereotype of Chinamen who live to press their luck.

“There’s nothing good about gambling,” said the midget, pulling off his backpack and stretching his arms back.

“You never made any money playing games?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“I made some money, but I stopped. It didn’t mean anything to me anymore. If you’re a good player, you don’t need a bet to intimidate your opponent.”

“Money’s not important to me, either. It’s just gambling for kicks in there, not for money.”

“Anyway, I know you’re going just for the girls in short-shorts!”

“They have girls in short-shorts?” I asked, my voice going up an octave. It had been a while since I’d been to the association.

He pulled his bookbag back on. “Maybe you oughta measure those shorts-shorts, make sure they’re legal!

Good luck!”

After the midget left, I paced around the triangle and checked my watch.

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