We Had Flags (Toxic World Book 3) by Sean McLachlan

Author:Sean McLachlan [McLachlan, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2015-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Pablo and Hong-gi sat huddled together in the dunes for a long time. Finally Pablo spoke.

“Now what do we do?”

“I dunno,” Hong-gi whispered, still staring at nothing. His eye had swelled up pretty bad.

Pablo looked over at the rock that marked where the radio was hidden. This was all his fault. If he hadn’t called the ship and the Chinese hadn’t come, people wouldn’t have thought Hong-gi was Chinese and he wouldn’t have gotten hit and they wouldn’t be stuck out here and…

Pablo squeezed his eyes shut. He felt like crying again. Why couldn’t he be brave like he had with that scavenger in the market? He had to try.

“OK,” Pablo said, opening his eyes. “Let’s go back and—”

“I can’t go back!” Hong-gi wailed.

“We’ll get my mom. She’ll keep you safe and arrest the people who were hurting Asians. She’s probably arrested them already.”

“She’ll let them kill all the Chinese in town.”

“There aren’t any Chinese in town.”

Hong-gi kept silent. Pablo looked at him.

“I don’t want to live there anymore,” Hong-gi said at last.

“It’ll be OK. My mom will stop anyone from hurting Asians. I bet The Doctor will banish them.”

Hong-gi looked out across the dunes in the direction of the Burbs. “Everybody hates me there.”

“No they don’t.”

Hong-gi put his forehead against his knees.

“You hate me too,” he mumbled.

Pablo put an arm around his shoulders. “Don’t be silly! What are you talking about?”

Hong-gi looked up at him. He was crying again.

“I’m Chinese.”

Pablo pulled his arm away and stared at him. Hong-gi tore away from him and ran up the dune, where he stopped and stood with his back to Pablo, staring out to the sea.

Pablo stayed put, suddenly afraid. Was Hong-gi some kind of secret agent? Was he going to blow up a Big One as revenge for how Mr. Fartbag treated him?

Immediately Pablo felt guilty. This was his friend. He climbed up the dune after him.

“Go away,” Hong-gi said.

“Deputy Andrews says not all Chinese are bad.”

“Duh.”

They looked out at the sea for a minute. China was over there somewhere. How far was it? A thousand kilometers? A million? Far enough that for a long time the ship’s radio had sounded all faint and crackly.

“So you’ve never told anyone you were a Chink?” Pablo asked.

“Don’t say that! That’s a bad word.”

“Sorry.”

“My parents always said that I’d get killed if I did. I wish they were still alive. We could go be scavengers or something. Out in the wildlands you’d hardly have to see anyone. I wouldn’t have to lie so much then.”

Suddenly Pablo remembered something. “So that’s why when we always played Heroes and Chinks, um, I mean Heroes and Chinese, you always wanted to play the Chinese. Nobody wants to play the Chinese. And you never let us win.”

Hong-gi kept looking out across the water. Pablo nudged him.

“Remember that time George was coming over the hill shouting ‘Kill the Chinks! Long live the Fifth Republic!’ and you threw a blob of mud right in his face?”

Hong-gi cracked a smile.

“You should have put some poop in it,” Pablo said.

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