Chapter 94: She Is A Kid Herself
Jimmy got a call.
The person he went to see was the man Uncle Jack mentioned in his notes.
He had been working as a temporary worker in LA Customs and was the informer for Uncle Jack. After Uncle Jack died, he disappeared. Jimmy spent a lot of time tracking him and found he changed his name and became a fisherman.
He did not reply to any of his questions, but Jimmy still could see his struggle under the silence. He urged him with the facts and appealed to his emotions, but it seemed this was in vain.
But now, it seems to be working.
However, as he was about to meet him, the chief assigned Jimmy an urgent task. So he had to tell him to meet one day later.
The next day when he got there, he heard someone crying inside the house. A guy who walked out of the house told Jimmy the owner of it drowned in the sea yesterday when he went fishing after drinking.
As he stepped into the yard, he found a middle-aged woman sitting on the bench on the porch. She had a wrung handkerchief in her hand. Her eyes were red, and her hair was messy.
She was cursing from time to time, “Bastard, all you know how to do is drink. Now you are happy. You drank yourself to death. Why don’t you take us with you? What should we do without you?”
A teenager was leaning by the door in silence. He looked out at the yard blankly when Jimmy came in. “My father had quit drinking.” He muttered.
Jimmy found his blood running fast in his veins. He took out all the money in his wallet and put it in a tool kit on the porch, and left.
When he drove out of the village, he pulled over on the road suddenly. He punched the steering wheel. The horn echoed in the country road.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
He had killed him.
All he wanted was to find out the truth and get justice for Uncle Jack, but now he had gotten another man killed while the murderer was at large.
He had become an accomplice of the murderer.
While Jimmy was struggling with guilt and rage for getting an innocent man killed, Kate was also struggling with her issues.
The cold war she started and continued for weeks was interrupted by the ridiculous event at the birthday party. To continue looked ridiculous even to her, but she was unwilling to give up.
The term of three years was not over, and the fish god had not made her wish come true yet. So though her heart was in contradiction, she had to continue her life there and work harder in school.
One more month passed.
Not caring what happened outside, Kate still heard that the alley had been cleaned up. Some shops had been removed, and business there had become prosperous again.
Her classmates also discussed who had been arrested, among whom were notorious gangsters and prominent politicians.
Tristan was still busy every day and looked at ease. She thought that he had nothing to do with those people and felt relieved.
Over the weekend, Tristan was going on a trip to Arizona. He bought tickets for her too.
He had a strong argument about this, “Travelling is more important than reading books. One gains insight in seeing new places. I will take you to Europe later when I am less busy.”
The night before they went on the trip, Kate switched the TV channels and happened to see a familiar face. It was news about LA police in the action of cracking down on gangsters. Prizes were awarded to some policemen who did an excellent job in action.
Jimmy was outstanding among the row of policemen. The mayor was giving the medals to them personally. Kate got excited and felt happy for him. But when the camera caught his face, she found he was calm and even seemed expressionless.
Wasn’t he happy about it? Why was he not happy?
She recalled what he looked like when he laughed heartily. It was like a century ago.
Tristan’s trip to Arizona was for personal issues-to attend the opening ceremony of a primary school that he built for charity. So only Tristan, his secretary, Ed, and Kate went together.
The school was in the backland, where the economy was not so good. In the isolated remote area, the car was driving on rugged and winding mountain roads. Kate got a little sick from the jolting, but the scenery was like an alien planet, and she could not take her eyes off the window.
When they got to the new school, the headmaster and the faculty welcomed them. They took them to see the classrooms and dormitory. Tristan asked some questions about the quality of the construction.
He had commissioned a company to supervise the construction, and the result seemed satisfactory. He didn’t give a speech at the ceremony and just took some pictures with the students.
It was the first day of school, and some students didn’t have class. They stayed in the school library reading books. Some were playing in the playground.
Tristan went to play football with a few little kids. He didn’t look like a successful businessman at this time. Instead, one might take him as a coach or parent.
The headmaster and teachers went to attend to their own jobs, and soon Tristan and Ed were left alone smoking at the playground. Kate walked past them and heard part of their conversation.
“If Julia was still alive, probably their kid would be this age.”
Tristan didn’t reply, but she could hear him sigh.
The sighed fell on her heart.
When she got to the library, a kid asked her which state she was from. She heard somebody speaking to her, but her mind was elsewhere. The kid asked her several times before she could draw back her attention.
And he rarely smoked.
After they finished the cigarette, they went to the library to look for Kate. When they saw Kate was surrounded by a group of kids asking her questions, Tristan couldn’t help smiling.
Ed said, “Why not have a child yourselves? Probably her genes are not smart, but the kid might take after you.”
Tristan said, “She is a kid herself.”