On Friday evening I stayed back at work. I’d tried again to reach Hao, in vain. I was getting desperate. I knew I’d see her the next day at the airport, but I could hardly tell her what I’d learnt in a few words as she boarded the plane! Vivien had taken the afternoon off. After a week of functioning at half speed there was plenty for me to do. A couple of clients rang with last minute requests for the following week, and that kept me busy for an hour or so, ringing round our stable of part-timers, then I started on paperwork. There was nothing to tempt me to go home to my empty flat.
By nine o’clock I was through and ready to leave. The cleaners had gone, the building was quiet. I heard the whine of the lift, but took no notice. People often came back after hours. When it stopped at my floor I wondered who it could be. I wasn’t expecting any visitors.
Then the outer door creaked open and I went out to investigate.
The first blow came at me from nowhere. I put my hands up, but a punch in the face sent me reeling, a kick in the guts doubled me over. Before I could do anything two pairs of hands had pinioned my arms while a third began to work me over.
The next few minutes passed in a savage blur of beating. I struggled as best I could, and tried to call for help, but they held me too tight, and there was no one to hear. I wriggled and twisted to dodge the worst of the blows – the one who was doing the punching slammed his fist on my skull and cried out in pain, but then he changed places and another took over. I lashed out with my feet but he moved in closer and began to beat a tattoo on my ribs, occasionally varying it with a punch to the head. Before long I was too groggy to know what I was doing. My lips were split open and my eyes began to close.
Tyger Tyger burning bright. What does a clever Tyger do when cornered? I’d been told once that if you got caught in a fight and there was no way out, the best thing to do was pretend to pass out. This I did, and it worked, to the extent that they got tired of holding me up. But they let me fall to the floor and started to kick me instead. There was a swishing sound, a sudden lash of pain on my back. I curled up into a ball, tried to protect my head. The kicks kept coming, the chain lashing at my back. I heard myself scream. Something hurt in my side and my back was on fire. There was the taste of blood in my mouth.
The blows stopped. Vaguely I heard rummaging, the crash and thump of furniture thrown about, papers flying. A chair landed on me.
‘Stay away from us! Bastard! Fuck! Next time we kill you!’
A few more kicks, a sharp stab of pain in the ribs. I cried out again. Then silence.
Clever little Tyger, curled up on the floor, feeling sorry for himself.
When I came to I couldn’t move at first. I lay panting on the carpet, feeling its rough texture under my hands. One of them felt as if it might be broken. My mouth had stopped bleeding but I ached everywhere and my back hurt like a fury. I rolled over, and the chair which had been lying on me fell off with a clatter. Painfully I sat up. My eyes had puffed up, all I could see were two slits of light, and there was a thumping in my head.
Later I pulled myself up, bending over to ease the pain in my side. I was cold and my legs were starting to seize up. I fumbled my way to the wall and switched on the light. The room was a shambles, and my office next door wasn’t much better. Everything that could be moved had been upended, the filing cabinet lay on its side, the records I’d spent the afternoon sorting out lay strewn about on the floor. Even the screen of Viv’s PC had been smashed in. Only the pot plant on the window-sill had been spared, but the jug had been thrown at the wall and water had soaked into the carpet.
I tried to go to the washroom outside but had to sit down again. There was no way I could make it home on my own. I thought of who I could ring: Vivien, Quang, or Hao? There was really only one person I wanted to see.
Dimly I groped for the phone with my good hand. The plug had been ripped from its socket and it took another bout of groping to put it back in. By some miracle it still worked. I rang her number. After ringing it all day it was burnt into my brain. After a long while one of the cousins answered.
‘Hurro?’
For some reason when they said hello it always sounded ‘hurro’.
‘Who that? What you want?’
‘Hao,’ I managed to say, between a gargle and a croak. My mouth was swollen, I had difficulty moving my lips. ‘Please. I must speak with Hao. Mrs Tran. Urgent. It’s Paul Quinn. Very urgent.’
‘She in bed. Already late. She leave tomorrow.’ He sounded angry. I had no idea of the time.
‘Please. I must speak with her. Emergency.’
Oh God, I thought. Let her answer, let her come to the phone, let her not be too angry with me for waking her up on her last night here. I need you, Hao.
‘Wait!’
I waited, for what seemed an age. Finally she came to the phone.
‘Paul? Is that you?’ Her voice was cold and distant. ‘Do you know what time it is?’
‘Sorry. Can’t tell,’ I mumbled. My watch was broken, the hands stuck on nine.
‘It’s after ten! What do you want? You really shouldn’t have gone to see Eric last night! I’ve spent all day calming him down.’
‘Explain later. I need help.’
I felt myself slipping.
‘Are you drunk?’ I heard the disbelief in her voice.
‘No! Not drunk! Hurt. I need your help, Hao! Please! No choice. I can’t move.’
Something in my voice must have got through. She was silent for a second or two, then when she spoke again it was in a different tone.
‘Where are you?’
‘My office. Can you come? Please? Just you. No one else. Take a taxi. I’ll pay.’
She was a practical woman. When she realised I couldn’t talk much she asked no more questions, simply said she’d come at once. I had to stop her before she set off, to give her the code to the street door downstairs – otherwise she wouldn’t get in.
While waiting I tried to clean up the mess. I managed to close the venetian blinds – I didn’t want curious looks from across the street the next morning – but moving about was too painful, and after righting a couple of chairs I turned the lights out and sat down again on the floor. I wanted to sleep. But I forced myself to think.
There had been three of them. Three dark shapes, their faces covered in scarves or handkerchiefs, dimly glimpsed in Vivien’s darkened office before they struck me down. I wouldn’t be able to identify them, but I knew by their shape and their way of walking that they were Vietnamese, and the accent in those words had left no doubt. Perhaps one of the young men at Eric’s house had been among them. They must have come in earlier, before the front door was locked, and waited on one of the floors, or in the toilet.
I also knew that none of them had been Eric, and was grateful for that small mercy. I was getting tired of him and his problems, but that would have been too much to take.
I dozed off a little, thinking of Rachel, and when she was next due up on her holidays. That helped take my mind off the pain. The lift brought me back to the present. A moment later Hao stepped into the room. She fumbled round until she found the switch. Then she caught her breath and stood still.
‘My God! Paul! What on earth–’
‘Sorry for the mess,’ I said, and managed a lopsided smile. I had to tilt my head back to see her. She had dressed hurriedly, in dark slacks and sweater and plain shoes, her hair pulled back in a pony-tail. She wore no make-up and her face was pale and strained. She looked like a million dollars.
She knelt on the floor and took my hand in hers. I flinched and she saw the state it was in.
‘Who did this to you? Was it Eric?’
‘No. Not Eric. Tell you later. Can you help me get home?’
‘You need a doctor! You need to go to a hospital. Let me call an ambulance.’
‘No. No doctor. No ambulance. Just take me home. I’ll be alright.’
‘But you can’t–’
It took a moment to dissuade her.
‘Please. For Eric. No hospital. No police. Can you drive?’
‘Yes. I have a car in Leeds.’
‘Ring Quang. The man I told you about. Number in my coat pocket. He’ll know what to do.’
She looked round at the mess, dismay and incredulity on her face.
‘Paul, I’m so sorry about this.’
‘Dear sweet Hao. I don’t think I could have made it to the airport tomorrow.’
I felt absurdly happy.