Another Promise
After Dempsey left, Hope sat Peng on the bed and made him give all the details of the time in the mountains. Jin interrupted every few minutes, demanding that Peng play with her, until finally she fell asleep on his lap. The room reminded Peng of the orphanage in many ways—the gray walls, the sterile furniture, the lock on the doors. But something was different. Peng struggled to figure out what it was, and then he had it: the difference was in the smell. There was no smell of fear. Despite their being held captive, despite the locks on the door and the threat of being sold to terrorists, there was no fear here. Hope seemed more interested in the small details of how Peng got along with the boys on the camping trip than in what was to come. Her eyes lit with emotion whenever he spoke of Matt. He felt sorrow that his birth mother hadn’t had anywhere near that relationship with his stepfather but also comfort, like a warm blanket, that he and Jin were with the family they had now. The room didn’t feel like the orphanage after all; it felt like family.
He wasn’t used to talking so much, but the words spilled out of him. Hope was a good person, and Peng was determined to get her out of this situation safely. He could have Hope, Permelia, and Jin out of this room within a few minutes, by the looks of the locks; however, getting out the door would only be the beginning. What lay outside the door was what worried him.
After a while, Hope seemed to be running out of questions. Jin’s breathing became deeper, and her body felt heavier than it had moments earlier. Peng looked Hope in the eyes. “I can get us out of here,” he said. “Tonight, when it’s dark.”
“I hate to tell you this,” Permelia said. “But those are good locks on that door. I’ve been trying to pick them since we got in here.”
“I’m good with locks,” Peng said. “I can get us out.”
“No.” Hope stared at Peng with a sudden intensity in her eyes. “We are not going to try to escape without Matt. I forbid it.” Her voice was loud. Almost shouting.
Peng was taken aback. Hope had never talked to him like that, not even when she’d scolded him for sneaking out of the house at night. “But it will be easier for Matt to take care of the bad guys if he doesn’t have to worry about us.” Peng had complete confidence that Matt could and would take care of the bad guys.
Hope’s eyes softened, and she put her hand on Peng’s arm. “You may be right,” she said. “But I don’t think I can handle another night like the last one. I tried to escape. A man was killed. I can’t go through that again. He . . .” She shivered as if a cold wave had passed through her. “Please, let’s just wait for Matt.”
“A man?” Peng asked.
“More like a psychopath than a man,” Permelia said. “But there’s no use arguing with her. The scar’s a bit too fresh. I’ve seen this look from your mother before, and she’s not going to be moved.”
“No, I won’t,” Hope said. “I just want one night of peace, reunited with my son, not having to worry that anyone is going to get killed. When Matt arrives, we can start talking about getting out of this place.”
Peng looked back longingly toward the door. The locks would be so easy to defeat. Hope followed his eyes and seemed to be reading his thoughts. “Promise me, Peng. Promise me you won’t try to escape. That you won’t leave us. That you will stay here and wait for Matt.”
Peng thought carefully before he spoke. A plan was beginning to form in his head. He would not try to sneak his family out in the middle of the night. Hope was right. Trying to move that many people without being seen would be dangerous. But he needed to help Matt, and to help Matt, he needed more information—information he couldn’t get if he was stuck in this room. Hope was asking him to promise not to escape. But sneaking out for a few hours after it got dark to look around would not really be escaping. And he was never going to leave this family. Never again. It seemed like he had just found them. He would stay here and wait for Matt, but here was bigger than just this room. Matt needed him. His family needed him. If he waited until they were asleep, Hope wouldn’t even realize he had gone. “I promise,” he said finally.