Page 11 of Last Violent Call
5
Mrs. Gu, who owned the tailoring business that hosted the communal phone line in Zhouzhuang, came to bring Juliette an already peeled zòngzi, its sticky rice glistening in the orange sunset. Juliette mouthed her thank-you and mimed blowing Mrs. Gu a dozen kisses, making the woman chuckle as she returned to the shop counter.
Juliette took a big bite of the zòngzi. The telephone continued ringing in her ear for another half minute before a gruff voice finally picked up.
“Who is it?”
“Ah Tou, is that any way to greet me?”
On the other end of the line, Ah Tou changed his tone immediately. “Mai tàitài. What can I do for you?”
It was late evening, the sky falling darker across the township. When Juliette adjusted her shoulder so she could clamp the receiver tighter against her ear, a herd of children ran past in their haste to return for dinnertime, almost jostling her into dropping the phone. Thankfully, she had good balance.
“Relax, you’re not being summoned.” Ah Tou was one of their best men, happy to work at their beck and call. He was fully trusted and well connected, albeit with a very shady past that definitely had included some involvement in Suzhou’s gangs. Which was great for Juliette, really, because if there was any group she knew how to talk to, it was gangsters.“I had a quick matter of interest that I figured you might know something about.”
“Ask away, dàsao.”
Juliette peered into the shop. Mrs. Gu was distracted while measuring a length of fabric.
“I killed a man earlier with an angel tattoo at the side of his neck. Chinese. Any idea if he belongs to a group of some sort?”
Ah Tou took a moment to think. “He was Chinese and he had a tattoo of an angel? Not a jinglíng?”
“Definitely a Western angel. With the wings and the halo and the cherubic chubby cheeks—the whole shebang.”
“Strange.” Ah Tou made a noise, followed by the crunch of something being eaten. Juliette had probably interrupted his dinner, if his initial gruffness was any indication. “I can ask around. You need this soon?”
“As soon as possible. The last thing I need is for it to turn out to be a gang symbol and have ten of his angel-tattoo buddies coming after me for revenge.”
Ah Tou huffed. “I will protect you from revenge plots, Mai tàitài.”
Juliette smiled into her zòngzi. Who said criminals didn’t have large hearts?
“Thank you, Ah Tou. It’s appreciated. Talk soon.”
She hung up, then waved goodbye to Mrs. Gu before taking her leave. As she walked her usual route home, passing the storefronts of small restaurants and sidestepping the crates left out on the canal sides, she was lost inside her own head, nibbling on the last pieces of rice stuck to the dried bamboo leaves.
Juliette almost didn’t see the knife flying in her direction until the very last second.
She stepped back quickly, letting the blade clatter to a stop at her feet. It had been going at a rather low and shaky trajectory, so perhapsit would have only given her a small scratch, but she still put her hands on her hips. Her glare was not directed at Yulun, who’d thrown the wayward knife, nor at Mila, who looked mortified, but at Roma, who was overseeing the two kids.
Roma looked like he was trying not to laugh.
“Are you trying to kill me?” Juliette demanded. “Again?”
“At least this time I’m sending wily assassins after you,” Roma replied. “Yulun, that was a good try.”
“So sorry!” Yulun said to Juliette, hurrying to pick up the knife. “I was most definitely not aiming in your direction.”
The target board had been pinned to the weeping willow tree, which was in theotherdirection, so Juliette could only imagine that the knife had flown out of his hand while he geared up for the throw.
“Here’s a tip.” Juliette scrunched up the bamboo leaves of her finished zòngzi in one hand, then used the other to push Yulun’s arm straight up. “You starthere. This arm does not need to go all the way backward for momentum. You’re going to dislocate your elbow doing that.”
Still, when Yulun tried again from the right position, the knife didn’t land anywhere near the target.
Juliette grimaced. Roma encouraged the boy to try again. When she went to stand by Roma’s side, she looked closer at the target board and saw that a few knives had landed successfully on the outer circles after all.
“Phone call has been made,” she said.
