Lost Innocence: The Accused. Part One Read Online Free PDF Page A

for me.’
    ‘ What’s
that?’
    ‘ I need a package
bringing back from Bangkok.’
    ‘ What’s in the
package?’
    ‘… .You calling on a
card?’
    ‘ Of
course.’
    ‘ It’s five kilos of
junk.’
    I was shocked, yet
didn’t hang up; I feared for Nui’s life. I couldn’t handle the
thought of losing her and was actually considering this.
    ‘ What are you
thinking, John?’
    ‘ Can’t you just loan
me the money. I’m not a drug smuggler. I don’t want to
be.’
    ‘ The way I see it is
we both need a favour.’
    The phone started
shaking in my hand. ‘How would it work?’
    ‘ You pick a package
up from a guy over there, he straps it on real tight and you get on
the flight. My usual guy’s done this a million times but this time
he’s not available.’
    ‘ What if they search
me at the airport?’
    ‘ They won’t unless
the alarm goes off. You have to make sure you don’t have any metal
on you.”
    ‘ What if something
does go wrong?’
    ‘ Then you sit tight.
I take care of it.’
    ‘ How would you
know?’
    ‘ You text me on the
plane before you take off – tell me the flight is on time, but make
sure you do or I’ll be onto my guy to bail you out.’
    ‘ Who’s your
guy?’
    ‘ He’s a big Japanese
boss out there.’
    ‘ I wouldn’t get
caught?’
    ‘ Everybody gets paid,
nothing goes wrong.’
    I closed my eyes as I
realized I was about to take the biggest risk of my life. ‘Okay I’m
in.’
    ‘ You got a
pen?’
    I took down the
details of who to meet and where then ended the call. Later
over dinner, I told Nui my mum needed to
see me and I had to fly home.
    ‘ I come with you,’
she said with a firm frown.
    ‘ You don’t have a
visa for Australia.’
    ‘ Why you need to see
her now?”
    ‘ She has a
problem.’
    ‘ What
problem?’
    ‘ It’s
personal.’
    ‘ You tell me John, or
I’ll call her.’
    ‘ She’s drinking
again.’
    ‘ I not know her
drinking before.’
    ‘ I never told you
because it’s personal. So don’t call her, you hear?’
    ‘ We’re family now
John. Not have personal. I not call her, but I’m coming to the
airport.’
    ‘ Let’s see how you
feel on the day.’
    ‘ You leave when I’m
pregnant. I want a dog.’
    ‘ Not that old
chestnut again.’
    ‘ I want for when you
away.’
    ‘ I’m never
away.’
    She walked off, but
at least the die had been cast. I felt guilty for lying but didn’t
see another way. I would get in, get out and our lives would be
back on track. The departure date soon arrived. I was in the
bedroom saying goodbye.
    ‘ Don’t go,’ Nui
begged with tears in her eyes.
    ‘ I have to go. We’ve
already been over this.’
    She scowled then
pulled up the bed-sheet.
    ‘ How you stop your
mum from drinking?’
    ‘ I’ll think of
something.’
    I wiped away one of
her tears, kissed her forehead then backed away. Leaving her this
way was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do and lying made
it even worse. I thought about her father, about the loan-sharks
and knew if I’d told her the truth, she’d never have let me
go.
    ‘ Wait!’ she screamed.
‘The baby’s kicking.’
    I stepped back, sat
on the bed and felt him kick. This wasn’t the first time but it was
strange he was doing it now.
    ‘ He not want you
go.’
    ‘ I have to
go.’
    ‘ Then go,’ she hissed
with angry eyes.
    I picked up my bag at
the door, took a taxi and headed to the address Briggs had given
me. I arrived thirty minutes later at an apartment building on
Thong Lor and after showing my ID to a lady with a glass eye, I was
taken to a small room a few floors up that smelt of salty
glue.
    Three guys were sat
on a rug smoking and playing cards. They glanced over as I stood
waiting. One had a slight scar along his left cheek, the second had
a silver nose piercing and the third wore shades.
    ‘ Where Jay?’
‘Scarface’ asked.
    ‘ He’s sick,’ I
replied.
    ‘ Scarface’ stood up
and clapped his hands like a boss.