A Momentary Lapse of Reason - 11
A Novella
11. 大刀阔斧[i]
(dà dāo kuo fǔ)
The high standard spans the sky, and the strong wind never stops.[ii] She was alive here at the top of the botanical garden. Earlier they passed a statue of a Buddha Dharma goddess in bronze her face giving forgiveness to those who would ask for it, branches emerge to support the secluded area.[iii] She touched his hand then, and she touched his hand now. but there was little speaking because the gap was large. Her here flew under the breeze and she looked at him waiting to ask, wanting to ask, willing to ask. But the words did not come out.
The sound of rivers and rivers flows to the west.[iv] They could be heard because neither of the two said anything. Where can they cast their cries?[v]
Finally, she spoke: “I could not find you for many days. I read all kinds of worries.[vi]
He turned to her and looked into her eyes. It was obvious to her there was something desperately and deeply wrong. But she did not know what it was, and this told her inside that she did not know his secrets. Thus, she does not know him well enough to truly love him though she feels it so much so that her heart could burst.
She continued: “To only what secrets you hide from everyone else. I want to know and take at least some portion on me.”
“I think we need to take our time.”
“What drives you to this?”
He disentangled her hand from his, then put his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feet. But then his wall broke open: “In the night I go into the deep recesses of the digging which is done. Then I take out the syringe, that holy syringe, that when prepared gives me ecstasy from the heroine that is bunched up inside. And I feel the release from all periodizations and grace and commune with its liquid somnambulant power. And when I am awake for a moment, I feel release and peace.”
The power the words held in the bleak darkness, and his breath was cold from their admission.
“I understand how giving yourself to something more powerful than your conscious mind controls can be somehow liberating. But it is a false sense. Give me your hand and we can fight this condemnation together.”
The droplets of rain fell from the broad-leaf orchids some of which were in bloom.
Then willing up from within her: “This cannot be an end for us.” And she put her crown onto his shoulder and there were tears by the weepload.
It was then that he brought his face up to hers touching their noses. “I promise that you are the only girl for me, but this sickness must be gotten rid of from my system.”
She rolled her head as if to say “Yes.”
In a while, they went hand in hand and back to the place that consumed them with its blaring lights and utter darkness. And then at Nathan Road and Salisbury, at the stroke of 11, they parted each one walking away and looking at the other until they could not see the other. Each one was by the crowd under the clock tower. She stopped to buy a plastic container of tea from an itinerant salesman.
Then she turned away and was hit in the head by a man in a black trench coat. With that, her head tilted upwards because the black trench-coated man was taller by a head and wider by half again with both muscle and fat.
His wide face grinned from ear to ear. “Going someplace this late in the evening? You know your mother is very worried about you.”
In a panic she a way to the right across Salisbury Road through the streets and across the busy middle lane, hoping to get out of his sight. The man was not quick and plodded after her. But before he crossed the road, he called on his cell phone, all the while moving his way back onto the sidewalk. He reported that she had gotten away onto Salisbury Street and called for some reinforcements.
There was a noise from the female voice on the other end of the cell phone and it was clear that she had expected him to retrieve her goods and come home. The line went dead but, in a few minutes, she said that other people would be helping him out.
I looked up and down the streets but could not find Maggie. So, he acted on a hunch that she would continue down Salisbury Road. He knew she was a planner, so she probably had some destination in mind. He thought for a moment and then turned his body around and sat his course for the shambly little apartment where Tal resided. He could use his weight to persuade the Russian gentleman to aid in his small retrieval.
But Maggie was not headed for Tal’s flat, instead, she was making for the tunnel and hoping that no one would find her. She could hear the noise from the other pedestrians, but it was dying away as more people fled the streets and went inside for another round of illicit activities and drinking either tea, beer, or stronger stuff. She felt that she had to hurry before the streets were empty and foreboding. She drank from the bottle and decided which way to go.
Her mind thought of the darkness and hoped that it would envelop all of her, inside and out. Then she saw Kit and followed him.
The sound of rivers and rivers flows to the west.[vii]
[i] Drastic.
[ii] Reference to Du Fu, “Climbing the Tower with Friends at the Temple of Blessings”, L1
[iii] Reference to Du Fu, “Climbing the Tower with Friends at the Temple of Blessings”, L.4
[iv] Reference to Du Fu, “Climbing the Tower with Friends at the Temple of Blessings”, L.5
[v] Reference to Du Fu, “Climbing the Tower with Friends at the Temple of Blessings”, L.11
[vi] Reference to Du Fu, “Climbing the Tower with Friends at the Temple of Blessings”, L.2
[vii] Reference to Du Fu, “Climbing the Tower with Friends at the Temple of Blessings”, L.5