Nation part 2

“Mom? You're crushing my head.” Andy squirmed a little, trying to loosen Mindy's hold on him. She let go, taking a deep breath and looking away. The others in their compartment were still just sitting there, seemingly not doing anything at all. It had been months since they'd taken Jason, but the memory still left her feeling cold. Cold and lonely.

Mindy ruffled Andrew's hair, forcing herself to smile. “We're going to be there soon,” she said softly, “Can you wait to see it?”

“What will it be like? Covered in bamboo? Will there be pandas everywhere?”

Mindy laughed, “Maybe, I've never been.”

“I'm so excited,” his little eight year old face split into a grin, eyes shining, “We'll get dad back and then visit The Great Wall!” Mindy tried to keep her smile fixed.

“Yeah, we'll do that.”

“Promise?” His hair was so dirty, the previously blond hair was streaked with grease and dirt, his face grubby. His fingernails were cracked, some of them looking like they were getting ready to start bleeding. His clothing was torn and ripped, his blue eyes shining despite the thick film of misery that lurked just behind the gaze. He would stand out like a sore thumb among all the Asians. He'd taken after his father, looking more white than Mindy's dark complexion and short brown hair. She still wasn't sure how that had happened, weren't her genes supposed to be dominant?

“Yes,” she said, “I promise.” The ship heaved to the side, making Mindy's stomach flop upwards. Andy jumped up in case she lost whatever lunch she'd managed to force down. He put his hand on her head the way she'd done whenever he was sick.

“I don't think you're head is too warm,” he said, she smiled.

“Well, that's good to know,” she gulped down the bile.

“You won't leave me, will you?”

“Never.” she hugged him tight again, “I just can't wait till we get off this blasted ship.” Andrew nodded. “We should be there by nightfall.” she reassured him. He nodded again, closing his eyes and resting on her shoulder. His breathing was smooth and even.

“I'm going after him,” Mindy told her mother, the morning after they'd taken Jason. She'd stayed up all night, tossing and turning. She couldn't imagine what they would do to him, would they just send him home? Was he being held somewhere? It didn't matter. He was her husband. She was his family. She was going after him.

“Miranda, sweetheart.” Her mother twisted her shirt, biting her lip, “You realize what will happen don't you? They're not just going to let him go. They don't want foreigners in the country, and they say it'll make us safe. . .” she was twisting the hem of her shirt faster and faster. Mindy closed her eyes, trying to breathe deeply and calmly, “I know,” she said, her fists clenched, “But. . . Mom. . .” she took in a deep breath, “HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? How can you possibly think that Jason would do ANYTHING that would hurt this country? All he ever did was try to take care of his family, all he ever did was his own business. We're even cleared of all the debt! How can they just. . . How can they just. . .” her shoulders shook, the entire world was falling apart. Everything was just. . .wrong.

“Shh, shh Miranda.” Her mom pulled her into her arms, stroking her hair, “shh, don't cry, it's going to be okay, shh, shh.” It's not okay, it's not okay for as long as he's been gone.

“I'm. . .” Mindy gulped, trying to swallow the lump in her throat, “I'm going after him.”

“Miranda, you can't. What will Andy do? You can't just leave him.” Andrew. Her little boy. This was the hard part. But what right did they have to take away her family? What right did anyone have to say that they shouldn't be together? Everything inside of her told her that what she was about to do was risky. Her first instinct was to protect her son. She couldn't just take him with her when she might be thrown in jail, or shot or. . .who knew what else. She should leave him somewhere safe. He should be free of all of this, grow up in a fantasy where people didn't just take their parents away from them. But he wasn't going to.

“Mom, we're going to war,” Mindy said, “The entire country is preparing for it. It'll be almost everyone else against just us. They're going to be taking people from everywhere, there's going to be invasions, the US isn't safe anymore.”

“Don't be silly. . .”

“You KNOW it's true. It's not just the American government that's going to pot, it's EVERYWHERE. The entire world is going insane. I don't know what's going to happen, but I know that I can't live like this. I won't let this happen. If my family is going to die, we're going to die together. I'm taking Andy with me.”
* * *

The door to the ship compartment burst open. The captain stood there, his beard bristling as he smelled the stink from all the passengers. There weren't too many reasons to be trying to get into China these days, but they each had their reasons, and none of them were very willing to share. In the three weeks they'd been on the ship had stretched their endurance, almost everyone was sick from the conditions and the stink from those that had originally gotten sea sick. But now it was time to leave, just like they'd originally planned.

Captain Adrian Tai was known for his fair play. He was also known, if anyone had ever bothered to check, for piracy, smuggling, and double dealing. But he was probably the only pirate that dabbled in those activities governed by a highly sensitive moral conscience. He knew that people had their reasons for wanting to get into the different nations. He also knew that most of the time they had no way of doing so, and were desperate enough to pay the highest sum possible. He was essentially a good man, or liked to think of himself that way. He just didn't like playing by someone else's rules. After all, if you gotta go to jail for something (and these days, you really did) then it might as well be something you feel good about.

There were plenty of people willing to help you if you had the cash, and the desperate usually found a way to get the cash. Adrian thought of the mother and her little son. They were probably the saddest of all the refugees, definitely the youngest member was that little boy. He sometimes wondered if he did the right thing in accepting their money, or if he should have just told them both to go home. It was dangerous in these waters. It was dangerous to be anywhere you weren't supposed to be. But he'd recognized that look, if he hadn't helped them, they would've found someone who would.

Might as well be him getting paid.

Each piece of cargo was carefully labeled. All of the refugees would be sent ashore and given to a certain supplier. They would all, of course, be going different places. There was no point in trying to smuggle people in if they were all just going to get caught. They were given very specific instructions. Not all of those picking up their goods knew their were people hiding amongst them, and it was probably better that it stayed that way.

Adrian stood calmly, holding his hands behind his back and staring at the coastline. He'd be back, and some of these people might come back with him, but he was willing to bet that the majority of them wouldn't be coming back. A barrel was rolled past him, down the plank and carried onto the dock. The buildings extended far into the distance, the skyscrapers reaching for the sky and flashing their shiny lights against the sun. the loading docks seemed tiny in comparison. Adrian tipped his hat, turning around and retreating into his cabin for his records, it was going to be a very long day.
* * *

Mindy pulled her legs up to her chest, feeling her heart pounding against the rib cage. Her palms were sweating, her back was already beginning to ache, and it was all she could do to keep herself from making a sound as they rolled her barrel over and over again. Her already upset stomach flipped around, trying to keep itself form disintegrating in its own bile. Andy was supposed to be in the barrel next to her, going to the same dock, but she had no idea if that was true or not. She didn't even know 100% that the captain was trustworthy. What if she got out and Andy. . . No. No, there wasn't any point in panicking. Right?

Mindy closed her eyes, wishing everything would just. . Stop. Actually, she wished that Jason was there with her, and that they were sitting in their yellow house and everything was shiny and perfect. Unfortunately, life didn't always run that way.

The barrel jolted to a stop, tipping in it's side and finally sitting upright. Mindy's cheek smashed into the bottom of the barrel, her body's weight smashing onto her face. She wiggled a little, trying to be careful and not move the barrel. All the blood rushed to her head and she had to swallow her stomach juices again. If she ever lived through this, she would never set foot on the sea again.

She heard the rolling of another barrel, it sounded like it was being set up somewhere close to her. She could only hope that Andy was in that one. They weren't supposed to get out of the barrels until they were at their destination, and then sneak out at night. Hopefully that would take them to some of the inner cities, Debjit had explained that if Jason was still in China, he'd be in Anshan. Mindy had no idea where that was, but she had a name. She just needed to find the person, and he'd help her save her husband. That's what the Indian had told her anyway. It was hard, just relying on someone to tell her the truth, hoping that they were right. But she really had no other choice.

Distant yelling gave Mindy the opportunity to shift her position. Voices yelling in gibberish, calling out to each other while feet pounded against the dock. Somebody screamed, and Mindy could hear something heavy being dragged against the wooden floor.

“Please! No, Please! You don't understand!” It was an older woman's voice, “Let me go!” Mindy scrunched up her eyes, trying to cover her ears. She didn't want to hear this. She recognized that voice, it was one of the refugees. She'd just sat in a corner, minding her own business the whole time. Mindy didn't know why she had come to China, none of them had really wanted to talk about it. More shouting in Chinese, Mindy wished she could understand what they were saying. The sound of feet moving along the dock resumed, making Mindy hold her breath. She could guess that with the discovery of the older women, they'd start looking for any other stowaways.

They were told that under no circumstances were they to get out of the barrels. They were to stay inside and wait until they reached their destination or at the very least were loaded into the trucks. There was no way they'd survive if they did otherwise. But. . . Andy.

What if they found Andy?

The crack in the top of the barrel was designed so if she stuck her fingers in the little wedge, the top would pop off. She wasn't sure if it would pop off or if she could slowly life it up, but she needed to take the risk. She wiggled, bringing her body into an upright position. She tried to jostle that barrel as little as possible, but it definitely jiggled. Fitting her fingers into the indent, she lifted the top off easily. Peeking through the crack showed her people running back and forth, pushing over barrels and a few grabbing weapons and running toward the ship that was already setting sail. The captain was a smart man.

They were at the edge of the dock, right before the city. There were large buildings going out in all directions save the one leading back to the ocean. She could faintly see a road further back, with people walking back and forth. Would they be able to loose people in the crowd?

Yeah right, she was a black woman with a white child in a city of Asians. They'd stick out worse than a daisy amongst a bunch of roses. But she just needed to make sure that Andrew wasn't caught. Should they try to leave now, or just wait and see if they were caught? Was it worth the risk?

Peeking through the top, she could see the crate next to her, it was a good foot smaller than her barrel, but she couldn't tell if anyone was inside it. She whistled softly, the tune they used to whistle to call their dog before he died. An answering whistle, barely perceptible, came out of the crate. He was there, and following instructions exactly. Staying quiet, staying in the barrel. Mindy lowered the top, feeling better, but then peeked out again at the men going through the packages. What would they do if they got caught? They hadn't come all this way just to be sent back home, or thrown in prison. They hadn't come all this way for nothing.

The men were shouting in Chinese still, going through all of the different packages, pulling out the other passengers. Some of them started crying, trying to get away, others just silently accepted their fate. Mindy and Andy were at the edge of the dock, furthest away, should they run?

“Keep youl head down miy, 'le you wan' be caugh'.” The lid slammed down tight, forcing Mindy to tuck her head, “quie' quie', you be fine,” The barrel lifted, and before being thrown into a harder surface. A second later, a squeek from nearby told Mindy Andy had been thrown too.

“You okay?” She whispered.

“I think so. . . We're going to see the wall right?”

“Yes Andy,” Mindy gulped as the surface below her began to rumble. “We're gonna see the wall. Someone started shouting in Chinese. Mindy felt the engine rumble louder beneath her feet, and heard a man shout something that was probably profane.

“Any English?” someone yelled. The voice from before answered in Chinese. “Then let us check!” The voice didn't have an accent. Mindy rubbed dry lips with her tongue, fitting her fingers into the whole again, giving her a view. A barrel chested Chinese man was facing down another in a business suit. The man in the business suit had a clean shave and short black hair, whereas the other had long hair and a mustache. He was waving his hands around, gesturing to the ocean, the buildings, even his truck. When he was finished he put his hands stoutly on his hips. The business man was shaking his head and smiling, white teeth flashing against darker face. He held out his hand, rubbing the fingers together.

The other threw up his hands in the air, glaring at the other. Until, finally, he dug out of his pocket a few bills, throwing them at the man, who caught them and tipped an imaginary hat and walked away. The mustached man growled, turned on his heel and climbed back into the truck, pulling up the back and sitting next to Mindy's barrel.

“You keep dat 'id down, mi'y,” He said, pushing on the lid to cut off her view, “You get caut an' I ro'e 200 do'arr.”