The Scottish Banker of Surabaya - By Ian Hamilton Page 0,26
you need to. You may be the only person he actually listens to. Me and Lourdes, we’re like old furniture.”
There was a lineup of cars leading into the tunnel, and Ava silently wished they had stayed with her plan to meet on the Hong Kong side. “This won’t take so long,” Sonny said, as if reading her mind.
“Those aches and pains you talked about — anything specific?” she asked.
“He seems to be having stomach problems more often than he should, and he isn’t eating as much as he used to. Lourdes says he’s lost weight.”
“He told me he’d been eating too much cheap sashimi.”
“That’s bull. He hasn’t eaten Japanese in months, unless he’s doing it behind my back. He used to have a healthy appetite but now he’s picking at his food, and he’s cut out a lot of stuff from his diet. That’s why I think he wants to meet you in Kowloon. He eats congee every morning now, and sometimes Lourdes says he has it for dinner.”
Ava felt a twinge of guilt for even thinking about the inconvenience of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel. “Has he been to see a doctor?”
“We don’t know.”
“Is it possible that on the days he leaves the apartment without you, maybe he’s going to see one?”
Sonny shook his head and sighed. “I never thought of that . . . Why the fuck didn’t I think of that?”
“If he gave you no reason to think it, why would you?”
“But you did.”
“I’m as sneaky as he is.”
Sonny slapped the steering wheel. “I’m going to park my ass outside the apartment on the days he says he doesn’t need me. I’ll tail him.”
“That’s a good idea,” Ava said, though she could hardly imagine Uncle not picking up on Sonny’s presence. “Another thing you can do is talk to Lourdes and find out who his doctor is. I’d like to know myself.”
“I’ll do that,” Sonny said as they finally made their way into the tunnel and began the last leg to Kowloon.
The restaurant was in Tsim Sha Tsui, near the Star Ferry terminal. The area was jammed with buses and taxis, and even Sonny couldn’t find a place to park, legally or otherwise. He dropped her off at the entrance and told her to call his cell when they were done.
Uncle was already there. She couldn’t remember the last time she had gone to meet him and had to wait. The front entrance was crowded, but she spotted him between the bodies of the people in front of her. He sat in a booth with a pot of tea in front of him, his legs dangling off the floor. Like Sonny, he was wearing a black suit and a white shirt, closed at the collar. His hair was still mainly black, though there were more streaks of grey than she could remember. His face was almost completely unlined. He was short, no taller than her, and now he looked as if he had shrunk a little and, as Sonny said, lost some weight. Ava stared hard at him. His dark brown eyes seemed as lively as ever, and if he was worried, there was no sign in them.
She pushed through the throng and walked towards him.
He saw her and a grin lit up his face. He stood and reached for her. “As beautiful as ever, my girl, as beautiful as ever.”
She kissed him on the forehead. “I’m so happy to see you.”
“You do not mind us eating here?”
“Of course not. You know I love congee.”
“Truthfully I did not feel like driving to Hong Kong or putting up with the Star Ferry in rush hour.”
“And I’m sure the walk did you good.”
The waitress hovered, anxious to get their order, get their food, get the table turned.
“Do you know what you want?” Uncle asked Ava.
“Congee with chopped spring onions in it.”
“I will have the same, with salted eggs and pickled vegetables on the side,” he told the waitress.
“Oh, I also want you tiao,” Ava said.
“Of course,” said Uncle.
It was at their table in a matter of minutes. Congee and jook were the same thing, a simple rice porridge. Ava added soy sauce and white pepper to hers and then dipped you tiao — a deep-fried breadstick — into it. Uncle left his plain but took bites of egg and vegetable between slurps. “I come here many mornings,” he said. “Lourdes would be upset if she knew. She thinks she makes the best jook in Kowloon, and I do not have the