Seeds of the Bitter Harvest. John Sheppard

couldn’t help but wonder if Daiyu wasn’t putting on some sort of act; if she was being made to do something she really didn’t want to do. Was she a drug addict needing money to support a habit? Did she have a family to support? He wondered why she was here in the Port City to begin with; as far as he knew, it never had much Chinese population.

      The route to Daiyu’s place was through trash filled alleys, with little exterior lighting, deep shadows; reeking of rotting food, and stale booze. When they reached a colorless back door, which looked like a dozen of other doors they had just passed, she stopped found her key, and looked around like she was afraid that someone was watching, and inserted the key into the lock.

      Once she and Andy were inside, Daiyu turned on a small table light. The room was almost as faintly lit as the alleys and looked just about as bad. The place was untidy, and because of a couple of un-cleared place settings on the kitchen table, it appeared to Andy that she must have roommates or family living with her.

      Before Andy could protest that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, Daiyu pressed her body close to his and kissed him hard. She forcefully moved him towards what turned-out to be a bedroom, undressing him as they went. He was now fully caught up in the moment, and found himself giving in to his lust. His needs were going to be met, no matter what alarm bells were being set-off in his mind.

      He woke in the morning, with daylight streaming through old, worn curtains, and grimy windows. There was the sound of muffled female voices coming from the other room. He was completely undressed, and the bed sheets were in disarray. Andy waited, trying to decide what to do. He saw his clothes scattered about the floor, quickly gathered them, and dressed.

      When he opened the bedroom door, three sets of eyes turned to see him. Andy could feel his face turning beet red. Embarrassment piled upon embarrassment, and the hues of red on his face deepened. He felt like the entire world knew what he had done, and he was ashamed of himself. If his mother was alive, what would she think? Yet, also coursing through him was a strange sense of having attained ‘manhood’, he had experienced sex for the first time, and he wanted more.

      Andy’s clothes were wrinkled, he hadn’t shaved, and his hair was uncombed. His breath stank and he was fairly certain his body odor wasn’t much better. To top it off, he was dealing with a major hang-over.

      “These my friends, Li and Lanfen.” Daiyu said in broken English, introducing the other two women.

      He guessed the two other women were both about Daiyu’s age, weight, and height. Andy noticed that none of them really made eye contact, and all three appeared to have numerous bruises about their bodies. The two gave Andy a disingenuous smile, made some comment that they were glad to meet him, then made an excuse that they had somewhere to be. The rapid exit of Li and Lanfen left Andy and Daiyu awkwardly alone.

      “You want, maybe, some green tea?” inquired Daiyu.

      “Yes, please”.

      Daiyu motioned for Andy to take a seat at the cluttered little table, and he sat down. She placed the tea in an old chipped cup in front of him, along with some sort of cookies on a mismatched plate.

      “Sorry, I cannot offer more.” Daiyu said softly.

      “Thank you…. why didn’t you kick me out last night?”Andy asked as Daiyu took a seat opposite him. Her gaze met his.

      “You very drunk, not safe to be on street, you sleep very heavy.”

      It was then that Andy really saw her. The heavy make-up was off her face, and she looked to him to be no more than fifteen, maybe sixteen at the most, possibly younger. He also saw that she had a very black right eye. Daiyu was aware that he had seen her eye and she lowered her head.

      “What happened to your eye?” inquired Andy.

      “I cannot say - more will happen.”

      Andy could see her lower lip tremble a bit, and he thought he saw a single tear fall from her face. Daiyu quickly brushed tears away with the back of her hand, shook her head, then lifted her face, and attempted a weak smile.

      “You no good in bed. First time?”

      It was Andy’s turn to be put on the spot. He could tell exactly what she was doing, changing the subject to avoid answering his question.

      “Er, ah…I was just too drunk.” He could feel his face turning red again. Some man of the world, he thought to himself. Even this girl could tell he was a novice. These last several months he knew his life was spinning out of control, and somehow it had to stop. He had been raised and educated to be more than a drunken lush; hopping in and out of bed with anything he could pick-up on the street.

      Even as he had that thought, he knew Daiyu was more than just ‘anything he could pick up on the streets’. How in the world did someone so young get caught up in this life style? Was this really a choice she had made?

      “May I see you, again?”His statement shocked even him; Andy had no idea why he had even uttered those words.

      For just a moment, his request seemed to please Daiyu, but then she slipped into her role.

      “You may see, if you pay …. you can do what you wish, if money right.” The look on her face was cold, hard, and distant.

      Andy could tell that the conversation was at an end. Daiyu had built a wall around her and wasn’t going to let anyone in. Even in this rejection, he wanted to get to know her more. He made an awkward departure and headed out the door and back to his apartment. His head throbbed; the bright sun light was like a thousand points of laser beams blasting through his eyes.

      It was going to take him awhile to adjust to the light, so he walked with his head down. He knew at some point he was going to have to lift his eyes, look around and try to get his bearings, to return to his apartment, but he couldn’t do that just this moment.

      Bits of old, soiled paper, and other garbage formed long rows as he shuffled along; like the wake of a ship plying through the water. Even with his head down, and only observing what he could see with his peripheral vision; this place looks even worse in the daylight, he thought.

      Suddenly, Andy bumped into someone, and several strong hands pushed rapidly against his body, jostling him around. He tried to fight back, but was quickly overpowered. Someone grabbed his arms and forced them behind him. He yelped in pain. Another set of hands gripped his hair, forcing his head back.

      Voices swore at him, and a burly, unshaven man’s face appeared in Andy’s vision, only inches way. The man had a closely cropped hair cut, missing teeth, and smelt of too much cheap men’s cologne. After unleashing a barrage of words in what sounded like it might be some Slavic tongue, the man screamed.”Watch where you’re going, or I’ll break you in two, punk!” While Andy didn’t say it, he thought; I don’t doubt you could do it, Ivan.

      Andy tried to mumble a “sorry”, but the screaming insults continued. He made a serious effort to pull away, but punches pummeled his body. Already weaken and dazed by his hangover, he fell to his knees when his tormentors let go of his arms and hair. He fought for breath, taking in huge gasps of the foul air around him.

      “So, little man,” the man Andy thought of as Ivan said, “You got some of our little Cantonese fortune cookie. With training, we’ll turn her into a Szechuan main course. Of course, you’ll have to pay more, but she’ll be worth it. Maybe she will be too spicy for one as young as you.” He and his friends chuckled at his lousy joke.”The Chinese whore will be great for business.”

      “Daiyu isn’t a…. .” he tried to protest, but the back of Ivan’s hand, slammed hard into Andy’s mouth. The blow to his face was followed with a couple more body blows.

      As Andy crumbled to the ground, Ivan and his cohorts turned their backs to him, and sauntered away, laughing as they went. They were the playground bullies and he was the weakling who had just had his lunch money stolen.

      He lay on the cold pavement for some time, both unable to move because of the physical pain they had inflicted, and fear