" Stay here ." I have to go back home and grab my supplies . These boys have nothing in this house that could do any good to them . " Don ' t move until I return . I ' m going to get my things ." I tell him . His eyes follow my movements until I reach his door .
" I ' m sorry ." He says just before I leave .
I run back home through town , passing the river and up the hill . I double check my attire before entering so that Nainai won ' t suspect anything . " Where are the ingredients ?" She asks me . I forgot . " I left my wallet at home ." I lie and quickly walk over to my room to fetch ' it '. I grab Mama ' s box of supplies I keep in my drawer and leave in a hurry before Nainai can catch me . I rush back to Elliot ' s and find him patiently waiting for my return . I go to the back of the house and fill up a bucket of water then enter his room and sit next to him on his bed . " Turn around ." I say . I need to treat the stab on his back first , it looks the worst . I clean up his wounds with an old rag and begin to sew him up . He moans and groans in misery and pain . " You want to tell me what happened ?" I ask to distract him . He sighs .
" We just got into a fight ." He admits and continues by saying , " They beat us up . There were more of them , and they were older . They had swords and knives and daggers .",
" You had a gun ." I say . I continue to fix him up , then his friends . Hours pass , it ' s now 3 in the afternoon and I just finished helping Eli . I have no time to stay and chat , I still have to go to the market . The boys thank me and Elliot kisses me goodbye , inviting me to come by again tomorrow , after promising he would never do this again . I make my way out , go to the market , buy the ingredients for Nainai and hurry home . Tonight at the dinner table is no different than yesterday . Endless questions about my whereabouts and still no sign of Baba . This is really unlike him . I want to go out and search for him but I ' m absolutely drained from the events of today and doze off right after dinner .
I ' m awaken by the shining sun again . Anxious to see Elliot . I ready myself in minutes and walk into the living room to find two of my Baba ' s officers with Nainai . The three of them turn their heads as I enter . Worry starts to fill my heart . My Nainai ' s in tears . Baba ' s officers are gloomy . Oh no . After a while of staring , " Your Baba was found in the Yangtze River ." one of them says . He continues to explain the situation but I can ' t hear him over my thoughts . I ' m in utter shock . I don ' t know what to say , I don ' t know what to do . I don ' t know what to feel . How did this happen ? I keep asking myself . Baba was a good man ; he was respected by the whole town . Who could do that to him ? I leave Nainai and the two men in the middle of their conversation . I can ' t stand to hear any more about this . Moments later , I find myself back at Elliot ' s house . I knock on their door and Elliot answers . His face drops .
" What ' s wrong Liang ?" he asks . I walk inside and he sits me down on the sofa . " What happened ?" He asks again and wipes a tear from my cheek I didn ' t realize was there .
" My father ," I stutter . " He was found in the river ." I cry with my hands over my face , covering my tears . Elliot puts his hand on my shoulder to comfort me . He rubs my back as I cry my eyes out then offers me his handkerchief from his pocket .
" How did you find out ?" He asks and I look up at him . He ' s flushed . " Police officers found him . They came by my house this morning ." I sniff , struggling to breathe . " Where ? Do they know who did it ?" His voice shakes .
" I couldn ' t bear to hear it . I don ' t know who would do that to him . He was a good man ." I cry some more . He leaves me alone on the sofa after I ' ve calmed down and goes over to his friends in the dining room . I hear them faintly but I can ' t manage to make up their conversation .
" Hey ." I hear Elliot ’ s voice waking me up . I didn ' t realize I fell asleep . My cries must ' ve tired myself out . He sits down and joins me on the sofa as I sit up . " Liang , I have to tell you something ," he admits and I look into his eyes , awaiting his news . He takes a deep breath and says , " Me and the guys - we must return to Britain tomorrow morning ." What ? They just got here .
" Why ?" I ask in shock . " We were instructed to ." He answers .