Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4567 | Page 289

"By whom?" My voice rises. He can't leave. I just lost my Baba, I can't lose him too.
"I'm sorry." He replies and puts his hand on my shoulder, leaving my question unanswered. I take a few deep
breaths to swallow all that's happened today. First, my Baba. Now, him? What did I do to deserve this pain? "Liang,
I think you should go now." Elliot says. Is he kicking me out? "It's getting late." I look out the window and see the
sun setting. He's right. My Nainai must be so worried and heartbroken about the news. She's home alone, I must
return.
"Okay." I say to Elliot.
"I'm so sorry for your loss, Liang. And I'm sorry for leaving." He says to me at the door. "I wish it didn't have to
be like this." He caresses my face. "I wish it could've been like the last time." He says. I wish that too. I wish we
could've snuck out to the river again, and I wish we could've gone on spontaneous walks down the street in the
dead of night. He walks me out the door, we say our last goodbyes and I walk back home in sorrow.
I find my Nainai still with two of Baba's officers. "Where were you?" Nainai asks.
"I took a stroll around the village. I needed some air, I needed to be alone." I lie to her face again. I assume the
officers were comforting her all day since she would've been alone. I prepare dinner for all four of us and we dine
in silence. After dinner, I sit down with them and the officers explain again what had happened. They said that my
Baba was murdered in the middle of the night yesterday and dumped into the Yangtze River early morning. They
found multiple gunshot wounds saying that was his probable cause of death. Five other officers were with him at
the scene, but too unstable to say what had happened that night. Why would anyone want to kill him? What has
he ever done wrong? I wonder. Before leaving, the officers say they would tell us more if they hear anything. After
their departure, we both make our way to bed in silence.
Something doesn't feel right. Who would do such a thing is what I keep wondering to myself. My Baba was a
good, well-respected man around town. He knew everyone and everyone knew him. If he ever got someone in
trouble, he was only doing his job and doing well for society. And to dump his body in the river is so cruel. What
kind of person would commit such crime? I have so many unanswered questions. I fall asleep before they take over
my mind.
Elliot. I think to myself again the moment I wake up, just like every other morning. I lie in bed longer today as he
is leaving this morning. Thoughts of my Baba's death and Elliot's sudden departure flood my mind. Elliot, I think.
He was beat up the other day. And so were his friends. He said they had knives, and... he said, he said they were
older. And that, um... They had daggers and swords too. What else did he say? Wait, what did the police say? They
mentioned... Guns! The rifle I saw lying on the ground!
Did Elliot kill my father?