“ I ’ ll see what my men can do .” Du Yuesheng stood up , he was a short man but his power was tall . He walked away , only the eyes of the monkeys looking back at Richard .
~
It was the twelfth of April . Richard hadn ’ t heard from Du Yuesheng since they discussed the issue . The suspense kept Richard from sleeping . The bags under his eyes were the same sapphire blue as the robe Du wore when they met . Richard was as white and almost as thin as a sheet of paper . The twelfth of April was the date which decided his fate . Whether he would rot in jail or be free . Either way , his life would never be the same . He would either be as good as dead or free but secretly responsible for the death of hundreds .
Richard walked up to the hall . Each step unsteady . Each step closer to his destiny . Of course , he wasn ’ t going to be part of the fight , he was just there to observe what would happen if anything would happen .
The communists were inside just as Jack Williams had said . It was as if they were at a lecture of some sort . One man standing , talking . The man was tall ; his clothes were a bright red . The more he spoke the more his round face started to match his clothes .
Richard spoke Mandarin fluently . He had a facility with languages in general . Yet standing outside the hall , he could only make out so much , through the thick ancient windows and the sound of his own heartbeat . Here and there he could hear talk of embarrassment and disloyalty and taking action . Richard started to think that perhaps his lies were turning out to be true . Before he could finish the thought he was disturbed by a piercing crash . Richard turned to the window to find hundreds of men all in black robes swarming the hall . Surprise flooded Richard ’ s brain , soon followed by a wave of relief . His deal was done . He was a free man , well as free as could be .
Even though Richard knew his deal was over with , he couldn ’ t help but watch the chaos in the room . The fighting had begun ; the gangsters had come in with guns and knives and ropes . They were violent and ruthless , beating and torturing the communists who were mostly unarmed . The shouts and swearing of the men echoed throughout the hall . The smell of smoke and blood flowed down the street as the fighting continued . It was obvious that the communists were the minority in the situation , yet they kept fighting .
The massacre was taken to the streets eventually . For days and days , the bloodbath continued . Blood and sweat staining the grey pavement . Ropes tying people to the lampposts . The shouts and screaming never ending . Richard could hear the blood-curdling screams of people from his living room , where he sat smoking his Cohiba cigar with a copy of that day ' s newspaper in his hand . The headline reading : “ ALL CAPTIVES SLAIN .” He swallowed his gin with a twist of guilt and savoured the bittersweet taste of his freedom . At that moment , Richard knew his work had been done .