Roachville

‘We should leave now.’ I strained my eyes to detect suspect movements through the kitchen window.

‘You think the Malaysian guy did that?’ Ely said.

‘I’m certain of it.’

‘Shit, he’s not messing about.’

We stared at each other. Maybe Ely would run away now? Instead he took my hand and we walked to his car.

‘Let’s go to my friends’ house,’ I whispered, holding tightly to his hand. Tears welled up in my eyes and the micro drive to Vi and Bek’s was a blur.

Vi and Bek were still outside puffing away on an umpteenth joint. I mumbled some words of introduction and sat down on the edge of a chair. Ely explained what had just happened, including the state of the rooms on the second floor. Deconstructed laptop and ripped clothes. The only thing that he had discovered untouched, under a pile of broken wooden slates that used to be the futon, was my beautiful corduroy jacket. I had put it on now and I wasn’t letting go of it any more. At least I still had my phone, with all my music on it, so not all was lost.

Vi, being a good hostess, got a chair and a beer for Ely, while Bek observed him with narrowed eyes.

‘To be honest, I’ll get over all this destroyed junk,’ I blurted out, ‘but I’m scared. What if I’d been there?’ Nobody answered. ‘What if they had found the naga and decided to kill me?’ I added, stumbling on my words.

‘Well, maybe that’s a clear sign that you should give up the naga,’ Vi said.

‘Give it up to whom?’ I rotated slowly.

‘Who cares? Just get rid of it. The Laotians sound a bit better than the Thai – or was it the Vietnamese. Whatever, this naga is just trouble.’

‘Actually it’s Malaysian! How can you be so bad at geography?’ How can you be so bad at geography?’ I stared in Vi in disbelief: I’d expected more from her.’ ‘And there’s no way I’m giving it to Tann. Haven’t you listened to anything I said?’

‘Yeah, okay, your family connection to the naga and the possibility that Tann will use the naga for genocide… but I don’t think it’s worth dying for,’ Vi replied matter-of-factly. ‘So what are you going to do?’

Bek’s eyes were almost closed now and so he was no use to me, while Ely waited, taking it all in. He was silent now, but I was sure water was running deep.

‘I’ve just got to go somewhere for the night and try to return the naga to Phuong and the twins, because that’s the right thing to do. And I am shocked by your attitude, Vi.’

‘You can’t stay at your place,’ Ely said.

‘I know. I have to deal with one problem at a time and the first priority is finding a safe place for now.’

‘You could stay here,’ Bek suggested.

I shook my head. I didn’t want to get him and Vi involved any more than they already were.

‘Can we go inside, please? It’s getting chilly out here.’

As we stepped daintily inside the congested lounge, many more questions jostled about for the lead position in my head. Nothing had been broken on purpose in Vi and Bek’s house, but we were still walking on eggshells. I brought the naga to eye level. ‘Any idea what I should do now? It’s only a matter of time before Tann finds me. And where are those Aboriginal twins when you need them?’ The naga stared back woodenly.

‘Look, I’m no big fan of the pigs, but isn’t it time you called the police?’ Bek asked.

‘I’ve been wanting to, but I didn’t think they’d take me seriously.’

‘Yeah, but now you’ve got some hard evidence,’ Bek said.

‘All I’ve got at the moment is a wooden statue, a crazy story about Laotian refugees and a psychotic relative from Malaysia… Oh yeah, and a vandalized house. All they’ll do is fill a report and send someone tomorrow, but I doubt they’ll give me any protection tonight.’

‘She’s right,’ said Ely. ‘They won’t do anything right now.’

Magic. I cradled the naga. Where is it when you need it most?

‘Hey! How about you go and spend the night at one of Vi’s properties?’ Bek shouted as if we’d all just gone deaf.

Vi bit her nails in concentration and her green eyes widened.

‘Great idea, babe! I’ve got just the right place, they’ll never find you. Mind you, it’s a bit crummy…’

‘Can’t be worse than my place.’ I crossed my arms.

‘Look, I’ll take you there now and I’ll come over again first thing in the morning. We’ll try and figure something out tonight. And I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come across as indifferent earlier on. It’s just hard for me to accept this whole… situation. But whatever happens you need to give this thing back.’

‘I know I do, but I don’t know where the twins or Mei are. I just know I have to make it safe.’

‘I’ll come with you,’ Ely said, and a strange silence descended upon us. I could have sworn that a microscopic angel flew through the room, but Vi set things in motion again and everybody snapped back into action.

‘You’d better hurry. I’ll grab a couple of sleeping bags,’ Vi said. ‘You can follow me, I won’t take a direct route. It should be easy to spot if someone is following us.’

‘And if someone does follow us?’ I said.

‘We’ll see to that when it happens,’ Bek replied. ‘In fact, that would provide me with the perfect opportunity to try some of my jumping reverse hook kicks – or you could call the police then.’

Looking at him I tried to visualise what a jumping reverse hook kick did. ‘Deal!’ I said.