Blue on Blueby Lauren Sobkoviak and Bett © 2002 "Have you ever felt like you were the only person alive, and everyone else was wandering around in a coma?" said the young woman laying on the couch. She turned her head to face the doctor and continued. "The geneticists say that I am not possible...that my eyes should be brown because of my oriental ancestry...that my hair should be dark brunette for the same reason. Genetics...who needs it?" She rolled her head back and stared straight up at the ceiling. "I can assure you," said the doctor, "that I am not a geneticist. Nor do I subscribe to their ideas of quick fixes through genetic manipulation. Now, please continue with your story." Jade let out a long breath, close her eyes and continued. "I did tell you about Roy," she said, "didn't I?" "No, you didn't." "Ah...well what can I say about Roy," said Jade pursing her lips. "I didn't know much about him when I first met him. He isn't at all great to look at. You see, his face was badly burned in a car accident years before I met him, but that didn't bother me. He just seemed so confident about himself. I had to admire that and soon began to love that part of him." "So Roy is the man you fell in love with?" asked the doctor. "Not exactly...let me explain," Jade said adjusting her hips on the couch. "I met Roy shortly after arriving in the U.S. I had just started my second song when..." "Second song?" interrupted the doctor. "Yeah...at the club I was auditioning at. I sing Disney songs...I love Disney." She began singing a song from The Little Mermaid and stopped when the doctor cleared his throat. "Sorry," she said looking at him with a twinkle in her sky blue eyes. Matthew Levinson was a psychologist. He had listened to the stories of hundreds of people, but none had made him want to know more as much as this woman's story did. Her hair was a blue color very closely matching that of her eyes. And her eyes! They penetrated deep into the mind of whom ever she looked at. As he looked at her, he began to realize that what she said earlier about geneticist might be correct. Her skin looked soft and smooth, even though it was very dark, almost as if she had spent hours under in a tanning saloon to get the correct shade. But he also knew it was natural. He liked what he was seeing, but knew he needed to stay detached. "Besides," he thought to himself, "I do love my wife." "Anyway," continued Jade, "Roy walked over to me after I had finished my set and asked if he could buy me a drink. Of course I said yes, and that was that. We were sort of inseparable after that." "So," began the doctor, "it's Roy you want to ta...." "Wait, Doc," said Jade flashing her blue eyes. "I'm not finished yet." "Ms. Jade," said the doctor adjusting his position in his chair, "you aren't the only patient I have on my schedule. I do have other people I need to see." "Well have your receptionist call them and cancel their appointments," said Jade sternly. "I have enough money to pay for a full week of appointments with you and this just might take that long. Besides, I can't stay past 6 pm." She turned her head and stared straight into the doctor's eyes. It was a cold stare, but a stare of concern and the doctor knew he'd see no one else for the rest of the day. After personally contacting a one patient himself, he had his receptionist contact the rest on the list for the day and came back to Jade. "Would you be more comfortable in a different chair?" he asked. "No," said Jade rubbing her hands along the top of the back of the couch, "this leather is so soft, I could get lost in it. I'm fine here." "Is there anything you want...a glass of water? Tea? Coffee?" asked the doctor. "I could really go for a pepperoni pizza and an ice cold Pepsi," said Jade reaching for her purse. "I'll have my receptionist order it," said the doctor, "till it arrives, let's continue with your problem." "Okay," said Jade getting comfortable on the coach. "Where was I? Oh yeah...me and Roy inseparable. Well, a week after I met Roy, I moved out of the house." "Your parent's house?" "No. My aunt's house." "What happened to your parents?" asked the doctor. "Well, that's a story in and of itself," Jade said with a slight laugh. "You see, my father is Kosuke Nakajima, the CEO of one of the largest banks in Liechtenstein and a member of the board of directors for the Liechtenstein Bankers Association. My mother was a Swedish barber who owned a small barber shop in the business district near the banking district. My father one day stopped in the shop for a haircut, met my mother and the two fell in love, got married and had me." "That seems like a normal family story," said the doctor. "What makes it a story of its own right?" "Well," said Jade, "we lived in Liechtenstein until I was like 12. Every morning I would wake up and look out my bedroom window and see Vaduz Castle and dream of living there someday. I even told my father that. He even told me if it ever came up for sale he would buy it for me." "Then one day, I woke up and found my mother sitting in the sitting room, crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she said my father was called back to Japan and he left very early in the morning. I asked her when we were going to go to Japan and she said we weren't," said Jade with a bit of regret. A slight knock sounded at the door. "Yes," said the doctor. "Your delivery has arrived," said he secretary. The doctor got up and took the pizza pie box and large bottle of Pepsi from his secretary's hands and asked her to bring two large glasses and a bucket of ice. He then told her she could go home if liked. When the secretary returned with the glasses and ice, the doctor thanked her and shut the door. He turned and watched as Jade pulled a stringy, cheesy piece slice from the box and lifted it towards her mouth. Looking at her again, he could see the Japanese ancestry in her, he could also see the Swedish ancestry, but what ancestry deep in her past was there which gave her the dark, golden brown skin tone she had, he couldn't imagine. "Maybe it will come out in the story," he thought to himself. He poured Jade and himself some Pepsi and began to sip his glass as he waited for Jade to continue. Between bites, she continued her story. "Well, that devastated both my mother and me. We couldn't go to Japan with my father. When I asked her why, she mumbled something about his status and not having an oriental wife and all, but I found out several years later that he had been indicted on embezzlement charges and rather than face the justice system, he committed suicide." "How did you feel when you found that out," asked the doctor. "I sort of figured something like had happened because he never contacted us or sent me a birthday gift or even a card. So I wasn't shocked when I found out," said Jade taking another piece of the pie. "Then one day my mom said she sold the barber shop and we were going to move to Andorra. I had to look Andorra up on a map! I had never heard of the place. Well, my mother just wanted to get away from Liechtenstein and seemed to like small out of the way countries and Andorra was perfect. Up in the mountains and a simply lifestyle." "I lived in Andorra with my mother until I was 16," said Jade after taking a drink of her Pepsi. "Where did you go then?" "To live with my aunt in the Bailiwick of Guernsey," said Jade rubbing her stomach. "She worked for an advertising company there...Whyte & Windsor I believe was the name." "So you and your mother moved in with...her sister in Guernsey," asked the doctor. "No, just me. My mother died." "Died? How did she die?" asked the doctor pulling his chair a little closer to the couch. "One day when I was in school," Jade said, "my mother went for a walk on the mountain trails behind our house. She loved hiking the mountains. If I wasn't in school at the time, I would have probably been with her when it happened." "What happened?" "An avalanche came down the mountainside. I heard they found her body the following spring when the snow melted," said Jade scratching the back of her hand. "When my aunt heard about my mother's death, she came and got me and told me I had a home with her." "Do you miss your mother?" "Well, of course I do, doc," said Jade rolling her eyes. "But there's nothing I could have done then and nothing I can do now that will bring her back. I'm sure she's in a better place now." "I take it," said the now confused doctor, "that loosing your mother and father isn't the reason you are here." "No," said Jade closing the box on the pizza. "It's something else." "Okay," said the doctor, "let's continue. You're in Guernsey with your aunt who works for an advertising agency there. And....?" "Well, about two years later," Jade said with a tinge of excitement in her voice, "she got a job offer for an advertising agency in Orlando, Florida and decided to take the job. So we packed up and left Guernsey behind and moved to the states." "And that's when you met Roy?" "Well not right away, but later. Yeah...later." "Okay," said the doctor looking at his watch, "you're in the states now, living with your aunt in Orlando. What happens next?" "Well, I went to Disney World," said a beaming Jade, "that's what happens next." "Disney World?" "Oh yes! Haven't you ever been there? It's a wonderful place and I never knew anything like it existed until I went there. From the moment I walked through the gates, I wanted to be a part of Disney operations." "So you got a job at Disney Land?" "Disney World, doctor. Disney Land is in California. And no, I didn't get a job at Disney World. I tried, but they weren't hiring." "Well, it takes time," said the doctor in an encouraging voice now thinking he has figured out why Jade came to see him. "Maybe the next time you apply, they will accept you." "I don't think so, doctor," said Jade slightly hunching down her head as she said it. "And why not?" "Well, if you'll let me continue my story, you'll find out." "Okay," said the doctor glancing again at his watch. "Please go on." "This is where Roy comes in," said Jade now relaxed and staring up at the ceiling again. "I stopped by the club he worked in and auditioned as a singer there. But I could only sing Disney songs, as that is all I wanted to sing." "Halfway through my second song, the manager of the club asked me if I knew any other songs besides Disney songs and when I told him I didn't, he told me basically 'Get lost.' Well, Roy had heard me singing and fell in love with my voice and came to meet me just as the manager was showing me the door. But before I could open it, Roy was blocking the way and staring at the manager. All he said was 'I like her voice.' I had the job right then and there." "I then started singing regularly at the club, and Roy would give me pointers on how to improve my singing...not voice tips or anything, but how I would present the songs. I'd change the tempo here and there, come out in a different costume, things like that. Overall, the customers seemed to like what I was doing and I enjoyed it. And all through it, there was Roy. "Now Roy could scare the stink off a skunk -- he used to say that to me all the time -- with his face as badly burned as it was, but underneath it all, he was a sweetheart of guy. And I couldn't say no to him," said Jade sitting up. "Do you have a bathroom here?" she asked Doctor Levinson. "Yes," he replied, "across the hall to your left." "Thank you," said a smiling Jade. "I'll be right back." When Jade left the room, Matthew Levinson picked up the phone and called his wife. "Honey," he began, "I have a patient here that has the craziest story so far. Just really all over the place. I might be late coming home tonight, as I think she wants to get something off her chest." He listened for a few minutes and nodded and then said, "I'll call you again if it looks like it will be later than 6 pm." He said goodbye to his wife and hung up the phone as Jade was returning to the office. "I'm not keeping you from anything," she asked, "am I?" "No," said the doctor. "I was just calling my wife to tell her I might be a little late." "Good," said Jade sitting down on the couch. "But I still got a lot to tell you and not much time. It may be a little more than a little late." "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," said the doctor. "We have three hours of office time still, so let's continue." "Okay doctor," Jade said smiling. "Thanks for taking the time." Matthew Levinson smiled and pulled his chair closer yet to the couch. "It didn't take Roy long to figure out I could be more than just a good singer," continued Jade, "if you know what I mean. I mean he found out about my Liechtenstein citizenship and all and figured he could use me in another part of his operation." "And that was?" asked the doctor while furrowing his eyebrows. "Laundry work." "What does Liechtenstein citizenship have to do with dry cleaning?" asked a still puzzled doctor. "Not dry cleaning laundry...money laundering," said Jade. "Roy is a hood." "You latched on to a hoodlum who likes Disney songs who uses you to launder illegal monetary gains?" the doctor said rolling his eyes. "Well, yes," said Jade. "At first, I thought I was only doing him a favor cause it was easy for me to go in and out of the country. Then Hairston came along and I soon realized what I was doing was wrong." "Hairston?" asked the doctor. "Yes," said Jade with a smile. "Hairston Wade. He is a math professor at the University of Central Florida." "And what happened with him?" "Well, I was riding my bike along side Gemini Boulevard near a lake and a park heading for the College of Arts and Sciences building when someone tossed a football that hit me in the head," said Jade rubbing the back of her head behind her right ear. "Were you injured?" "I'm not sure," she continued, "but it hit me hard enough to knock me off my bike and I fell in the lake. But I didn't know I was in the lake." "You didn't?" "No," said Jade, "and that's where Hairston comes in. He was sitting on a bench right near there when I was hit and saw me fall in the lake and came running over to help me. When he saw I wasn't moving and face down in the water, he came in and pulled me out and was about to give me CPR when I opened my eyes." "He looked at me, smiled and said, 'Are you alright?'" Jade said with a sly smile. "Then he helped me up and when he did, his newspaper fell out of his pocket and into the lake. I looked down at it and saw a half finished crossword puzzle and then looked at him just as he made a slight move to try and catch the newspaper. I really felt bad that his newspaper got wet and ruined." "It really wasn't your fault it happened," said the doctor. "I know, but I still felt bad." "What happened next?" asked the doctor. "Hairston took me to a sidewalk cafe not far away and bought me a cinnamon latte to warm me up while my clothes dried," Jade said looking at the doctor. "And then we started talking." "I found out he also was a champion chess player and was going to Luxembourg to play in a tournament. When he said that, I couldn't believe it. I love playing chess. My aunt taught me to play when we lived in Guernsey and after meeting Roy, I hadn't played with anyone much at all." "So Hairston asked me if I wanted to play a game," said Jade sitting up on the couch and smiling excitedly. "Naturally I said yes!" "So you played a game at the cafe?" "No," said Jade, "not there. Hairston took me home to change clothes and we then went to another coffeehouse in Orlando and played there. Oh...before we left, I bought Hairston another newspaper which he said I didn't have to but I wanted to because I ruined his other paper." "Anyway," continued Jade, "Hairston said the cafe was where all the really good players would go for matches and if I was really interested in chess, I should get to know the people there." "But I beat him!" said a now really excited Jade. "It took like 35 moves and we were being watched by everyone there and people were writing down the moves we made and talking among themselves after a move...it felt like we were playing a game for the world championship or something." "When I finally checkmated Hairston, we had just swapped our castles...I mean rooks...which opened him up to a mate in three situation," said Jade with a proud smile on her face. "I saw it coming before I started the swap and knew the instant he made the swap the game was over. So did one of the spectators who as soon as I finished the swap congratulated me on the win." "What did Hairston do?" queried the doctor. "He looked the board over momentarily, shook his head, stood up and said, 'Great game. Are you sure you haven't played competitively before?'" "I told him I hadn't and that I played against the computer at the club a lot and got to the point I could beat it on any setting." "So you beat the computer program regularly?" asked Doctor Levinson. "Yeah...and Hairston asked the same thing," said Jade who had calmed down somewhat by then. "Then he asked me the name of the program. I couldn't remember exactly, but told him it was like Sagen or something like that. Turned out it was really Sargon, which is one of the best computer chess programs on the market." "Yes, I know," said the doctor. "Sargon regularly beats me." "So you play chess also?" asked Jade. "Yes, but only against the computer," said Doctor Levinson. "It helps me concentrate when I need to think. It's probably why I lose all the time, but for me, I can't beat the amount of concentration on any subject which the game brings me." "Oh," said Jade who had a vision of another victory. "Anyway, one of Hairston's friends leaned over and whispered something into his ear and he shook his head in agreement and then asked me if I would like to accompany him to the tournament in Luxembourg" "I was really taken by surprise with the question and when I mentioned I couldn't afford the flight and all, and had a boyfriend even, Hairston said the trip would be for chess only and that it was already paid for." "Did you believe him?" asked the doctor. "Well, not right away," said Jade, "but the man who whispered in his ear then said there was another person who was scheduled to go with Hairston to the tournament and she had to cancel due to a family emergency. The other guy said I could take her place since it was the coffeehouse actually paying for the trip. Besides, he said I was only the second person to ever beat Hairston. The other person is the present grand champion." "So you accepted?" "Well, I told them I would have to ask Roy before I gave them my answer," said Jade. "And they said it wouldn't be a problem if I got back to them the next day. Hairston then took me home and gave me his phone number and asked me to call him with my answer the following evening." "When Roy came home a little later, I told him what happened in the park, and then about the chess game with Hairston and what they asked me, and he leaned back in his chair, thought for a moment and said I could go, but that I would have to do something for him while I was there." "Do something?" "Yeah...but I'll get to that in a moment," said Jade. "I was a bit surprise when Roy said okay without a bunch of questions," she continued. "but when he went to the wall safe and pulled out a velvet blue pouch and brought it over to me, I knew what he wanted me to do." The doctor looked at her for a moment and was about to say something when Jade again continued. "You see," she said, "I was there when Roy put that pouch in the safe. I knew it contained some rather large and valuable emeralds. He got them from a guy from South America somewhere and I always figured it was for drugs or something." "When Roy showed them to me, he said they were a payment and well worth a lot more than the payment was worth. I then asked him why he took payment in emeralds and not diamonds and he said emeralds weren't tracked as tightly as diamonds. Seems there is a lot of control on diamonds since the real ones come from only a few places and the people in Amsterdam keep a tight control on the supply so they can keep the value up." Doctor Levinson nodded in agreement and listened as Jade continued. "Roy said the emeralds were worth every bit as much as diamonds were and since there was no control on them, they were a lot easier to get rid of and all," she said. "So your thought was Roy wanted you to dispose of the emeralds for him?" said the doctor. "Exactly, Doc," said Jade. "And that's exactly what he asked me to do. He gave me the emeralds and the address of a man in Remich who owned an art shop. Roy told me this guy would give me a fair price for the stones and that I was then to make sure the money got into the account in Liechtenstein." "So, it was all set," Jade said. "I was going to Luxembourg to participate in a chess tournament with a new friend, and a rather nice friend at that. I had a job to do for my boyfriend...everything was looking good." "So life was treating you well, I take it," said the doctor. "Until the plane crashed." "The...the plane crashed," stuttered the doctor. "Yeah," said Jade. "While we were flying to Luxembourg. The tickets we had took us to Madrid where we changed planes for a flight to Hamburg, Germany and then on into the airport outside of Luxembourg. But the plane never made it to Madrid." "I remember the pilot saying something about having to fly south of Madeira Island to avoid a storm, and then all hell broke loose. The plane started shaking and going up and down and moving sideways and there was lightning all over the place. I was scared I was going to die and Hairston took my hand, squeezed it and said, 'Everything will be alright.'" "Doc," said Jade in a calm voice, "if I married Hairston, I would be called Jade Wade. Isn't that hilarious?" "That would definitely make an interesting party topic," the doctor said with a smile. "I will understand if you don't want to talk about it, but what happened next on the aircraft?" "Well, Hairston was right," Jade said shifting her position on the couch. "The pilots on the plane were the best, unfortunately, the storm was a bit bigger than them." "They came on the intercom and told us they had lost engine power in all but one engine and that they would have to ditch the aircraft in the ocean. Everyone got real scared then and Hairston gripped my hand even tighter." "After the flight attendants told us what to do, the pilots slowly took the aircraft down and tried to land it on the water. They were doing real good until I guess they hit a wave and the plane flipped over and broke in half." "The next thing I knew, I was in the water and someone was pulling me up into a raft. I looked up and there was Hairston, smiling down at me, pulling on one arm while one of the flight attendants pulled on the other. When they got me in the raft, I saw there was five people in it. Hairston, me, two of the women flight attendants and the co-pilot. But the co-pilot was coughing and blood was coming out of his mouth, so I didn't think he would live much longer...and he didn't," said Jade in a sorrowful voice. "We rowed around for half the day looking for more survivors, but there just weren't any," Jade continued after a moment of silence. "Hairston said he thought land would be to the north of where we were, so we began taking turns rowing. It's not easy rowing one of those big rafts when even bigger waves are crashing on top of you. I guess we were doing okay because when the sun came up the following morning, we could see way off in the distance, an island." "One of the stewardesses mentioned the island didn't look like Madeira Island, but more like one of the outer islands in the chain. She said it was too small to be Madeira," Jade said. "At that point, I don't think anyone cared, as long as it was out of the water. We were sick and battered and hungry...boy were we hungry!" "So then you paddled to the island?" asked a now totally engaged Doctor Levinson. "Yes," said Jade with a hint of a smile, "but before we got there, we noticed a ship moving towards the island. Hairston thought if we continued rowing in the direction we were going, the ship couldn't miss seeing us and we could be rescued even quicker. That gave us a lot more energy and a lot more hope." "And then suddenly, the ship began to turn in our direction and we realized we had been found. I gave Hairston a hug and all of us on the raft began hugging each other. We knew we were saved. But most importantly," Jade added with emphasis, "we knew we would soon have food to eat." "But all that joy was short-lived," she said, again with voice tinged with sorrow. "When we were brought aboard the ship, we found out the ship belong to pirates from Macau, and they were on their way to their home when the happened to cross our path. They had heard about a plane crash, but the reports they had gotten put the plane north of Madeira Island, not south of it like we actually were. So everyone was searching for us in the wrong area and the pirates had free hostages." "Now Ms. Nakajima," began the doctor, "I can go along with a lot of what you have told me, but to have survived a plane crash only to be picked up by pirates to be taken to their 'hideout,' makes me question your entire story and realize I have wasted my time. Will you please, leave my office." Doctor Levinson stood and waved his hand toward the door as he did so. "Doctor," said Jade doing all she could to hold back tears, "I'm telling you the truth. I know it's hard to believe and I know I have nothing to prove what happened, but you have to believe me...you just have too." Jade then threw her arms on the side of the couch and buried her head in her arms as she began to weep. "You must know just how unbelievable your story is now," said the doctor. "I cancelled all my other patients to help you and you come up with this story about pirates. Just what am I to do? Look at it from my view, would you believe me if I came to you with a story like this?" Jade lifted her head, reached for a tissue and said, "Yes, I would. Because the exact same thing happened to me." "If you had any proof," said the doctor, "it would be easier to believe you. But you have offered nothing to validate your what you say." "Hairston will tell you everything is true," said Jade. "But he isn't here," Doctor Levinson countered. "An...." He was cutoff before he could finish. "He's coming here to get me," said Jade, "He promised me he would." "When is he arriving?" "I don't know exactly. He only said this evening maybe around six." "Why did he pick my office to meet you at?" asked the doctor. "He didn't say your office in particular," said Jade, "he just said this building. Told me to go inside and wait for him. That's all." "What did you say his last name was?" "Wade." Doctor Levinson walked into the reception area and picked up the building directory. He opened it to the personnel listing and the first name on the "W" list was one Johnathon Wade. A programmer for ACI Products. Levinson dialed the number listed and when the call was answered, asked for Johnathon Wade. "Speaking," came the reply. "Mr. Wade," continued the doctor, "I am Matthew Levinson, the psychologist on the first floor. Do you have a relative named Hairston?" "Yes, he's my brother." "Have you spoken to him recently?" "Not since he returned from China." "China?" said the doctor. "Well, yes." said Johnathon Wade. "You may find this hard to believe, but he was in a plane crash, got kidnapped to somewhere near China, escaped and, well, its a long complicated story. How do you know my brother?" "I really don't," the doctor said looking back at Jade. "Someone recently asked me if Hairston Wade had any relatives in this building. They seemed to have thought he did. I guess there were right." "Well, I would say brothers is a close enough definition of relationship." "Yes," said Levinson, "I am sorry to have bothered you. Thank you for your time." "No problem doctor...any time." They both hung up. Doctor Levinson scratched his chin as he thought. Jade could be in league with the man he just talked to convince him what she says is true, but he shook that idea off quickly. He had seen the name Johnathon Wade before and the memory of the name is what prompted the phone call. Not Jade insisting he look for the computer programmer. His only real conclusion could only be that she is telling him the truth. He patted the phone, shook his head slightly and walked back into his office. "Ms. Nakajima," he said, "for the time being, I believe your story so far. Right now, why don't you use the restroom and freshen up a bit. I need to make a phone call and when we're both finished, we'll continue. Okay?" Jade smiled, shook her head yes and walked off towards the restroom. He watched as the door closed behind her and when it shut completely, he lifted the phone on his desk and dialed a number. "City desk....Nichols," came a feminine voice on the other end. "Heather, this is Matt," said Levinson. "Well, howdy brother," his sister replied. "What can I do for you?" "I need some information," Matthew began. "I have a patien...no, just say a client here who has one whopper of a story she's telling me. It centers around a man named Roy and another named Hairston W...." "Wade," finished Heather. "Yes, that's right. So you have heard of him?" "Matthew, how did you hear about Wade?" "As I mentioned," said the doctor glancing towards the restroom, "there's a young woman here telling me a story of chess, Mafia, plane crashes..." "Kidnapping, slave trading, escape, China and all sorts of other unbelievable activities?" said Heather. "Yes. I take it she isn't delusional?" "Not if she was the woman with Hairston Wade. Keep her there and I'll send someone over to interview her. She'll make a nice companion piece to the Wade interview." "Heather," said doctor, "this woman came to me in confidence, and I have a doctor-patient relationship I must maintain here. Until she tells me she wants to tell the world her story, you best forget this conversation. I'll get back to you later, but for now she is a patient of mine." "Okay," said Heather. "But remember, if she wants to tell her story, get us first shot at it, okay?" "No promises, but I will mention you if it comes up. I have to go now, she's returning." Doctor Levinson watched Jade return to the office and nodded as she sat on the couch. "I'm beginning to believe your story more and more. While you were in the restroom, I checked up on a Hairston Wade and sure enough, he too has a story to tell," Levinson said as he sat on the chair next to the couch. "How do you know he has a story to tell?" "One of my sources is my sister and she just told me they interviewed Hairston Wade earlier. She verified some of your story, but left me hanging on a lot more. Would you care to continue?" "Is there anymore of that pizza left?" Levinson slide the box over towards Jade and stood, "Would you like some more Pepsi?" "Yes, I would," replied Jade taking a now cool slice of pizza. "Thank you." Levinson poured himself and Jade some more soda and brought the glasses to the table in front of the couch. As he put the glasses down, Jade reached over and put her hand on his. "Thanks for believing me, doctor." She smiled and then took a large bite out of the slice of pie. Levinson smiled back and shook his head as he took a drink from his soda. "It's 4:15 right now," said the doctor. "I told my wife I would either be home by six or call her at six. If we continue now, do you think we will finish by then?" "We should," said Jade between bites. "Not a lot more to tell, but it is sort of the story in itself." "Like going to China?" "How did you hear about that?" "My sister." "Oh...okay. Yeah, China has something to do with the rest of the story." Jade put down the crust of the pizza slice and took a drink of her soda and again leaned back on the couch staring at the ceiling. "Like I said before when you didn't believe me," she said with a slightly snide attitude, "we were picked up by these pirates. Only we didn't know they were pirates when we got picked up. Hairston called them pirates at one point and then they hauled him off somewhere." "What happened when they first picked you up?" "Well, they treated us real nice until they found out we were on the airplane that was lost. I guess they figured since no one was looking for us here that if they took us and killed us or whatever, that no one would notice because they were searching somewhere else. The searchers would have thought no one survived and that would be the end of it." "Sounds logical," said the doctor. "Is that what you and the other discussed?" "No," said Jade, "we didn't really discuss anything. As soon as they found out who we were, they separated us. That's when Hairston called them pirates. They took the two other ladies somewhere and put me in a room all by myself. The pilot guy who died on the boat, they just tossed him overboard and said something about the sharks taking care of him." "While I was in the room, I realized they hadn't searched me too good because I still had the emeralds. I took one of the smaller ones and then hide the rest in the room. I figured I could use it as a bargaining chip or something." "That was probably a good idea," said Levinson. "We were on the ship for 10 days, maybe 12...I really don't remember," Jade said. "I remember when we went through the Straights of Gibraltar. I saw the rock through the porthole window in my room. Then I figured we went through the Suez Canal." "Why do you think that?" asked Levinson. "Well,
we were traveling south mostly during that time because I could see the rising
sun in my window for a couple of days.
Then I couldn't see it any more and figured we were heading
eastward. Then one day I overheard a
couple of the guards talking as they walked by my room. They said something about being near Macau
and that we should dock there sometime the following evening." "You're saying these guys were government sponsored pirates?" asked Jade. "Yes...in a manner of speaking. Please, go on." "Now I didn't like the sounds of Macau from the get-go and called the next guard over to me when I heard one walk by. I found out he spoke German and was able to ask him if the man I was brought on board with was okay. He told me he was and that they knew who he was." "Again, I didn't like the sound of that and asked the guard if I could see him. I told the guard he was my father and that I wanted him to know I was okay." "Good idea," said the doctor. "Did it work?" "Sort of," Jade continued. "They brought me up on deck to I guess the bridge area and then they brought Hairston out on deck below me and allowed us to talk for a few minutes. I decided I might try and use the emeralds as barter to get us released." "So I pulled out the emerald I kept and showed it to the guard who was holding me and told him he could have it and several more if he let the two of us go. That was a mistake I won't make again," Jade said with a sour look to her face. "He grabbed the emerald and ran off to another guy in a nearby little room and showed him. They both came back out and guy who came out of the room walked up to me and demanded to know where I got the emerald. When I didn't tell him right away, he slapped me hard." "I then told him I had it when they captured us and that I thought I could buy my freedom with it. I was afraid they would do more things to me and maybe even to Hairston if I didn't tell them. They then took me back to my room and ordered me to show them the rest of the emeralds I had. But I told them I didn't have them in that room and that they were hidden on the boat we were in when we were captured." "They didn't like that one bit because after we passed through the canal, they machine gunned the raft until it began to sink, then they threw a bunch of stuff on it to make sure it sunk. I gave them the idea that the rest of the emeralds were on the bottom of the ocean. At least for a short while." "What do you mean, 'A short while'?" "The next afternoon while the ship was making its way through a storm, they brought me and Hairston on deck. This time they put us side-by-side near the rail on one side of the ship. We both had our hands tied behind us and Hairston had a blindfold on. I just knew they were going to shoot us right then and there." "So this guy who had hit me the day before walks over with the emerald I gave them the day before and asked me one more time where the rest were. I knew if I told him they would shoot both of us and leave us for the sharks. But then the guy pulled out his gun and put it to Hairston's head and said, 'One more time...where are the rest of the emeralds? Tell me now or I will shoot him.' So I told him where to look in my room for the rest of them and just as I did, a huge wave came over the side of the ship, lifted both Hairston and me off the deck and the next thing we knew, we were drifting in the ocean with the ship several hundred feet away from us and getting further away." "Were the two of you together?" "Yeah. We didn't know it, but the pirates had tied us together. Hairston said its an old trick. Tie two people together, shoot one and the dead person pulls the other person under water and they both die with only one bullet." "Anyway, there we were treading water when a large glass ball came floating by. I had seen balls like that in stores before and knew the Japanese made similar balls to use as floats on their fishing nets. I guess this ball got away from a net and lucky for us because we were able to wrap our arms around it and use it to keep us afloat." "Wow!" said Doctor Levinson. "You two were very lucky. Then what happened?" "The next thing I knew, we were on a beach with a bunch of people talking Chinese all around us. I later learned it was a beach near Macau in Dahengqin Dao area or something like that. Anyway, some soldiers soon came by and put us in a car and took us to a jail cell. Hairston was put in one cell and I was in another. And then I fell asleep. When I woke up, Hairston was calling my name from his cell and there was food waiting for me to eat. It was rice with fishheads, but even though it looked bad, it sure tasted good. A little later they brought in a coke for both of us." "So now you are in a Chinese jail somewhere near Macau," said the doctor. "Weren't you scared?" "Of course I was scared," said Jade sitting up and reaching for her soda. "But Hairston told me that someone from the U.S. Embassy was on their way over and that we might be released shortly." Jade put the soda down and then rolled her neck. "What time is it doctor?" "It's about 5:15." "Thanks." Jade then sat back in the couch and looked off out the window at a nearby treeline. "It wasn't much more than an hour when the embassy guy arrived, verified who Hairston was -- it seems even the Chinese knew who he was but were just making sure -- and arranged for the both of us to be transported to the U.S. Embassy. Neither one of us wanted to make a big deal out of what happened. We really just wanted to get back to Orlando and back to our lives there." "Hairston wanted to go back to teaching math, I wanted to go back to singing in the club...and neither of us wanted anything to do with chess, travel or whatever for a long time we figured." "How long did you stay in China?" "We stayed there for three days. Before we left though, we told the embassy people about the other two ladies taken with us and they said they would check into it. I never heard anything more about them. I sure hope they are okay." "Then they said they finally got clearance for us to return to the states. We flew out of Peking and landed in Tokyo, then Honolulu, San Francisco and finally Orlando Sanford International Airport late at night. There were only friends at the airport when we arrived. I was glad because I didn't want to face reporters and all right then and there." "When we got off the plane, Roy and a couple of girls from the club, along with some of the people I met at the coffeehouse Hairston took me to, greeted us. Roy thanked Hairston for taking care of me and I gave Hairston a big hug and Roy took me home." "I take it everything worked out okay." "Not exactly," said Jade. "Roy called me the next morning and said he wanted me to come by the club as soon as possible and to bring the emeralds with me. I then told Roy that the emeralds were still on the boat when we were washed over the side and that I didn't have them, that the pirates probably did." "Roy didn't like that...not one bit. He told me I had better show up with the emeralds or he would slowly torture me and Hairston until one of told him where they were or we both died. I tried to tell him again where they were, but he couldn't believe I would leave $4 million worth of emeralds laying around for pirates to take and then he slammed the phone down." Levinson was shocked. "After all they have been through, this monkey Roy has to play the tough guy," he thought to himself. "I immediately called Hairston and told him what Roy had said he told me to quickly go to the coffeehouse and wait for him there. So I did. I left right away and when I arrived there, only a few people were there, but they were glad to see me." "About 30 minutes later, Hairston showed up and asked one of the people in the club if they could drive us to the airport. I asked Hairston where we were going and he said we were going here...to San Diego. He had called Roy after talking to me and tried to explain to him what happened, but Roy only threatened Hairston and when he repeated Hairston's address, Hairston decided it was time to get out of town." "I would imagine so," said Levinson. "Was Hairston angry at you for what you got him into?" "That's the funny thing, doc...no, he wasn't and he even told me so on the flight here. He told me he had realized who and what Roy was when I told him what Roy wanted me to do for him, but he enjoyed being with me and thought it wouldn't hurt. I guess he couldn't have seen the plane crashing, the pirates and all...ya know?" "No one could have foreseen all of that," agreed the doctor. "Well, we landed here about six this morning and after having breakfast, Hairston gave me this buildings address and told me to come here and find someone to talk and that he would be here around 6 pm or so. So, here I am...talking to you." Levinson leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. "I don't think he wanted you to spend time talking to me. Did you know his brother works in this building?" "Hairston's brother?" "Yes, a guy by the name of Johnathon Wade is a computer programmer for a company called ACI Products. Their offices are on the second floor. I spoke with Mr. Wade earlier." "You did?" said a very surprised Jade. "What did he say?" "He just mentioned a few things about your story which validated things you said. He was the main reason I began to believe you." "The main reason? Was there another reason or two you believed me?" "Yes. My sister. Remember?" "Oh yes. I do now," said Jade trying to get a look at the doctor's watch. Noticing her straining to see the time, he turned the watch for a better view and said, "It's five minutes to six. I believe our time together is coming to an end." As they got up to leave, there was a knock on the office door. When Doctor Levinson opened it, Johnathon Wade was standing there. "You must be Jade," said Johnathon. "I
am," said Jade with a tinge of concern in her voice. "You're Hairston's brother?" "Yes and he called a few minutes ago and asked me if you were with me. When I told him you weren't but thought I knew where you might be, he told me to look for you. I asked him how I would recognize you and all he said was 'By blue on blue.' He wasn't kidding about that," Johnathon said staring into Jade's blue eyes. "He'll be outside waiting for us. Shall we go?" Jade turned to Doctor Levinson and kissed him on the cheek and slipped an envelope into his pocket. "This should cover an all day session...if it doesn't, I'll stop by again in a few weeks." "Wait a moment," said Levinson glancing in the envelope. "I'll walk out with you." He put the envelope back into his pocket and then opened the door to the outside. As the trio walked down the steps of the building towards the small park in front, Jade caught sight of Hairston sitting on a bench and turned to move towards him. Just as she did, a shot rang out from a car across the street. The bullet struck Jade in the forehead, threw her back onto the steps where she rolled down two steps stopping at the feet of Doctor Levinson. At the same time, the car from which the shot rang out took off in a flash and around a corner just as a San Diego police car skidded to a stop in front of them. More shots rang out from both cars and moments later, as Levinson and Johnathon Wade crouched out of the line of fire, the pair watched as the police slowly opened the doors to the car and two bodies fell out. Levinson saw one of the men had a badly scarred face and knew it was Roy. He then turned his attention to Jade who was now at his feet. He realized for the first time that she had been shot when he noticed the blood on her forehead and the small pool blood forming on the step. Hairston who ducked when the shot rang out, was running up the steps yelling Jade's name. When he arrived, he took her in his arms and pulled her tight. And then she coughed. Hairston looked in her face and saw her eyes twinkle while her forehead bled and wiped some of the blood away. It was then he saw the bullet had only been a glancing blow. It was Hairston who had saved her life. When she turned to face him after first seeing him, she did at the precise moment the bullet was about to hit her. Instead of a fatal blow, the bullet glanced off, leaving behind a scar and a nasty headache for Jade, plus a hole in the wall of the building near the main doors. In the street, the police were covering the bodies that were in the car. One of the officers was jogging over to where Jade and the others were waiting. As he approached, Hairston looked Jade in the eyes and said, "Will you marry me?" Back to bettworld.com |