“She passed on to Adeline,” Hwee Min said quickly, eager to redeem herself. “She would tell Adeline, if she chose.”
If Lady Butterfly had anything to say, she had never made it apparent to Adeline. But Adeline herself was saved from having to set herself up as Lan’s head turned toward the crowd and she exclaimed, “Wait, there’s Rong! Rong!”
“She’s got her boyfriend with her?”
“Apparently Tian wanted to talk to him, too?”
The girls pulled the long-awaited Rong into the circle, along with a swaggering man Adeline could only assume was her boyfriend. Rong was a fun-looking, primped-up girl with a butterfly tattoo between her cleavage. The boyfriend was muscular and square-jawed, squeezed into a tight shirt that revealed the tail of a crocodile tattooed on his bicep and slightly leathery tan skin. He greeted them with a gravellyhi, ladiesthat made Adeline feel violated. “Where’s Tian?” Rong said. “I was supposed to find her again. But baby, we should tell them about the boys in the river that day. Wasn’t it damn weird?”
It turned out that while passing through the north, the couple had snuck off into the forest, where they had heard praying in English. When they peered through the trees, they saw a man dipping a group of boys in the water, one by one. There were eight of them, and it had been the eighth of August, and it was eight in the evening. The boys had burst out of the water chanting in unknown language like they were possessed. Baptism, Adeline realized. It was more of the revivalists.
“So what did you do?” Hwee Min asked, enraptured.
“Zao, lah, stick around for what?” the man said. “Anyway we both had to come back quickly, with all this shit happening.”
That had been the night the Crocodile was killed. “Did you know the dead guy?” Adeline remarked. They all looked at her. Rong’s boyfriend looked put off. “The Crocodile they cut up.”
A beat of silence. Then Mavis tittered, and they all looked at him expectantly instead. The man cleared his throat. “Yeah. We were brothers, what.”
“Was he your friend?” Adeline shrugged. “I saw it happen. We called the Sons to collect him.”
Rong frowned. “Let’s go find Tian,” she said, tugging at her boyfriend’s arm. “I think she’s over there with Christina.”
Adeline had been looking out for Tian all night, but couldn’tspot her in the direction Rong left in. For now, instead, she went along as the girls tried to get a better view of the stage. The performers were starting the night’s impromptu show, where each was dressed in the colors and emblems of political parties themed for the upcoming elections.
Pek Mun was practically the only one who cared about politics. The girls had a god more tangible and demanding than “progress,” and “progress” didn’t apply to them anyway, it was for regular people who would dislike them no matter who was running the country. And Pek Mun was a hypocrite—she should be more worried about Red Butterfly’s own leader instead. Instead of votes, though, here the rally was being loudly encouraged to nominate winners with dollar bills stuffed in salacious places.
Attention roaming between the rowdy show and the crowd, Adeline finally spotted Tian, and when their eyes met Tian beckoned at her.
Adeline wove her way over to where Tian was leaning against a pillar, looking pleased. She was alone; if she’d met up with Rong, it had been quickly concluded. “The Buaya Putih’s agreed to meet us.”
White Crocodile.“The Crocodile conduit?” Adeline asked, as a cheer went up: a performer was currently demonstrating improper uses of a hammer.
“No, the mamasan of their oldest brothel, that shares the back alley with Desker Road. She’s not a fan of Three Steel, and she’s agreed to speak with us tonight.”
“What, now?”
Tian smirked. “You have something better to do?”
Adeline rolled her eyes. “Shut up,” she said. “Let’s go.”
The brothel of the White Crocodile was marked by a red plaque, but otherwise nondescript, sitting in between a frog porridge shop and a sundry. A man slipped out of the door even as theyapproached, shirt soaked through with sweat. Even spent he looked hard at Adeline, until a sharp word from Tian sent him scurrying away.
The inside of the brothel was clearly attempting the idea of a Shanghai lounge. Worn chinoiserie bled over the walls; twisting dragons with chipped scales were incorporated in every longitudinal feature. The only illumination came from an abundance of lanterns hanging from the ceiling, giving the room a spotted oblong collection of orange light.
Four voluptuous girls in colorful cheongsams lounged on velvet sofas with rusting gold edges. “What do you want?” the oldest-looking one of them said, when the Butterflies entered. She squinted at Tian and became immediately cagey. “Red Butterfly?”
“We’re here to see your boss.”
After a few exchanged looks, the first girl waved at one of the younger ones. “Go get her.”
While waiting, one of the other two gave a dramatic sigh. “You’re going to scare any customer looking in.” She pulled her long legs up onto the chaise, making her split skirt fall in a way that made Adeline blush. “Who’s going to pay for the lost jobs?”
Tian withdrew several bills. “For your incredibly valuable time—and your secrecy.”
She got a coquettish smile in return. “Oh, don’t worry, hor tiap, the bastards won’t get a word from me.”
The oldest girl grinned, reaching over for her share. “Maybe we should be asking you to protect us instead, if you give out gifts so easily.” She had a sharp look to her, despite her teasing. “Seems like Mama wouldn’t be opposed,” she added in a low voice. She straightened as clicking heels down the hallway announced the arrival of the mamasan herself.
