What We Deserve

Part 9: The Green Lady

The ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty was crowded more than I assumed it would've been- for a Thursday afternoon.

Yet it was pleasant. Tse stood at the front of the ferry happily pointing at her as we went along, every once in a while saying something to Max that I had to translate for him.

Yet no one seemed disturbed by us.

When we arrived at the island housing the majestic statue- Tse was surprised by her height and scale. We wandered around her mindlessly and neither Max nor I spoke to the other as we took her in.

Tse, was beyond elated by the experience.

Until he saw something that set him off.

Screaming amongst the crowd of observers, Tse takes off running into the crowd and Max and I immediately follow.

"Tse! Tse!" We call as we go after him, weaving in and out of people.

"Helen- go left- I'll cut him off!" Max yells as he pulls to the right of the crowd nearest the water.

My heart pounds and I continue to scan with my eyes and call out for him.

"Tse! san bra! mesrɛ wo! san bra!!"
(Tse! Come back! Please! Come back!)

We can barely keep an eye on him in the crowded place, but soon enough, I spot him heading down a private dock after a white man in a black hoodie.

"Tse!!! Stop!!!!!" I yell.

As the crowd dispersed out of my way, I rush down the dock and notice that Tse is screaming and grabbing onto the man's arm angrily. Before I can even get any closer, the tall Caucasian man, swings his arm hard enough and it send Tse into the water.

"Tse!!!!!!" I scream and don't even hesitate to run full blast to the spot and dive into the disgusting brown river water. I can hardly see down here- the brown mucky water burning my eyes and the coldness of it making my muscles cramp slightly.

I spot him just a few feet below me, so I swim deeper. Just reaching his hand,  I pull up on him and drag him back up to the surface of the river where upon surfacing- I'm met with Max's screams.

"Helen!!!" Floating on my back with Tse on my chest, I didn't realize how far away from the dock we shifted with the current. It must take him a while to spot us- but once he does, he too is in the water swimming towards us.

"Sir!" An officer calls from the cement dock and Max ignores him. Getting to us, he looks me over.

"You okay? You good?" He asks and I try to tread water with Tse on me- but my soaked clothes and his body weight are making it difficult.

"Take him...." I say as I spit water out of my mouth. The taste is like sewage and frankly I want to vomit.

"I'm not leaving you, Sharpe." He says and tries to pull me along as I try to give him the boy.

"Get him out of the...wat...ttt....er...." I stammer from the coldness and he knows that Tse is going to be hyperthermic before I am- so he takes the child and hustles to the dock- as I tiredly follow behind.

Getting there, I watch him hand Tse up to the officers and come back for me.

"Come on...let me help..." He shivers as he says so, but refuses to let me continue swimming by myself. I didn't realize I stopped doing so- my appendages freezing horribly from the cold spring water. Nodding, he takes me around my waist with one arm and continues to swim as fast as his arm and legs could tread the last ten feet. Getting there, two men pull me from the water and Max climbs out with two pedestrians helping him. An officer holds Tse in a blanket- after already giving him mouth to mouth to remove the water from his lungs. Bringing me a blanket, Max wraps it around me and rubs his hands up and down my body as he sits close to me- himself just as soaked.