His Perfect Wife Strikes Back

69 Do You Want To Go Home?

Soon Daley killed his enemies on the island. I can't remember their names. But many people said the same thing to him before they died. "Puddin' island will never be left to outsiders."

"I am already a king," he said as he killed his last enemy.

Until one day, when he was out with me, I found that everyone we met was respectful to him. Then I understood what he meant.

He got pudding and everyone was afraid of him.

It made me wonder how he would react if I asked him again to let me go? Is he still gonna say yes?

If he says no, will he kill me?

I was very careful around him. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he would sneak into my room. Every time I would pretend to be asleep. I thought he would do something terrible to me. But he just ran his gentle fingers across my cheek and left with a sigh.

Every morning, there is still a fresh white rose with dew on my bed. We didn't have s.ex again. Did we all stay sane without o.pium?

I don't know when there seems to be a wall between me and him. I knew he was avoiding me, and I accepted it.

It's dangerous to get too close to the devil. I'm well aware of that, and Daley is not the devil. He thinks he is God, but, in fact, he is Satan.

Daley sometimes disappears for no apparent reason. He didn't speak to me when he came back, but went to the attic alone. He locked himself in the attic and meditated alone. His occasional erratic behavior puzzled me, and he never gave me an answer.

Nearly a month passed. One day, I woke up to find that the gray sky outside the window actually projected a ray of light. I was pleasantly surprised. Does this mean the gloomy weather is coming to an end?

There was a knock at the door. I opened the door and there was Rita in a flowery dress with a cleaning kit in her hand.

"Hello, Eva," Rita says as she enters the room and starts to clean the rain-drenched floor. "I was going to bring you breakfast, but it will soon be lunchtime and I can bring you some snacks if you are hungry."

"No, thank you," I declined.

"Have you seen Daley?" I asked.

"Daley?" Rita said with her back to me. "He got a call this morning and left the house and hasn't come back. He never told me where he was. Why didn't you call him?"

"I-I don't have his number." That's when I realized that Daley hadn't let me know much about him.

At least he didn't give me a way to get in touch with him, but Rita must have known how to get in touch with him. I feel like I don't really know him.

"Rita, how do you know Daley?" I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Rita's back. "Do you think he's a good guy?"

"Of course, he's a good guy." Rita turned around with a wet mop in her hand. She looked at me very seriously.

"Miss, you have no idea how bad my life was before I met Daley," Rita said, "My husband hates it when I scream like a pig in bed. He says he sleeps with me like he's f.ucking a pig. Sometimes he would hit me when he was drunk, and I put up with it. But what I can't stand is that he sold my daughter to a b.rothel in Mexico City. I can't beat him and I can't save my daughter. So I took a rope and tried to hang myself from a tree, and Daley saved me. Then he threw my damn husband into the sea. But we can't find my daughter. The traffickers said she had an epileptic seizure while she was on the boat. Instead of saving her, the b.astards threw her overboard. My poor daughter, she's only 14."

"I'm sorry for what happened to you." I had no idea Rita was going through something so tragic.

Rita wiped her tears with her fat hands and sobbed, "After that, I decided to work for Daley and I would do it even if he didn't pay me. For me, he was my benefactor and he always taught me how to face my heart and he made me feel at peace."

Does he teach Rita to meditate, too? But I don't think Rita knows anything about the warehouse.

"Do you know anything about Daley's past?" I asked tentatively. "Did he tell you where he came from?"

"No, never!" Rita's face darkened, and her eyes were rabbit-like.

"I think I have to get ready for lunch." Rita excused herself and left the room.

She must know something but won't tell me.

Daley didn't come back until the evening. The sky has been covered with dark clouds, and there are showers in the late afternoon. I sat in the living room waiting for him to come back. I thought I should have a good talk with him. He dug up the secret of my heart, at least I want to know something about him.

The clock ticks at 12:00 midnight. Maybe he won't come back. The day went by and I hated waiting. So I went back to my room to get ready for bed. Then there was the sound of a car outside the house, followed by the sound of an iron door opening.

That must be Daley. So I ran downstairs and saw several men gathered in the bright living room. They speak good English and don't look like locals. I noticed they had pistols around their waists and their eyes were on Daley. They looked as serious as the guards waiting for the general's orders.

"Go back to your room. I'll catch up with you later." Daley came across the crowd, his face serious as if something bad had happened.

So I had to go back to my room and wait, and every minute that went by felt like torture. All kinds of questions come to my mind.

Who were the strangers?

What are they doing here?

What is Daley not telling me?

It wasn't until there was a knock on the door that the questions that had been running through my mind stopped. I can't wait to open the door.

Daley appeared before me in a black suit and white shirt.

"What happened?" I asked hastily.

He just looked at me quietly and said nothing. I could see a complicated look in his eyes. At last, he came near me, and his tight lips parted slightly.

"Do you want to go home?"