2024.06.27: Boots Discovers Shi Tao
| Boots discovers Shi Tao | |
|---|---|
| Boots tracks down scant clues about his history | |
| IC Date | June 27, 2024 |
| IC Time | Afternoon |
| Players | Boots Ramona |
| Location | China Town, Prospect |
| Spheres | Gaian Garou |
Ramona gets their bus fare while Boots claims their seats. A half hour and a buncha totally normal chit chat later, they're getting off the bus in a new part of town. It's an older part of town, age and wear evident in some of the infrastructure. There's some gawdy old China Town style decor from decades ago consisting of some concrete imperial guardian dogs on either side of a somewhat cheaply constructed metal Chinese archway. Who knows what the lettering on it says, or if it's at all accurate. There's a lot of foreign script beyond that arch, but plenty of English as well, and while a lot of people in the area are clearly of Asian decent, there's also plenty of other nationalities present as well. It's a little cultural bubble, not immune to the intrusion of the culture surrounding it, but the Chinese of the area have deep roots here and have embedded their culture soundly.
For the purposes of using Assimilation, Boots would choose the Chinese culture and feel like a local to this bubble, but not beyond it, everyone might feel like he's from the block rather than a pass through, and his language becomes Chinese, or more specifically ABC (American Born Chinese) since that's what's going to be dominant in this one very small area.
Once in the Chinatown section, Boots looks around - focusing on those of Chinese heritage. He takes a breath, then slowly exhales - becoming one with the culture here. A grin to Ramona as he leads her on, heading along the street among the crowd. Every so often, he pauses to ask for directions - his words flowing out in Chinese as they travel. A few nods, some thanks, and they are off. Soon enough, they are in front of an apartment building.
The building looming over them is dark brick and light concrete, the power pole at the curb covered in layers of bills and fliers. Groups, band performances, music lessons, lost cats and dogs, all the usual stuff. There's a big bank of resident buttons with sloppy little name tags written next to most of them, the glass entry door auto-locked unless a resident uses a key to get in. Through the glass can be seen banks of mail boxes in the wall and a set of stairs. Damn thing's a walk-up! Near the steps is a little old lady in a lawn chair, one hand working a hand fan to beat the heat while she does some people watching and listens to the local radio.
Boots gives a winning smile to the little old lady, after taking in the sights. "Excuse me, ma'am. Do you know if a woman named Liu Mi used to live here? She would have been here about twenty years ago?" He asks, putting on his best manners. A look back to Ramona, then back to the old woman. "I am trying to find family."
The old lady looks up and gives Boots a squinty eyed look, asking, "Liu Mi?" as if she were mulling the name over in her brain a bit, "No, no Liu Mi." she answers, but also hooks her thumb back towards the apartment building as if to indicate to check there or that she is/was there, so she's giving some mixed signals She brushes the Gnawer off and returns to fanning herself. Sadly, their first old lady isn't super helpful. Ramona attempts to be by looking at the buzzer panel, seeing if she can find a mark resembling the one from the poem, or else an English version of the name. "Not on here... But there IS someone living in her old apartment! No idea what that says though." It's not that it's written in Chinese, it's just that the hand writing suuuuuuuucks on that tag. She tries the door, but it clicks against the lock.
Boots gives a nod of thanks to the woman, regardless. He scans over the names associated with the apartment numbers. A nod to the apartment Ramona found, deciding to start there. He buzzes the apartment, and waits. "I wonder if the super is in?"
It's gonna take a couple buzzes probably. Ramona shrugs her shoulders and says, "How do you tell who it is?" Probably it SAYS, but there's so many names, and such shitty hand writing from so many people. Eventually a voice sounds through the speaker, thready and slow, "Wei? Wei ni hao?" Ramona jumps when she hears the voice and excitedly bap bap baps Boots's arm. There's a lot of background noise in the speaker.
Boots shrugs. "I can ask, they will tell me generally." A smirk. As the speaker crackles to life, he returns the greeting. "Ni hao. I'm looking for Liu Mi - she used to live in these apartments twenty years ago. I am family, and wanted to see if anyone knew where she might be found." Of course, it flows into fluent and properly accented Chinese.
"Ooooh?" is the sound that comes through the speaker, followed by the BZZZZZZZZZZZZZT! sound of the door. Ramona grabs it quick and yanks it open to let Boots in. "Duuuuude! Your fuckin *mom* lived here!" she says excitedly and quietly, looking around like she's trying to imagine what life might have been like way back in the ancient times of a couple decades ago. And no, no elevator, just a fucklot of stairs upwards and a really annoying echoing quality to all of their steps. Honestly, people on the top floor can probably hear them starting up the stairs. Well. They can hear Boots probably, Ramona's still unnervingly quiet by comparison, though not silent in her steps. She grabs his hand and squeezes, lending strength!
Boots is trying to be mindful, knowing of the customs in the area. You don't go tromping or bounding up the stairs. Slow, careful and quiet. "She did." He whispers back to her, holding her hand as they go up the stairs to the apartment who had buzzed them in. Thank goodness he could read the information on the buzzers.
Somehow Ramona was expecting some kind of neon sign or something pointing at the door, ready to shoot confetti once they get to it, but it's just a door in a hallway that looks the same as all the other doors. The bare wood floors are scuffed up and worn but it's safe, some of the doors have a mat out front, some have a little charm or ten hung up along the frame be they some memento or a luck or blessing charm, or just a thing where someone can write down a note. The door once belonging to Liu me has a lot of scuffs and gouges but it's not too bad, quite a few dents down around shin level like it's been kicked a lot. There's sounds inside, loud talking and yelling, but not the angry kind. The scent of boiled cabbage wafts from within.
Once Boots gathers up his courage to knock, it only takes a few minutes before the door is whipped suddenly open by a young woman maybe Ramona's age. Hair half done up with fat curlers, makeup only part way applied, clothes nice and of a currently trendy style. She looks Boots up and down first, then Ramona, and gives them both a suspicious look while asking, "The fuck do you want?" in perfect English. Her tone and expression are all set at Maximum Teenage Girl.
Boots' brow arches at the sign of the door - the wear and tear on it. It tells a story - but it's not one he can immediately identify. "I'm Cruz, I am looking for Liu Mi. She used to live here about twenty years ago. I'm trying to track down my family." He explains, letting his natural English come out - still it's the right inflection and dialect here in Chinatown. Thanks Assimilation!
The girl, who doesn't bother to introduce herself, makes THE most exasperated sigh, just so put upon and annoyed, and turns away from the door, shouting in Mandarin, "Gramma stop letting everyone in the building!" While shouting through the apartment she moves away from the doors, snaps her fingers at Boots and Ramona and points at their feet. "Shoes." she says in English, then goes back to arguing loudly with her grandmother. Why you letting these weirdos in here, who's Liu Mi, never mind I don't even care, stuff like that. Her Mandarin is not good, she's fluent, but she doesn't practice the tongue nearly as much as she should. Probably in her cultural rebellion stage.
Meanwhile, this little teeny stooped old lady is shuffling in a pair of slippers and an old, loose dress through the cluttered living room, arguing right back at the girl, telling her in Mandarin in a thready little old lady voice, "You didn't do the dishes, your mother said you had to before you go out!" And there's some comments about her pants being too tight thrown in there for good measure. FAMILY! Aren't they just *great*?! There's stuff cooking in the kitchen, there's lines with washing stretched through the living room for things to dry, the TV is a ginormous old tube TV from the 70's.
Boots is not too put off by rebellious teens. He's been one most his life! He nods to the young girl, taking off shoes when prompted. He motions for Ramona to do the same. Once properly shoeless, he steps into the apartment holding Ramona's hand. He waits patiently for the older woman to appear, not about to rush the person who got them into the building. He looks around the home, taking in the decor and feel of the place.
Ramona tries very hard not to be offended by a teenager that's even bitchier than she is! It's tough, but she manages. A hand on the wall and standing on one foot at a time, she gets the sandals off and dropped aside before getting lead in by the hand. The place feels comfortable, homey, well lived in, layered with those Smells that build up over time. Pungent dinners, perfumes, smoke, farts, city smells, but it's not altogether unpleasant, just different for a minute till your nose goes blind to it.
{{tab}}Missus Old Lady shuffles her way over to the pair of guests, hands out stretched and one of those old folk grins that, depending on the current sound track of this movie, could either be really heartwarming or really creepy. Thin, wrinkled little hands are reached out to clasp Boots's hands, her grip surprisingly tight and strong given how frail she looks. This might actually be a great, or even a doubel great gramma to the snotty teenager that went back into her room. "Ooooooooh!" she says excitedly, "You bring Liu Mi back?" she asks in her native language, "I miss her so much, where is she? Did you bring her back, boy?"
There's a moment when Boots freezes - even as he clasps the old woman's hands in return. He takes another breath, shaking his head. "I am hoping to." He starts, honestly. "I found out that I am Liu Mi's son. I had researched and found that she lived here some time ago. Do you know where she went?"
The old lady looks sad when Boots doesn't magically make the missing Liu Mi appear, releasing Boots's hands to shuffle into the apartment proper again, towards the kitchen where she can stir things boiling in a pot. "Liu Mi had a little baby, oooooh, sweet boy, always so upset and feisty! I babysit him when his momma went away, until he went away too. Oh, so sad, I miss them! But grandpa say he cant stay, so he cant stay. Sad day when they all left. You, get me eggs, eggs! From the refrigerator!" Boots, you're being roped into helping cook whether you like it or not!
At least she cannot see tears welling in his eyes when he turns to get the eggs. "How do you want them prepared?" He asks, from the kitchen. He speaks loud enough to be heard, Chinese flowing from him. Boots doesn't even hesitate - this woman used to babysit him. Holy hell! He looks to Ramona, nodding. "Do you know where he went? Or where grandfather went?"
"You shake it good, then crack in the pot, slow, sloooooow." the lady insists, and takes one to show Boots how to drizzle the egg into the swirling, boiling liquid. "Oh, nooooo..." she answers, and leaves Boots to add the eggs while she shuffles at Mach 0.00005 into the living room and over to a book case while talking. "Always big secrets. I think she run from her boyfriend!" She gets a photo album and slooooooowly shuffles back towards the kitchen, carrying this thing like it weighs a ton. THUD onto the counter, andd she whew's and has to take a minute to catch her breath. "Always was yelling and crying, and crashing and throwing things. That boy was no good!" She cant possibly mean Boots's dad, surely? She's turning through the pages, glancing and trying to find a particular photo, although somewhere in there a familiar old bald man is present in some photos.
Ramona, meanwhile, stays quiet and out of the way. She has NO idea what's going on, but she's paying attention, trying to will support and mental hugs at her boyfriend.
Boots works on the eggs, preparing them as instructed. As she gets out a photo book, he does glance over. "Her boyfriend was bad?" That has a slight frown appear - wondering if his dad wasn't the hero he'd hoped. As she flips through the pages, he pauses. "Grandfather?" He questions, even as he points to the photo of the older man.
The old lady breaks into a grin and pokes the picture Boots mentions, just a group of people sitting around some patio tables together, one of those 'lets get a group photo' moments. Other people in the picture are older folk, and this nice old lady. The photo is date stamped from the 90's, she looks less wrinkly but still definitely the same lady. "Chen! We call him Egg, his head looks just like a quail egg!" she says and laughs, and honestly it's a pretty decent description of the spotty bald fellow, but he looked like a nice guy. She sighs and pets the picture, "Liu Mi's grandfather, but grandpa to everyone. Took the rent, fixed the pipes, helped all over. Very good man, so sad when the ambulance took his body." She looks at Boots and tells him conspiratorially, "Murdered. Very sudden. First Liu Mi goes away so fast and leaves her little baby, then the baby goes, then Chen goes." She sighs sadly, and then pats the counter. "Got to have her apartment though, much nicer. Better view of the street!"
It is not a full moon. It is not the full rage from the man, thankfully. He takes in a deep breath, more to focus himself and not scare the little old lady who is helping them out. "Chen..." He repeats, looking at the photo. "My great grandfather." He focuses on that - not the act of murder that had happened. Nope. "Did you know where Liu Mi went to?" No need to ask after the baby boy. If the eggs are ready, he starts preparing a dish for her.
"No." says the lady sadly. She flips through pages and eventually pulls a photo out, holding it up beside Boots's face and groping around at her chest for a pair of glasses hanging there. They're THICK! She puts them on and lifts her head to eyeball Boots through the bottom of the lenses. "You have her eyes." The scrutiny is intense for a moment there, she might be friendly and open, but THIS requires very studious attention in order to decide, "Little baby boy, you got so tall!" and then she shuffles forward to hug Boots whether he likes it or not, the photo in her hand visible enough for Boots to see a young woman in her early 20's that looks happy but exhausted standing outside this very apartment building with a fussy baby on her hip. She's smiling for the camera while her son is mid tantrum wail about something or another. Baby Ahrouns, am I right? She's pretty, slim with long, dark hair that's very straight and flat, dressed in long dark skirt, a pink blouse, and has a fucknormous diaper bag.
There's a soft smile from Boots. "I did. Thank you for looking after me when my mother had to go." He glances to the photo, grinning widely at the first glimpse of his mother. A real photo of his mom! He's got a face to match to his memories, made up or real. He returns the hug, though is gentle about doing so. There's no want to harm her, not even a little!
Missus Old Lady's eyes are leaking a little bit when she pulls away, and she produces one of those ever present Kleenexes that old ladies always seem to have in a pocket somewhere, so that she can dab at her eyes. She pushes the photo album to him and shuffles past so that she can turn and fetch bowls and such. While gramma's back ins turned, Snotty Teenager pokes her head out of her room lookin' all done up to go out, and does a fast barefoot tip toe across the apartment. She stabs a finger at Ramona and Boots as if to say 'tattle on me and I will cut you!' as she zips to the door and suuuuuper quietly eases it open.
Photos! The first one of Chen back in the 90's is definitely pre-Boots existence, and Mom With Behbeh is definitely after his birth. The years between those two points in time have a lot of pictures taken of friends and family, only a few of interesting sights seen on rare excursions out. This ain't exactly a well to do house hold. His mom makes scattered appearances in the photos. Pre-Boots, progressively more and more round bellied, momma with an infant, Chen with an infant, a nekkid toddler hurling shoes down the apartment stairs and being chased by a blurry woman (his mom). It's kind of adorable, just split second snap shots that prove the existence of Cruz David as something other than a street kid with nothing and nobody.
It's hard to spot at first, but two interesting things can be found in the photos. In just *one* photo from pre-Boots dates, his mom is in the background walking down the street holding hands with someone. Their backs are to the camera, it's just a familiar coat from other pics that confirms the woman is Liu Mi. The man she's with, black haired and back to the camera, is wearing an over sized army jacket with a stylized American flag patch on the shoulder that can *just* be made out, and baggy jeans. In several other pictures where Liu Mi is present, there's a person that keeps popping up in the background, always at a distance and usually not in focus, but just almost always *there*, his face pointed towards Mom. Could be coincidence. Could be a stalker. Who knows.
The photo is taken, kept in hand in case she wants it back. Boots keeps staring at it, in awe of the person he sees in it. As the teen girl beckons them to the door, he follows - letting grandmother enjoy her meal. All those photos, all of his mother and her grandfather. The photo with his mother and the person holding hands is studied. "That... has to be dad." He whispers, looking to Ramona. A look at the other guy, the one popping up in all the photos. "Who is this?" He wonders.
Snotty Teenager whips her phone up and snaps a picture of Boots. With the flash on, of course, because she is a diiiiiiick. "Rob my house or murder my gramma and I'll have you fucking killed." she says like the badass she thinks she is before slipping on some strappy shoes and fleeing down the stairs. I mean it's nice that she cares enough to threaten your life, but at the same time, if she REALLY cared, maybe don't leave your gramma with weirdos that dropped in outta nowhere.
Gramma has put together three bowls of soup! Which is... I mean it's not the greatest soup ever, but it's a pretty decent egg flour soup. A little bland, maybe. She sets them at the table and makes some 'eat! eat!' gestures at her visitors. Looking over the photo, she snorts and says, "Bad boyfriend. Came to visit Egg Chen and stayed a while with his friends. Liu Mi gets pregnant, and then all the time they fight and yell." she points to the front door, "Left dents in the wood!" She shuffles through the pages until she finds an actual picture of the guy standing with Chen. The only doubt to this information is that, at no point in any pictures with him in it is he ever wearing an oversized army jacket, whether he's in the background or the foreground. He DOES have a very similar American flag sewn onto a vest at one point, though, with embroidered lettering declaring 'The Dream Is Real'.
Blinking off the flash, Boots nods to the girl even as she leaves. "Ain't no one messin' with her. If anyone gives you or her problems, you let me know." He says, seriously. Then he's being ushered over to eat, motioning for Ramona to join. "Bad boyfriend, yeah. Seems like he had a temper." The face for said bad boyfriend is burned into his mind. "The man with the jacket, in that one photo, who was that?" He wonders. No face, no description. "It looked like Mom was friends with him?"
Granny pulls her glasses up again for extra detail and squints at the background folk in the photo. She ends up shaking her head though and not looking sure. "I don't know. Must be Bad Boyfriend." she says, tapping their held hands with her finger, but her lack of knowledge about certain things becomes evident when she talks about BB. "He came to visit Chen with his friends, young boys and girls, not from around here." She doesn't mean non-locals, she means non-Chinese, although for her those two might be the same thing. "They stayed up in... uh... 810, guest apartment for visitors of Chen. Rowdy children, they go up and down the stairs so loud! All hours, night and day, bang bang bang bang, wake everyone up with their stomping around! What was his name...." She starts searching the backs of photos to find out if she wrote it down. "Victor. His American friends leave here, Victor stays, but he and Liu Mi must have broken up. It's so sad, you should know your father, baby boy! But, maybe he is not worth knowing, such a *temper*."
Boots looks up to the ceiling, then back to her. "He doesn't still live here, does he?" He wonders, eating the soup politely, while making conversation. His manners are correct for the culture - thank goodness for that. "Victor." That's a name he can look into! People know the pack, so...
Just to be clear, Granny here doesn't know all, she's made quite a lot of assumptions, but they're things that seem completely reasonable to her, and she probably didn't pry out any details back in the day that would have told her otherwise. Her assumptions might be muddying the waters a little bit for poor Boots, but there's things that don't quite allow this to sound like the full real truth. This Victor guy never has that jacket on, but there's plenty other stuff he wears more than once. There's also no pictures that ever directly show any kind of romance between the two, in fact Liu Mi isn't directly seen with *any*one romantically outside of that one accidental catch of her holding hands with some dude. Different clothes, lack of romantic evidence, but the patches may well have been the same.
"Oh, no, he left a long time ago, when Egg died. Poor Chen, so sad what happened. Chen's great nephew takes the rent and fixes the pipes now. Super Attendant, room 812, last apartment upstairs." She adorably gets the job title wrong. "Where were you all this time, Shi Tao, where did you go?"
Boots blinks at the name from her, coughing a bit. "I had to go. Grandfather had to put me somewhere safe." He says, still smiling. No need to rattle her memories, muddled or otherwise. "His nephew lives upstairs? Does he mind visitors?" The man wonders. "Shi Tao..." He looks to Ramona.
"You don't know your own *name*, baby boy??" Gramma looks absolutely scandalized! Her way of speaking changes ever so slightly as if she just realized she's talking to a fragile coma survivor still dealing with amnesia. "I know I remember your name right. Every *day* have to yell SHI TAO YOU PUT THAT DOWN RIGHT NOW!" She shouts with authority but care as if to a small child about to do something dangerous, miming pointing at a kid across the room. There might be a jolt to the system for Boots. Maybe he doesn't remember her or being babysat and it's just those muddled, distant memories of the old man and Chinese language, but someone has *definitely* shouted that at him before, and almost exactly like that.
Ramona looks startled and looks quickly to Boots. Not knowing the language, she just hears SUDDEN SHOUTING! and is like oh god, did we fuck up some how, do we have to run now?!
Boots does start a bit, but it does also jolt those memories. He sits up straight. "They hid me." He has to explain. "Cruz David... that was the name I was told." There's a pause. Shi Tao... was what my mother named me?" He clarifies.
He looks to Ramona and pats her hand, trying to comfort her. "I have ... my mom gave me a name. Shi Tao."
The old woman throws back her head, practically howling with laughter and pointing at Boots, "That's the face! You make that face and you say 'auntie Wen, I want I want!'" she does her very best impression of a little toddler's voice. "I tell you no, you cry so loud they can hear you all the way back in China! But I give you a popcicle and that shut you up good. And Sesame Street! The green trash demon made you laugh lots." she adds with a laugh and a wave of her bony fingers.
She reaches out to pat Boots's cheek with a warm, soft hand. "Ah, poor boy. No one leaves China, you just go somewhere and take China with you. You make a baby, it's a Chinese baby, it gets a Chinese name. I don't know Cruz David, maybe your American name? I don't know why anyone would hide you... Maybe her boyfriend was very *very* bad." She looks a little worried and sad, as this is starting to open up avenues of thought for HER that she'd never had. Victor left when Chen died, he had a temper, and Liu Mi had left and they had to hide the baby? She's putting together the puzzle pieces the way a human would, anyway.
Boots tries to do his best to mask any negative thought. "Auntie Wen, do you mind if I come visit you from time to time?" He asks, patting her hand. "I am going to try to find my mother, and I would love to bring her by if I do?" He mentions.
"You had better, I miss her so much!" Wen answers with a longing old smile. "Visit all the time, and pay no attention to my grand daughter's rudeness. She's going through a phase. Here, you take this. It wont help you find anyone, but maybe it will help tell you a little bit about your family and neighbors." She pushes the photo album towards him. "But don't you lose that, you bring it back! That has my whole life in it. Go talk to Egg's nephew, Ronnie if you want, he goes out a lot but he still lives up there. Maybe he'll get you a nice apartment!"
