Chapter 10

In the morning Roger woke up to the smell of eggs cooking and he threw on a robe and went into the kitchen. Lei had fixed a bowl of fruit in yogurt and had scrambled a couple of eggs for him. She was dressed in a pajama bottom and a black bra.

She jumped when she turned and saw him, "I didn't know what you like for breakfast so I fixed what you had in the refrigerator. You don't have any tea. I don't know how to make coffee so you'll have to show me."

Roger walked to the coffee pot and showed her where the coffee was and how to make coffee. He sat down and began to eat the eggs and he noticed that Lei was standing at the sink.

"Lei come on and eat."

Lei picked up the plate with her eggs on it and began to eat standing by the sink. Roger waited to see if she was going to sit down with him.

"Lei, come sit at the table with me. We eat together."

Lei came to the table and sat down and began to pick at her breakfast. Roger tried to talk to her but he saw that she was still afraid of him.

When he got up to get his coffee he asked if she wanted some and she shook her head. Roger looked in the cupboard and found the box of teabags, hidden by a few boxes, and sat them in front of her. He put a cup of water in the microwave and heated it until it was almost boiling and brought it to the table. He opened the box and pulled a teabag out and began to move the teabag up and down to make the tea.

Lei had a slight grin on her face, "Is that how Americans make tea?"

"I'm afraid so. I'll try to pick up some loose tea for you when I go into town. Now let's talk. I think that I ought to get in touch with Ben and see if he can't find a better place for you. I don't think that you would ever be comfortable around me. I'm single and live alone."

Roger stopped because he saw tears in her eyes, "If you send me back to Mr. Chu he will turn me over to the snakeheads because I have dishonored him. The snakehead and his men will use me until they tire of me and then they will put me in a brothel. Women do not last long in a Chinese brothel."

She got up and started to run past him to get to her room. Roger caught her arm; she turned and lost her balance and fell on his lap and he held her until she stopped fighting him. She turned her head so that he could not see her crying.

Roger turned her face to him, "Lei, I didn't understand what the situation would be if I sent you back. I would never want a life like that for anyone. You can stay here with me and we'll try to make the best of it. There's just one thing I want you to get in your mind; I am your equal and you are my equal. I do not believe in slavery and I think that anyone that keeps someone as a slave ought to be made a slave himself. Now I have to get a shower and get to work. I'll try to get home at a decent time so that we can have dinner together."

Lei tried to smile but Roger knew that she wasn't about to trust him yet. He let her up off of his lap and went into the bathroom to take a shower. He tried to think what he should do about Lei but every time that he thought he had an idea, he would think of a reason why it wouldn't work.

One major problem was that she had no identification. Roger knew that, while this was a democracy, IDs are necessary to enable one to function in our society. Without ID there would be no job, no driver's license, no Social Security; all of which meant that Lei would have no way of supporting herself if Roger made her find somewhere else to stay.

Roger heard the bathroom door open. He listened but all he heard was a rustling. Suddenly the shower door opened and Lei stepped into the shower. The rustling he had heard was Lei taking her clothes off. She reached out and took the washrag from him and lathered up the washcloth. She began to scrub his back and arms.