Chapter 12

Roger could smell the food as soon as he pulled under the carport. He sat in the car for a minute savoring the aromas wafting out of the kitchen. He got out of the car and walked into the house. Lie was starting to set the food on the table and looked into his eyes; searching for some sign that he approved of her efforts.

"I hope it tastes as great as it smells," Roger said with a smile.

Lei immediately grinned and began to set the table. Roger went into the bathroom to take a fast shower. When he came back into the kitchen he had changed his suit and tie for a knit shirt and comfortable slacks. Lei was just starting to put the food on the table. Lei had fixed steak, sweet potatoes and snow peas. She stood by the table waiting for him to sit. Roger glared at her and pointed at the chair opposite him. Lei sheepishly sat down.

"Now, let's eat," Roger said as he handed Lei the plate of steak.

She seemed confused and he realized that she was expecting him to be served first. He held the plate in front of her until she took it and put one of the steaks on her plate and handed it back. Roger made a point of making Lei serve herself first.

Roger put a morsel of steak in his mouth and moaned, "This is heaven. This steak is done to perfection."

Lei grinned and began to eat her dinner. Roger tried to keep her talking but he found that she would only respond to his questions. She never asked him questions or engaged in casual chatter. She also had a habit of looking at him and looking away when he caught her watching him.

After he had put the last bit of food in his mouth he smiled and patted his stomach, "If you cook like that every day, I'm going to weight five hundred pounds."

Lei smiled demurely and began to get up from her chair, "I'll clean up the dishes now."

"Lei, sit down. I want to talk to you."

Lei sat and kept her eyes down, thinking that she had done something wrong. Roger paused, trying to think of the best way to say what he wanted to say to her.

"Lei, I don't expect you to become a slave for me. I want you to learn to consider this as your house as well as mine. I can't get you work right now because you don't have any papers. How do the Chinese businessmen get papers for their workmen?"

Lei kept looking down at the table, "There are no papers required for the workers. The workers are usually kept out of sight and they become invisible to the inspectors that would cause trouble for the businessman. There is no salary paid to the worker because he has to pay off his debt. Many of the businessmen charge for room and board so very little of the wages goes to pay off the debt. Most workers never pay off their debt. When they get too old to work they are put out on the street. Sometimes they die on the street and sometimes the missions and soup kitchens take care of them."

"Why would anyone come to this country and agree to be put in bondage for the rest of their life?"

"You do not know what life is like in China. Life can be very hard if you do not do everything that you are told to do and think everything that the government tells you to think."

Roger shook his head, "Why did you come to this country?"

"When I was a twelve years old I went to Tiananmen Square with my brother. He was five years older than me. We wanted to see what everyone was doing there. We had heard that the students were going to bring democracy to China. I didn't even know what democracy was. When the shooting started my brother was shot in the head as soon as the soldiers started shooting and everyone started to run to get away from the soldiers. The soldiers were shooting into the crowd with every type of weapon that they had. Many, many people died that day. I fell and people were stepping on me to get away from the soldiers. I was found by the soldiers and arrested. I was put in prison and questioned every day for over two years. I was tortured to make me talk but I couldn't tell them what they wanted to hear because I didn't know anything. I was raped by the soldiers often as all of the young girls were. When I was finally let out of prison I had to make my own way home. I found that my mother and father had been imprisoned right after I had been arrested. No one knew where they were and I haven't heard from them since that day at Tiananmen Square.

Lei paused and took a deep breath, "I wandered the streets for a while until I was arrested for stealing food. I was put in a home for abandoned children. I knew that if I was to survive I would have to prove that I was a loyal Chinese citizen. I learned what the party wanted people to say, do and think and I preached their gospel very loudly. I became the best party proselytizer at the school. When I graduated from high school I was picked to go to college. I studied the English language and culture and applied to become a spy for the party at the U.S, Embassy.