WAITING FOR THE BEGINNING

16. A Good Bad Guy

Wei Xin drops his cigarette and stamps it out with his heavy boots.  Looking down the alley, he sees the people he's come to call neighbors over the past few weeks.  He sneers - glad that it will be over after the arrests. Should I feel remorse?  Not one bit.  From the beginning, he's not thought of these as people - but rather, targets of his investigation.  At some point, earlier in his career, he struggles with arresting those he considers victims of the system; but through the years, he's watched those victims become perpetrators of the same crimes.  The prostitutes that become the pimps.  The addicts that become henchmen.  And the greedy hustlers rising thru the ranks.

He disappears into one of the apartment buildings and enters room 204, where the local distributor is beating up one of the street hustlers who has accidentally misplaced this month's fees.  The hustler, a young man of about twenty something, lies bloody-faced on the floor, not moving, one of his fingers cut off.

"Guess we're done here."  Wei Xin modulates his tone to sound ruthless and bored.

"Han Jin," the distributor puts his large muscular hand on Han Jin / Wei Xin's shoulder, "you'll in charge now."

"Sure thing boss."  Han Jin / Wei Xin nods.  "Are you taking out the trash with you?"

"We'll dump him at City General."  The distributor motions for the henchmen.  "Send him some fruit."

"What do you want us to do with that one?"  

Wei Xin points to the young woman cowering in the corner.  Her face swollen from crying and her bare shoulders showing old bruises.  Wei Xin knows when those were made, and for that reason, he is shaking down this block today.  In a few more weeks, she will end up dead like the five other "girlfriends" before her, but not before she suffers more broken bones.

"Since you're taking over, she's your problem."

"You know me."  Wei Xin throws her a disinterested look.  It is the best he can do without verging into sympathy or disgust.  "I don't do hand me downs."

"Still looking for that virgin bride!?"  The distributor laughs.  "Can't believe you are such an idealist.  The boss will really like you."

"Take her back with the others."  Wei Xin ignores her screams as one of the henchmen drags her up by the hair.

Wei Xin takes out his gun and shoots at the wall behind her.  It is a gesture to silence her.  The gangster about him suddenly respect him more.  In actuality, that is the signal.

Within minutes, dozens of police cars surround the place.

"Come on Da Ge ("big brother" to intone comradeship)".   Wei Xin motions for the distributor to follow him towards the back of the building. "Follow me."

The two of them run through the complex, where the men in various state of undress are exiting the apartments like flies.  

Suddenly, Wei Xin spots the sniper's gun pointed at the distributor; the bullet misses the distributor but goes thru Wei Xin's shoulder as he pushes the distributor out of the way.  

A few minutes later, Wei Xin is put into an ambulance with an uniformed policeman, while another team takes away the handcuffed distributor.

As soon as the ambulance takes off, the policeman closes the connecting door.

"I think it's only a flesh wound."  The paramedic starts to wrap up the arm.  "But we should get an x-ray to be sure."

"What the hell?"  The policeman (Mao Ah) sets down his hat angrily.  "Why did you get in the way."

"Because I needed him to owe me his life." 

"Yea.  But you've created a mountain of paperwork for me."  The other man tries to look annoyed.  "What happened."

"He insinuated that I might get to meet the boss."

"How you figure."

"His words - the boss will really like you."

"So you're pushing up the timeline?"

"Let's see what happens next."  Wei Xin yawns and puts on the oxygen mask himself.  "Let's see if his lawyer is good enough to keep him out of jail."

The lawyer turns out to be very good; he not only frees the distributor but also Han Jin / Wei Xin.  The lawyer doesn't know that the agency manipulates the paperwork so that the arrest does not look legit on paper; hence giving them a procedural discharge.