'Stop! You're hurting her!' Mum shouts at dad. That thick-ass cane has just opened up another wound on my right calve.
'I can do whatever I want to my daughter, fuck off!' He is now turned to her, his eyes are bloodshot, whether because of his anger or the alcohol, I don't know.
He grabs a bunch of mum's hair and starts pulling it. Mum is now crying in pain, I have to do something to help her.
Both my legs are so bruised from dad's beating, I can barely stand up to fight against him.
The doorbell suddenly rings, my sister is back. Ugh, the last thing we need is another victim from his violence.
'Get her out of here!' mum also heard the doorbell.
'But he's gonna beat you to death!' I shout, as my sperm donor is going back to the kitchen to get more alcohol.
Mum uses the only strength she's got left to shove me out of the door. 'Leave now,' she stuffs a 50 dollar bill in my hands and says, 'don't come back before 10pm, I'll leave the door unlocked. Now go!'
I can already hear another beer glass smashing the floor but I know better, I have to protect my little sister at least.
'Stop crying, please, Savannah,' she's been crying for 10 minutes since we escaped. We're just walking purposelessly on the streets. Even though my little sister is already 16 years old, I still can't let go of her hand because of my paranoia.
Thanks to that loving father of ours.
People on the streets are staring at us, hopefully they won't think that I'm kidnapping her. We look quite similar to each other, I guess.
To be honest, I really cannot care less about what the others think of me. All I need to do is to settle my sister down so I can go to work in about half an hour.
Or maybe I can just take her to the staff room so she can do her homework? I can start working earlier to set up the place maybe... and earn a few more bucks.
No, they're not gonna let an underaged girl sit in a bar, they have enough underaged customers to take care of already, they're not gonna let the underaged sister of a staff occupy their valuable space.
Especially in a small place like Hong Kong, every square inch of land is so goddamn expensive. Our apartment, I don't even know if I can call it an apartment, has only one room, while my sister and I have to sleep on a bunk bed in the living room.
I just hope I can get a good enough grade to get into university, so I can have a proper job and provide for my mum and sister, so we can escape that man forever.
'Shannon,' Sav pulls my sleeve slightly, 'I can go study in the public library, don't worry about me.' Her face is still stained by her dried tears.
I give her the only 50 dollar bill, 'ok, buy yourself some dinner, and don't go back before 10. That's what mum said.'
'What about you?' She asks.
I try to joke it off, 'you can't tear the bill in two, can you? Don't worry, I'll get something to eat at work.'
I hug her tightly as we're right outside the library, 'please be careful, I'll miss you.'
She chuckles, 'you're saying as if you're not coming back.'
'I will, but just...please, you know...'
'Hey, I know. I'll take care of Mum when I go back, he's probably out drinking again,' she says. I don't need her to explain who he is.
'Yeah, see you tomorrow,' I say.
--------------------
I've got this part time job as a waitress as soon as I turned 18 last year, at this bar on one of the busiest streets in central Hong Kong. I used to work at a convenient store, which is the same working hours, starting at around 6pm, but the pay at the bar is so much higher. Even though the bar has got more dodgy drunk people that are ready to hump on anything that walks past them, I cannot turn money down for safety.
Cause what kind of idiot does that?
Yes, I'm that desperate for money.
I need to earn enough tuition fees for university for this coming year. My plan is to go study economics, find a stable job, and provide for my family. That's it. I'm not asking for much, I just want to make ends meet. Sometimes dad uses all the money on his drinking, we will have to go on for weeks without electricity or water. Even though there's a public toilet nearby, it's filthy as fuck. That's why I'm so desperate for them coins.
'Hey Shannon, you're early today!' The bartender, Joe, says to me. He's about 25 years old, which is 6 years older than me, well, I'm turning 19 next month. He's got quite a handsome face I have to admit, and I know he kinda has a thing for me because he'd always make me drinks and offer to take me home after work, but dating is luxury for me, I can't afford that. Plus, I'm not sure if I like his septum piercing. Don't ask how I found out about that.
'Yeah, I have nothing to do at home,' I lie. I don't need other people to know my damn business.
'Cool, maybe you could start setting up the tables now?'
'Sure.'
Tonight is as busy as usual, and it's only getting more crowded as the night goes by. There are lots of people of every ethnicity and nationality partying together, fully enjoying the nightlife in Hong Kong. I guess that's one of my favourite thing about this city, the multiculturalism.
'Mojito for table 5 over there, apparently it's vip,' Joe tells me as he hands me the drink.
I look over to see a middle-aged man, who's quite chubby, sitting with our boss, already drinking wine. From my own experience, he looks like he is from Japan or Korea.
'A mojito for you, sir,' I place the drink carefully right in front of him, not making eye contact at all.
'Thank you.'
I look up abruptly from the serving tray. I've never had a customer thank me for serving them drinks, especially not amidst all this drunken craze.
'Is there a problem?' Mr. Customer asks me with a smile.
Shoot, I must have been staring. ' Sorry, sir. Can I get anything else for you?'
' We're alright for now, you may go.'
I don't normally pick favourites but he is officially my favourite customer now.
After another hour, the dance floor is clearing out, because it's time for the live band to perform soon. But I can see the guitarist pacing under the stage.
'Do you know if anything is happening?' I ask Joe, as he's making another drink.
'Apparently the singer hasn't turned up yet,' he says.
'Another one? Gosh, why does our bar always hire singers that flake on us all the time?'
He shrugs, 'don't know. Can you bring it over to the vip table?'
I nod. This vip likes his cocktails, huh? Well, fair enough, that's why he came to a bar. What are you expecting, Shannon?
'Here's your drink, sir, please enjoy,' I say.
He takes out his wallet and tips me with a hundred dollar bill, now I can buy some dinner. 'Thank you very much, sir. Is there anything else I can get you?'
He's now staring at me with a calculating look. I take everything about how he's my favourite customer back.
But then he smiles, which isn't the typical creepy middle-aged man smile. He points to the stage and asks, 'can you sing?'
Yup, now I'm certain he's Korean from his accent.
'Not really, sir, I'm only a waitress.'
This isn't rude, right? I'm just stating a fact.
My boss comes back and asks, 'what's the matter, Hitman?'
I nearly laughed out loud. His name is Hitman? Should I name myself Assassin then?
Enough stupid jokes.
'Do you have a rule for your staff that waiters can't sing on stage?' He asks him.
Boss takes a smoke from his cigar, and blows out some of the most polluted air I've ever breathed in in my nearly 19 years of living. He says, 'you want her to sing?'
Hitman nods.
'Go on, then,' he looks at me.
Shit. I haven't sang on stage in years. The last time I did I was in the primary school choir. I was singing hymns then.
'What should I sing, sir?' I ask, my legs are starting to shake right now.
'Anything you want, fast or slow, chinese or English,' he says. He even takes out a 500-dollar bill out for me. Damn it, if only he didn't tip me that much, I would flip him off.
I walk over to explain to the band about the situation. Everybody is as confused as I am, but we've settled for 'diamonds' by Rhianna. That's literally how sad I am, in the year 2019, I'm still bloody singing a Rhianna song from 2012. I haven't really followed pop cultures in ages. Dad has stopped paying for WiFi, and my data plan only has 1GB of data each month, I ain't wasting it on youtube or music.
I don't even know what Rihanna's recent song is. But I mean, Rihanna never gets old right?
I've successfully sung the whole song on stage, hitting every single note. At first, everyone was looking at me with a weird face, probably thinking about what on Earth is this waitress doing on stage? But after the song ended, a lot of people actually clapped.
As I got off the stage, I go straight back to the bar where Joe is applauding me. He looks to the right and instantly turns back to work. It's Mr Hitman approaching us, more like me.
'Can I talk to you for a bit? Miss...'
'My name is Shannon, sir,' I say.
I don't like it when they say 'we need to talk'. That gives me anxiety.
'Shannon,' he takes out a business card from his wallet, but it's too dark so I can't read it now. 'I'm Hitman Bang, from a Korean idol agency, BigHit entertainment. Have you heard about us?'
I shake my head timidly. He sounds like he and his BigHit entertainment are a big deal that everyone knows about. Should I tell him I haven't properly been on the internet in about a millennium?
However, he only laughs. 'Don't worry, I actually have a proposal.'
Oh, a proposal.
'I would like to give you a contract,' he says.
'What kind of contract?' Oh my god, this sounds exactly like a human trafficking thing. Oh shit, I need to run away as soon as possible, I don't want to be sold to Russia.
' I want to debut you as a Kpop idol.'