Why wouldn't she leave him alone? She was suddenly being so pushy! If only she hadn't noticed his shirt!
But she was so beautiful. And she was in so much danger.
Just when things were starting to get better for him, just when there might be a little hope, she had to remember that shirt. If only he had never worn it. But there were many days when it was the only clean shirt he had. And how could he have known that man Mr. Forrest was her father?
The man Tony hated so much. Tony, his boss. Tony, the only hope he had of improving his life.
Ann was so lovely. He had been admiring her ever since he had been let out of the juvenile detention center and started going to this school. He had never dared to hope he could get to know her, of course, but he had watched her from a distance. And then last week the impossible had happened, and she had come up and talked to him. If only it hadn't been about that!
Lep had been put in the juvenile detention center soon after he had come to this country and taken XCAS for the first time. He could barely understand English then, and had answered certain questions in a way that made the security people suspicious, thinking he was a threat to this country. So he had been put in a school that was locked up, with bars on the doors, and all the other students were thieves and fighters. Everyone had to wear the same orange uniform and walk in a straight line, guarded by policemen. Welcome to America!
That he had been singled out by the test to be sent there made him think of an old saying from home: "The nail that sticks out is the one that gets hammered."
He had been stuck in that place until Tony had found him there and offered him a job, and his family a better place to live. Tony wanted someone from the detention center to work for him. And then Tony started helping him, and Lep understood better how to answer those certain questions on XCAS preparation tests that were put there to catch people who they believed might be dangerous. He had started at this real school last fall. And that's when he had begun to notice Ann.
Lep also walked home from school because it was the fastest way of getting there. Tony wanted him to be at work by no later than five. That meant he had to walk fast, almost jogging, with his heavy backpack of schoolbooks. He had to get up at four to work before school, and at the end of the school day he was always tired when he had to start the long jog home, to more hours of heavy work, and after that, schoolwork, if he could stay awake.
It was very hard. But it was his only hope of getting a better life. Mainly because of Tony, and the XCAS test.
If Tony ever saw him with Ann, there would be trouble.
So of course he couldn't meet Ann after school. It had been a mistake to even let her talk to him. He didn't need her problems interfering with his life. Even though now he knew how serious her problems were—much more serious than she seemed to realize, even as worried as she was.
He couldn't afford a watch, and clocks around the city were rare, so he was never sure what time it was, and whether he would be late, and how angry Tony would be. Tony had been away on his errands Wednesday and Thursday of last week, and Lep thought he would be away on Friday too, so he had taken it a little easier. But Tony hadn't been away on Friday, and he had been in a terrible mood because something had gone wrong with his plans, and as usual he had taken it out on Lep, giving him even more work to do, and dirtier jobs than usual. He was lucky it had been Friday and he didn't have to do his homework after work that night.
So now he didn't dare hope Tony might not be there. He had to hurry home as fast as ever. It was good that it was Monday, when he was fresher and stronger than later in the week, after the long hours had taken their toll.
Sometimes he thought he might just give up and stop trying for a better life. It sure would be easier not going to school! He would be able to rest a little more, but also have time to work more hours and make more money. If he didn't go to school he might even begin to gain some weight, and not stay so thin all the time.
But he would keep going as long as he could. He didn't want to be stuck the way his sister and her husband were, and those kids at the detention center. He had hopes. And to have hopes, you had to pass XCAS.
The test-answers opportunity offered by Tony was just too incredible a piece of luck not to take advantage of. He had told his sister about it. She understood about the test, and she knew everything he told her had to be a secret. But no one else could know.
As he hurried past the trapped cars and into the even worse traffic closer to where he lived, he tried to congratulate himself on what was happening in English class. He had done so well on all the tests last week—perfect scores on all of them!—that Mr. Wells had moved him up two whole rows! Was there a chance he might actually be able to pass the English XCAS and graduate from high school? Then life would really open up for him. He tried to bolster his spirits about that and feel proud of himself.
But he didn't really feel proud. First of all, there had been that funny look on the teacher's face today when he had seated Lep at the head of the third row, and called him Fingernail, which Lep knew he meant as an insult. He was going to have to be more careful in the future. Suddenly getting perfect scores all the time was too suspicious—even though he loved cheating on that horrible test. He had forced himself to get a few questions wrong before, but last week he had let himself go, because he knew all the answers. He couldn't do that anymore, or he'd get caught. And if you got caught cheating on even practice XCAS, you got kicked out of school, for good.
And the other thing that brought him down was the situation with Ann. Should he try to help her? No! he told himself. You have enough problems already. Don't hurt your own tiny chances by trying to help her. Would she help you ?
Most of the people who lived in Grand Diamond were from other countries, and many of them were from Thailand, like Lep. They could talk about Tony without him knowing what they were saying. There were times when that could be very important.
Nicky, the receptionist, was also Thai. Nicky spoke excellent English—she had to, because she had to be able to talk to everybody in the building and to the people who phoned. She also had to speak to Tony, of course, and even at times to Mr. Warren, on the rare occasions that he came to check things out there—sometimes with his wife.
Mr. Warren had been there on Monday the week before last, in a very bad mood. Lep had gotten there just before Mr. Warren left, in time to hear him say a few last angry words—words Lep had trouble understanding. After Mr. Warren and his wife had gotten in their big BMW, Tony had smiled and lit a cigarette. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us, Lep. Or anyway, you do." He pushed buttons on his fancy cell phone while Lep waited. Then Tony gave some orders into the phone that Lep didn't understand at all. He hung up. "They'll deliver the plywood tomorrow. Then we'll get to work. I might have to do some of it too. He wants it done fast. But the faster you work, the more I can help you with test answers."
"What he want?" Lep asked, dreading the answer.
"We're blocking off Grand Emerald. The people who live in Grand Emerald will have to use their own entrance and stairs, instead of coming through this one and using our elevator."
Grand Emerald was another building, owned by Mr. Warren's brother, connected to Grand Diamond. The elevator was in Grand Diamond, but people in Grand Emerald could use it by going through the open connecting doorways—until now.
"He don't want them to use elevator? What about people on twenty floor?"
"Good exercise," Tony said, and laughed. "You know the buildings only connect on every fourth floor, so we only have to block off six doorways instead of twenty. No point in mopping the floors or cleaning the elevators today—they'll just get dirty again tomorrow. So today I'll have to relent and let you fix the toilet in five-thirty-two. Those people better appreciate how lucky they are—their toilet's only been busted for a week…"
Lep wanted to ask him again why the doors had to be blocked off so nobody in Grand Emerald could use the elevator, but Tony liked to be secretive, and mentioning the test answers was a warning for Lep not to ask anything.
When he had finished fixing the toilet he took a shower in the little bathroom next to the parking garage. And then Lep went into the reception area to find out what was going on. You could usually depend on Nicky to know the gossip.
"Warren's wife told me something about it. She trusts me for some reason," Nicky said, and giggled. She had short hair and was quite pretty. "There was a golf tournament at their country club. Warren's brother did so much better than Warren that Warren was mad as hell. So now nobody in Grand Emerald can use this entrance—or the elevator." The phone rang, but before she picked it up she said, "Warren's getting back at his brother by punishing all the people in that building."
So the next day Lep was nailing up plywood for hours, feeling guilty every time somebody from Grand Emerald saw what he was doing, and walked through the still-open doorway to the elevator Lep was closing off. But he had no choice. And now the people in Grand Emerald had to use the stairs. The old and fat ones were out of luck. That's what life was like if you didn't pass XCAS.
And Tony had rewarded him for doing so much work—and especially for not asking any questions—by giving him some very important papers that he could memorize for school. Papers Tony had been able to get because he worked for Mr. Warren, who owned the company that made XCAS. And that's why Lep was now doing so well on the English XCAS practice, which was the hardest for him. Screw Mr. Wells and the test!
It was the elevators that got that man, Mr. Forrest, who took care of sick people, in big trouble with Tony.
Lep had helped Mr. Forrest once by translating for the sick old lady next door. Nicky had told him more about Mr. Forrest. He went around telling people they should complain about their broken toilets and refrigerators and hot plates to Tony. He said they had rights. And then Nicky put her hand to her chest. "He even tells them not to pay the rent if their toilets or electricity don't work." Her eyes were wide with shock, but also because she was impressed. "He doesn't seem to understand what Tony—and Mr. Warren—are like."
After they had blocked off the connecting doorways to Grand Emerald, Lep went and talked to Nicky a minute more. "I can tell you, I'm very nice to Tony, no matter what. And Mr. Warren and his wife too," Nicky said. She lowered her voice. "And you'll be nice to Tony, Lep, if you know what's good for you."
"I know what's good for me," he said, imitating Tony's voice, and she laughed.
Lep was nice to Tony all right, and worked very hard. He did everything Tony wanted.
But a few days after they had blocked off Grand Emerald, Nicky was full of more stories about Mr. Forrest. "He's so mad at Tony it's like he's going crazy," she said, shaking her head, her eyes wide. "He's telling everybody in Grand Emerald to tell the police! He says he'll do it if they don't. And not to pay their rents. Of course, most of them are too scared to tell the police, or do anything else. But if Mr. Warren finds out, Mr. Forrest is going to be in big, big trouble."
"Yeah, but what can they do to Mr. Forrest? He's just helping people."
She rolled her eyes. "Grow up, Lep. They don't care about who he helps. All they care about is money. They'll get him somehow, if they decide to."
Lep knew what they were like. Last spring Tony had told him to fix the wiring in 823 so that a fire would start in the room. He knew enough not to ask why. It was Nicky who had told him Tony wanted the woman who lived there to move because she was always late on the rent, and complained about every little thing. She worked as a waitress and had a four-year-old daughter who had to be alone a lot, and after the fire she was too scared to stay there. Tony had given him the special T-shirt for doing such a good job.
And Tony had also given him XCAS answers for the first time.
And what if the little girl had died in the fire Lep had arranged? Tony wouldn't have cared at all. Lep was sure he would want him to do something else like that. And then he told him to loosen the railing on the balcony in an eighth floor apartment where four little kids lived. He was part of it now.
Lep didn't want to hurt anybody. But it made him feel good to get away with cheating on XCAS. And Tony had gotten him out of the detention center.
That was Tony's motorcycle with the same design as Lep's special T-shirt. Following Mr. Forrest's daughter and threatening her was just the kind of thing Tony would love. And if Mr. Forrest didn't stop making problems for Tony, he would do more than just follow her. The police couldn't get him; Mr. Warren had deals with the police. Nicky had told him that many times. So Mr. Forrest telling the police about Tony blocking off the elevators wouldn't help anybody; it would only get Mr. Forrest and his daughter in bigger trouble.
If Lep wanted to help Ann, that's how he could do it—let her know she had to tell her father to get out of the two buildings and stay out.
When he got to Grand Diamond after school on Monday—the day Ann had wanted him to meet her outside Wells's room—he saw from the clock at reception that it was five minutes to five. He was just in time. Tony wouldn't be mad. He went right to Tony's little office, near the bathroom off the parking garage.
Tony wasn't there—just as he hadn't been there last Wednesday and Thursday, when he had been threatening Ann. Was that what he was doing right now?
Lep started mopping the floor in the reception area, which got dirty the fastest. He knew he had to keep busy, whether Tony was there or not, because Tony would know it if he hadn't been working at something.
A few minutes later Tony roared in on his motorcycle. Lep could tell from the way he was revving the engine that he was in a bad mood. Lep hoped it wasn't one of his worst moods. That was when he made Lep clean out people's toilets, sometimes even blocking them himself first so that sewage would get all over the place. It was the job Lep hated the most, wallowing in the stinking muck and sticking his hands into the sewage. He never felt clean for days afterward.
Tony hopped off the motorcycle and wheeled it into his parking place next to his office. He pulled off his helmet. His face was flushed, his white-blond hair wet with sweat. He was in a bad mood all right, Lep could read it all over his face. Lep nodded blankly at him and kept mopping.
"I'm gonna kill that little bitch after what she did today, I swear it!" Tony said, stomping into his office and slamming the door.
Lep and Nicky didn't even dare to look at each other. And of course Lep didn't ask Tony who he was talking about.
He already knew.
