Most of the time, he was so quiet that Sarah imagined him sitting in a chair, eyes closed, and doing nothing but waiting.
"Remember that you asked me to tell you if the nightmare is back?"
"What's the matter?" Chen said. His back froze, and he turned around.
"They did it. It's terrible. The worst ever."
"Tell me about it," he said.
"I don't know if I can do it," she said. If Bruce knew she told anyone about last night, he would be furious.
Edison Chen nodded and shrugged, "If you want to say something, I'm here to listen." He turned around again.
"He is crazy. Lost control," Sarah blurted out. "This has never happened before. Never. He was moving, as if he was awake, but he was still sleeping. He was..." She paused. "He was screaming. I didn't understand the screaming. He knocked over the bookcase in the living room and wrote on the wall with a marker."
"What did he write?" Chen asked.
"It looks like an equation. Scientific stuff. He wrote all over the wall, every inch he can reach. I tried to wake him up, but I couldn't. I just... I just don't know. What should I do."
"How does it end?"
"He fell. He woke up after hitting the floor with his head."
"Oh, dear," Chen said. "Is he okay? Are you okay? Is anyone hurt?"
Sarah was surprised when he asked about her health. Chen never gave her any indication that he cared.
"I'm fine," she said. "I don't think Bruce is. I mean, yes, physically, he is fine. His head is fine, but--"
"Where is he?"
"He was lying at home. He said he had a headache. He was already exhausted." She chose the next word carefully," ー felt very distressed. It was terrible. He yelled. His face was red. Only blood red. Purple. I have never seen anything like this. He screamed out of breath. I think this is why he fell. I think he can’t breathe anymore. In this case Will it happen? Will you suffocate from screaming? I want to take him to the emergency room, but he refused. His face is beyond description. It's terrible. He doesn't look like himself anymore. I'm afraid . I’m so scared. I’m surprised that the neighbors didn’t report Jǐng. I don’t know what to do. What should I do?"
Chen Yuhui raised his index finger and said, "There is only one thing to do."
Chen dragged his feet to the counter, he patted Sara's arm, and then picked up the phone. He dialed a number from memory.
"My friend," he said into the phone. "It's back, it's anger."
Chen drove the three of them to Sarah and Bruce's apartment. Akio Toyoda sat in the passenger seat with his arms crossed and his biceps bulging. The seat was pushed to the back so that his legs could be straightened. Sarah sat behind Chen in the back row.
No one speaks.
Chen's radio was tuned to a pop music station. Sarah would not have thought that Chen would listen to pop music. He hummed every song.
Mingfu arrived a few hours after Chen called him. He whizzed past on that huge chrome leather motorcycle. He parked the car in front, and the window of the reception room rattled.
As soon as Mingfu arrives, the police are ready to leave. His raincoat was buttoned up to his chin, he wore a fedora hat on his head and leather gloves on his hands. His face is sèyīn, his mouth is a straight line.
Sarah was afraid to see Mingfu again. He did not mention that she was following him, nor did she.
He ignores her most of the time, which is nothing to Sarah. In this case, she would rather be ignored than others.
Sarah let them into the apartment. She wanted to knock on the door, but also thought that if Bruce knew she had guests, he would refuse them. Once they got in, they got in, and Bruce had to be kind to them. Yes, he might be angry with Sara afterwards, but he would be polite in front of Chen and other men. She will deal with his anger later.
The living room is still a mess. Sarah was shocked when she saw the painting again, even though she had witnessed the destruction of the painting with her own eyes.
Mingfu whistled in a low voice. He stepped over a pile of books and straightened a fallen bookshelf. As soon as he arrived in the room Zhung Yāng, he slowly turned around to see if there was a mess around him. Sarah has seen similar scenes in photos of tornado damage and news clips. Anyone who enters the apartment and sees the wreckage would never imagine that a person caused such a great destruction in his sleep. Its destruction is amazing and complete.
The walls painted in yellow were scribbled with fanatical markers everywhere. Even the overturned bookshelf was full of words on both sides. The TV is broken and it is on its side. The sofa was pushed away from the wall; the armchair was turned over. Nothing is where it should be, anything that is fragile is broken.
"Sarah," Bruce said in the hallway. He is wearing pajamas and a t-shirt. With his arms around the hall and one hand against the wall, he kept his body straight and stable. His head dropped very low, as if it took too much effort to raise his head. He frowned and looked out through the top of his eyes. As she expected, he was angry. He said her name was like a kind of Jǐng. She has crossed the line.
"Bruce," Chen said, "we are here to help."
"Sarah," said Bruce, as if Chen didn't speak, "I don't believe you will bring them here. How can you do this?"
"I am worried about you," she said.
It took a lot of effort for Bruce to raise his head and look into her eyes. Bring people here to witness his shame, his illness, and she betrayed him. Sarah looked away first. She couldn't bear to look at him.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Well, you are here now," Bruce said to Chen painfully. "Do you think you can help me? Do you think you can solve this problem?" Bruce poked his forehead with his index finger.
"Yes," Akio said. He walked in front of Chen and Sarah. "I can help you. I assure you."
"Before you, everything was under my control. It has never been like this." Bruce waved to the wall, and he could buy all the best second-hand goods with his money. "I have controlled the situation. I can handle it."
"I don't know what we are facing. Now I think I know.". "I can help you. I may be the only one who can."
"Are your nonsense about eating dreams again?"
"Yes."
"Okay," Bruce said. He raised a hand. He could have thrown away both, but he thought he might fall. "I believe your words, I will let you keep your promise."
"Chen, tell that girl to leave. We need to be alone."
Chen bowed and turned to Sarah to convey Qiu Xiong's message.
"I heard," she said. "I gotta go."
She turned and left the apartment, closed and locked the door.
"Jennifer?" he said.
Sarah looked up at her book. She is sitting at a coffee table. A cup of coffee was placed next to her pile of books, untouched. She hit the tip of the pencil on the open page of the textbook and stared out the window. The men and women in gray and brown clothes, some holding umbrellas, some not, walking around.
Sarah paid special attention to a woman. She is wearing bright yellow rain boots and carrying a fresh pink umbrella. She is very conspicuous among the gray and brown crowds.
"What?" Sarah looked out the window and said. The man is standing by her table. He has dark brown hair, almost black, and amazing blue eyes.
"Jennifer, right?" He grinned, immediately lovely.
"No, I'm sorry, you confuse me with others."
"I'm sorry," he said. He looked a little embarrassed. There was a mischievous look in his eyes. "I swear we have met before."
"No," Sarah said. He has a familiar feeling, seems to be friendly to him, and very open, but Sarah should remember meeting him.
"Isn't it?" he said. He shrugged. "that's terrible."
He was sitting at a table behind Sarah. Two other young men joined him. They talked about a big can of beer, talking and laughing, talking and laughing. Sarah found herself trying to eavesdrop, but it was difficult for her to distinguish their conversation from the conversations of six or seven people around her.
She could hear their laughter. Hearing their laughter, she laughed, especially the laughter of the blue-eyed man. It was a rich, carefree, and infectious life. She laughed involuntarily.
Sarah forced herself to return to the book and concentrate her efforts. She was successful most of the time. Nevertheless, when these three people, including the blue-eyed one, got up and left, she still noticed. She looked at their old and old backs and was strangely discouraged.
Sarah doesn't know when to return to the apartment, she thinks she only needs a cup of coffee and a turkey salad to use the dining table. She packed up her things and walked to the next place, which has not been decided yet.
She walked along the lake by the small main road near their home. She walked casually. She had nothing but time, and it was harder to kill it than it should be. She is very worried about Bruce. She didn't know what happened in the apartment. She felt tight in her chest and her hands were cold and numb.
The wind blew at her from the side, and the biting rain fell on her. She doesn't have an umbrella. That's good, the wind turned the umbrella upside down. She turned her face to the biting rain. She felt upset in her heart.
She walked past a local bookstore run by DúLì, a lone wolf in a large chain bookstore, and walked in.
The warm atmosphere enveloped her, and she let herself drip inside the door for a while. She pulled her hair away from her face and tried to shave the rain from her face with her cold hands.
A large part of the main floor has been emptied to accommodate rows of chairs, all of which are crowded except for a few. It was a writer’s reading, on a poster board that read-
Genius and madness, Nikola Tesla.
Join local writer Gabriel Reese to read his biography and criticize xìng as one of the most unusual and interesting figures in history. (To be continued) (End of this chapter)