Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: CROOKED (04/30/20)
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TITLE: Convoluted Conversation | Previous Challenge Entry
By Linda Lawrence
05/06/20 -
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“Excuse me!”
I turned towards the voice and saw a short, dark, well-dressed man, a stranger, waving at me. “Can you tell me where to find a moneychanger?” he asked in a distinctive Indo-British accent.
I immediately had a flashback of my own unsuccessful attempts to find a moneychanger—or a grocery store—my first week in Hong Kong. I smiled as I did my best to be helpful with clear specific directions.
“Thank you. I am a pilot with Air India and am here for two days. I am lonely but hoping to explore Hong Kong.”
I immediately thought of an Indian Christian family living in Kowloon, who loved to tell people about Jesus, and would jump at an opportunity to spend time with a compatriot. Maybe this was a divine encounter.
However, before I could say anything, the pilot asked, “Will you have intercourse with me?”
I could feel my face turning red, embarrassed for him, sure that he must not realize that although intercourse in his country probably meant a conversational dialogue—in Americanese its meaning had a quite different connotation.
“I have some Indian friends that would love to show you around. Would you like me to put you in touch?” I asked, hoping he would think my blush was caused by the cold.
“No,” he said, “but would you come to my hotel room?”
“Oh no, that’s not my cup of tea,” I said as matter-of-fact as I could manage while processing a dawning chilling suspicion.
“Cup of tea? You want cup of tea first? Yes, we can do that. I will also give you silk scarf,” he said with a happy bounce.
How had my straightforward friendliness gotten convoluted into this outlandish mess? Shocked that I was being propositioned, I blurted out, “My God wouldn’t let me do that!”
“You are religious! Oh, this is so good. Religious girls are cleaner!”
“No, no!” I cried. “You’ve got the wrong girl.”
“But I was told to come down to the Star Ferry! There I would find many girls!”
“Well, I’m not that kind of girl,” I cried as I walked away.
Dazed and shivering, I struggled to act like a confident woman as I boarded the Star Ferry, eager for home. Looking back, just to be safe, I saw the dark stranger headed in the opposite direction, apparently eager to look for that kind of girl.
I was still shaken when I reached our apartment and nearly ran into my neighbor as he came out his door. He could apparently see that I was rattled and asked if I was okay. I stuttered something about having been propositioned and not knowing what I had done to let that happen. But blurting out my distress and confusion set me up for a greater shock.
“Well that’s not unusual,” my neighbor explained nonchalantly. “When walking down the street I imagine going to bed with every woman I pass.”
I instinctively drew my arms across my body, and this time the shiver wasn’t because of the cold. No, I felt what Eve must have felt after eating the forbidden fruit--naked and afraid in a convoluted world.
Memoir
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