The Order of The Covenant

The Order of The Covenant: Chapter 11

The Order of The Covenant

Chapter 11

Lady Tanaka: Driven Ambitions

The breeze was warm and humid as she sat on the table by the window. Her arm against the concrete as she leaned against the wall. Hair clung to her cheeks as beads of sweat rolled down her skin. The ominous clouds rolled in like a blanket of misery. A bus pulled up to the fence, prepared to drop off more inmates. Framed like a portrait by her window, she watched as the painting of the storm unfolded before her. The women got off the bus, all lined up as they took them in to be searched, then brought into population.

Lady Tanaka gazed out the window. Her eyes fixated, however, she never saw the building, the fence with razor wire, or the bus of new inmates. She recalled a day in August of 1852. It was a particularly hot summer that year. She had been stowed away on a boat for eighty-nine days. Barely any water or food. No shower. As she arrived, everyone lined up and went down the ramp to the harbor of San Francisco. She was covered in dirt and smelled sour as an onion. She was pushed and shoved through the line. White men in suits carried wooden sticks in their hands guiding the line. Their voices shouting.

" Move along!"

But she couldn't understand him.

" Take a ticket and line up for your rations! No Ticket! No Rations!"

She looked around. A woman leaned over and spoke to her in Cantonese. She must have mistaken her as Chinese. Though her mother was, and her father was a business man from Japan, she lived with her father in central Japan till one day, he never returned home. Left at home for three days till someone from his business came to stop by. The delivered the death certificate and will. She was delivered to her mother in China. Only minutes after the people had her sign the paper work and death certificate of her late husband, she took the money from the will and put her daughter on a boat. She had never learned Mandarin or Cantonese. She wasn't even sure what dialect her mother spoke.

The woman continued speaking to her and pointing to a white man waving around pieces of paper in his hand. People were handed a piece of paper, and continued on. As they made their way through the line, she followed the masses and went to reach for the piece of paper, the older lady reached for it and took two and patted her on the head and smiled. As they passed around the corner, she saw the people were lined up receiving a bowl of food and a piece of bread. The people were handing them the piece of paper that was given to them, however, the woman had grabbed two and the white man didn't give her one. She rushed over to the woman as she continued in the line, and pulled at the woman's arm. The woman shooed her away and sternly said something under her breath. Tanaka pulled the woman's arm again this time attempting to get the ticket from her hand. The people in the line began to watch and speak out as they watched the kid attempt to steal a woman's meal ticket. Another man tried to step in the way and hold Tanaka back from the woman. She kicked him in the shin. She charged at the woman and tried again as the woman shoved her back. She fell on the floor as the white men in suits came around the corner. The people all pointing. She may not have understood any one that day, but she could understand that they were making her out to be a problem. The guards came to pick her up and said something to her. They went to repeat themselves and when they did, Tanaka turned away furious. She headed past the people eating their food as they stood around, stuffing their faces. She slowly walked by the long table from which they served the soup and handed the people their bread. She looked down under the table. She thought about her father. Her mother who abandoned her. The woman who would take advantage of a child. The people that stood around and didn't help. The white man she couldn't understand.

Just as the woman made it through the line, a white man was behind the table and about to reach for a bowl to fill. Tanaka ran to the corner of the table and kicked the leg out from under it, sending the large bowl of soup and bread to the ground.

That day, Tanaka was sure no one would listen to her. But they would acknowledge her and she would be damned if they would get over on her.

Years passed as she spent nights wondering the streets. Through sleet and snow. She found shelter in abandoned buildings and apartments that were left to shambles before deep pockets were able to take it from her. Her knowledge of the native tongue had grown well as a few other languages. People came and went. Some stuck together as others continued moving on.

She headed out from the back of the abandoned building. Her stomach spoke in a universal language anyone could understand. It was her and the other street urticants, as they laid there in the filth that has washed up on the streets. She sat with her back against the brick wall watching the women from across the street. The woman would call out to the men and the men would smile back. Some wave. She would watch as they invited them in and others walk out. The woman were smiling and they were dressed in beautiful delicate clothing. They smoked their fancy cigarettes with their legs crossed. Some wearing stockings as others wore not so much. They had stuff on their face that made them look pretty. She wasn't sure what they did or who they were, but they seemed happy, made other people smile, and had a roof over their head.

A few days later, she walked down the street and found a*****e with dresses and gowns in the front window. People spilled out of the store with bags and boxes in hand. She slipped in as people were filing in and out of the store unnoticed. She darted towards the right behind a rack of gowns. She carefully pulled the clothes slightly and peeked to find the cashier behind the counter ringing the customers up. A woman came out from behind a curtain in an untied corset asking for assistance. Another woman gingerly placed her hand on her, turned her around, and ushered her back in the dressing room as some of the husbands of the other wives in the store watched. Tanaka saw in the back of the store shiny fabrics like the ones the women from across the street would wear. Carefully, she went from rack to rack, missing the cashier just as a customer placed another dress on the counter. The assistant came out from the dressing room. Tanaka fell into the dressing room next to it. Only another curtain made of the same heavy fabric separated her from the woman in the next stall trying on the corset. She could hear the woman as she spoke to herself. She watched as her feet faced forward, to the side, then the other, and back again.

" Oh dear. This laces up a thousand times over and would take an eternity to get on every morning." The woman said. " I suppose I could ask for Grant's maid to assist me. That would be a perfect way to start every morning, putting her knee in my back. I'm sure that's not the only thing she would like to put in my back."

The woman shuffled a little more then proceeded to put on her dress and left the dressing room. Tanaka peeked between the curtains and waited for the woman to head for the counter. She slipped out and went around the corner and carefully looked around to find only one other woman in the back room with her. She continued to waltz around the racks of clothes as the woman made her way around before making a decision.

" Oh he love this." The woman said. Her voice came alive a she took it off the rack and looked at it. She held it up to her and looked in the mirror adjacent to her. In the reflection the woman gawked. Tanaka thought she had seen her.

" Thirty-five dollars!" The woman exclaimed in a loud hushed tone. The woman placed the beautiful outfit back on the rack and walked out of the back room.

Tanaka watched her leave, then walked over to the rack from which the woman stood and looked at the same silk robe. It was beautiful. It was long for her, but she would grown into it. She visioned herself with long legs like some of the other women. The robe was slick and made with a matching red and black thin belt that wrapped around. She twirled the belt around like some of the women she saw and pretended to hold a cigarette. Then she heard the footsteps of someone else approaching and quickly darted hide within the clothes. A woman looked around. Tanaka watched as she witnessed some of the women she recognized from across the street. The two women were dressed a little more casually than what she remembered. They spoke to one another off and on in broken English and what she could only assume was Mandurian.

" I have to get some more of these." The woman held a pair of white thigh-highs with lace at the top.

" Didn't you just get some the other day?" Another asked.

" I did, but now I have to get more. Okay?"

" Its that one guy, isn't it? What, does he just rip them off of you?"

" He stretch to tie me up."

The girl continued look at some stockings and few other items as the other girl looked through the rack of corsets, panties, and other essentials.

Carefully, Tanaka shimmied to the side. She moved to where she had the stockings in sight in front of her. As the others had their backs turned to her, she reached out of the wall of clothes and snagged a pair of stockings. The grabbed a fistful of underwear. After the other girls walked around, she got to thinking how was it that she was going to get out of the store carrying all this? She waited for the girls to head for the front counter and discreetly walked out behind them. She watched ass they approached the counter. The tall cashier behind the counter smiled a smile that said she wasn't so happy to see them. As she took the clothes and rung them up, she asked if that would be it for today. A group of women walked into the store. Tanaka rushed out the door.

" Oh hello girls... Oh wait. Hey girl. No. Stop. STOP THAT GIRL!"

A tall white man in uniform only few feet from the door casually walked with a baton in hand. The woman hung halfway out of the shop door and shouted. The man in uniform was alerted. Tanaka fled down the street. The officer chased after her. Barely clinging on to the clothes with one arm, the other swung with all her might. She sprinted and weaved around the people as the commotion made it harder for the officer to make it down the sidewalk.

The officer whistled and shouted, " Make a hole people! Make a hole!"

Tanaka darted across the street. A black model T swerved and barely missed her. She continued to the other side, went between a torn part in a fence and down a flight of stairs, jumping the last four. Her hair caught in the wind. Silk underwear escaping her grasp floated like parachutes behind her. She cut between a couple that walked hand-in-hand. She continued to run. Her veins pumped with petrol. Adrenalin set a fire within that coursed through her.

It was the following day when she stood in front of the building waiting for all the woman to come out. She couldn't wait to show off her new silk robe. She sat on the side of the steps where the concrete framed the steps. The people laughed and smiled as they walked by, pointing at her as she leaned back and posed as some of the other women would. The door opened to one of the ladies. She did a double take at the young girl.

" Who are you?" The woman asked.

" Tomoe Tanaka." She replied. She only lied a little. Her name really being Tomoko, but 'ko' meaning 'child', she figured it be wiser to not accent the obvious if she was to be taken serious.

" Tomoe, huh." The woman smiled. She held the door open and leaned in. " Hey girls, come get a look at this. Madam Xia Xue is going to retire with this one."

Two other women rushed out to the steps. When they saw that it was a girl they giggled. " Oh, she is so cute."

Tanaka thought she may have recognized one of the women from the store and turned her face as if looking at some of the people passing.

" Hey, you that girl. Yeah, the one from the store. Aren't you?"

" Oh yeah. The one who ran out with all those clothes." Another said.

The tall thin Asian who spotted her sat on the other side from her smiled. " So is that how you got your outfit?"

" Maybe." She coyishly played with the robe. Her shoes four sizes to big danced on the edge of her toes.

Another girl leaned over, " Who did your makeup?"

" I did." Tanaka answered.

" Oh, well look at you. All grown up now." She replied back.

" So Tomoe, you think you have what it takes to be one of Madam Xia's little butterflies?"

" Maybe."

The door suddenly swung open to an older but beautiful woman that held an elegant but stern look upon her face. " What is this commotion? Jia, shouldn't you be inside fixing the space where your candles feel over last night? It looks and smells like you had a campfire in your room." Her gaze then turned to the young girl on the stoop. " And what do we have here?"

" This is Tomoe Tanaka, Madam Xia. She says she wants to be your new butterfly." The tall thin woman said.

" Oh you do, do ya. Try back in another ten years."

The girls all laughed and headed back inside. Tanaka went to stop Madam Xia before she closed the door.

" Please. I can work. I do anything you need. I'll help in the kitchen. I used to clean at my father's restaurant." Her face went from confident to desperate as she looked into Madam Xia's eyes. She carried a majestic elegance to her with sense of danger in her eyes. You could see the insurmountable amount of experience that has forged the cold steel gaze.

" Like I said, girl. Try back in ten years." Madam Xia said. She closed the door.

Tanaka walked away disappointed but not broken. She returned the following morning in her same outfit. Only this time, she returned with a box. She paced back and forth along the sidewalk and greeted everyone as they walked by. Some were even nice enough to reply back. Others mumbled under their breath.

" Hello." She said with a kind smile. " Terrible weather we are having."

A business man rushed passed.

" Oh my, look at your shoes sir. Why they are a mess." The man paused and looked down at his feet. " Come. have a seat. You don't want to be seen with your shoes such a mess before your big day, do you?"

The man stood hesitantly at first as he held his briefcase in both hands. He thought about the time and his big chance with the new business. He had just moved his fiancé out to San Francisco in hopes of a new life. " Please, do make it quick."

" Well then, get over here. I'll have you done in no time." She said.

" How much do I owe you?"

" A dollar sir." She replied.

He reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a wadded dollar and threw on the ground by her.

" So big day for you?"

" Yes." He thought to himself, why share his life with this girl. Then again, what could it hurt. He had a lot of pressure building up and felt like a boiler about to explode. " I just moved out with my fiancé. I'm on my fifth job interview and haven't told her yet. She thinks I'm already working. I leave in the morning and look for work and don't come back till later in the evening so she thinks I've been at work, you see."

" I'm sure she would be very supportive if you would just be honest. Perhaps today will be your lucky day."

The women of the brothel stood by the window and witnessed Tomoe Tanaka out front again. The commotion of girls by the front window caught Madam Xia's attention. She rushed over by the window to find the girl shinning a man's shoes. Madam Xia stormed to the door and went down the stairs. Her arms furiously swinging at her side.

" Thank you." The man said as he pulled out some change and tipped her. He tipped his hat and set on his way.

" Good luck."

" I thought I told you not to come back." Madam Xia said. Tomoe Tanaka spun on heel in shock as she heard her recognizable stern voice.

" Excuse me ma'am, I was waiting in line here." A man in a suit said. He wiggled his foot as he looked down at his shoe and gestured kindly as he lifted his hat. Madam Xia gave the man an inquisitive look at first. She then slowly stepped back and waved her hand for the man to go ahead and take a seat. She watched as little Tanaka flipped a switch and turned into this mature adolescent.

" Please, let me take that for you." She took the man's umbrella and leaned it against the stoop. She dusted off a section for the man and sat a folded piece of cloth down for him to have a seat.

" Thank you. It was dollar, correct?"

" Yes, sir." She answered as she got to it. She brushed the man's shoe and got down to the sole. She quickly applied the shine with a brush and took a small piece cotton cloth and rubbed it in vigorous little circles. She reached for the longer piece of cloth that laid over her shoulder and began to work it back and forth over the toe of the shoes. " And there you go sir. Good as new."

" Why that's amazing. Splendid in deed." The man handed her a dollar.

Madam Xia smiled at the child with her arms crossed. " So you think you have what it takes to work here?" She asked the girl. " Do you know what kind of business I run?" The girl stood there silently, but didn't fidget. Madam Xia let out a long winded sigh. " I have many people that come and go. You think you could keep up with what you showed me?"

" Yes, ma'am!" Tanaka lit up with a smile.

" Then get in here. I can't have people thinking I'm pimping a toddler on the streets." Her voice trailed off as they made their way to the front door. " Where did you get that ridiculous outfit?"

The first time Tanaka got to see the inside of the building, she couldn't believe her eyes. The floor was polished wood. The stairs curved with an exotic wood banister. Red carpet ran the length of the steps. The women walked around in the most elegant silks and laced outfits. Working lights lit up the space with a dim glow. Madam Xia walked her through the first floor. " So you have shown that you can shine shoes. I don't let the guests wear their shoes beyond the stairs. You will shine the shoes that get placed in the boxes by the foot of the stairs. No come." She then walked her behind the bar and pointed. " You will be responsible for the ice, the glasses, and restocking the bottles when needed."

" Yes, ma'am."

" Now come, I have more to show you." She took the child around the back of the stairs that lead down a long hallway. The hallway led out to a door to the back of the building. Madam Xia swung it open to find some of her girls outside smoking. " What is this? did I say you could take a break? We have clients inside." She said in most perfect Cantonese.

Outside the back was like a small courtyard. It had a stone wall and large double doors that were locked in place with a wooden bar. A number of wooden barrels were cut down and filled with water. Lines were strung across the court yard with sheets and pair of thigh-highs. " This is the wash station. This is were the women will come and wash their bedding once a day. We don't want the filth of our customers spreading anything you don't want, now do we? The key is to have the water boiling hot. It keeps the scabies from spreading."

" Scabies?"

" Little bugs that devour your insides and make you itch in places you don't want to. Now come, I have more to show you." Madam Xia then took the girl to the double door gates. On one side was a small door that could open with a key. She walked Tanaka out and through the back alley, she showed her a red door with a small window next to it. A pile of crates stacked along the wall. " This is where we keep storage. If the bar keep should need anything, if sheets get to many holes or need to be replaced, if you need more shoe shine, this is where you'll find it." She swung the door open and showed her the storage room. A cramped space with shelves. Between the shelves and a barrel, a stack of sheets laid folded. " And this is where you'll be sleeping." Madam Xia took the key off the ring. She found some old twine and looped it through the key hole. She then tied it in a square knot and handed the key to Tanaka. " This will be yours." She placed it around her neck. " Should you lose it, it will cost you dearly. Are you sure you can keep up little girl?"

" Yes, ma'am."

" It's Madam, and lets hope so for your sake. Otherwise, it's back out on the streets for you. Do you hear me?"

" Yes, Madam. And I maybe little, but I'm no ordinary girl."

Madam Xia smiled. She saw a little of herself in the girl. Despite their differences, she could see the same perseverance emanating from her big dark brown eyes. The eyes of a girl that was determined.

" Tomoe." Madam Xia gave her a look. A curl in her lip. " Like Tomo Gozen?"

Tanaka nodded.

" I like the name. Strong. But you know, the women here all go by other names." She slowly went to walk out and back to the back courtyard. " Like a pseudonym or nickname." She continued past the wash stations where more girls sneaking a quick smoke break snuffed out their cigarettes and rushed back inside. Madam Xia went and held the back door and continued to speak. " Perhaps a suitable name for you would be... Lady Tanaka. You can grow into it."