Confessions of a Cat-holic (107)

While my new friends continued to live ignorantly in a bliss like they were the kings of a pacific island, I received a call from Rex's friend shortly before the school term started.

I didn't recall this friend's name anymore. He might have said it but I was sure he was one of our mutual acquaintances in school. He was rather direct in our brief conversation. The only thing I remembered him say was that he asked me if I knew anything about Rex. I was rather shocked by the oddity of this conversation. Er, so I threw the question back at him, asking if there was anything in particular I should have known about? Chances were I didn't know what I didn't know, so I guessed it was safe for me to say that.

It was illegal to claim membership of the triad in Hong Kong but that did not stop his friend from explicitly informing me of Rex's secret identity. He told me that Rex's father belonged to the triad.

I didn't remember I said anything in response but I was quite sure I must have paused for an extended period of amazement. I thought I should have rather let him talk since he seemed to know much more than I would have thought.

I knew it sounded more like a criminal trying to ask me to pay for a hostage but in reality, his friend was quite assuring. He knew I felt somewhat drawn yet slightly trembled by the unexpected news. But he didn't stop from there.

He told me that his father was not just a nobody in the triad. He said his dad would only go to Macau by helicopters. Okay, so Rex had a helicopter parent.

No, I meant to say that Rex's father was a mafia boss.

It was quite obvious that all the gangster bigshots in Hong Kong were linked to the underground activities in Macau. Anyone in Hong Kong would have known that. The fact that his dad traveled to Macau only by helicopters obviously said something about his social status.

Then, I assured his friend that Rex's message was well received. To be honest, I would rather remain silent about sensitive issues like that. I knew why Rex asked his friend to make that call to me. He probably knew that I would not consider going out with someone I distantly knew and that important detail about his background and family business would be key to securing our relationship.

I knew immediately that he was the person I had been searching for. I remembered what Rita showed me before I transferred school. Gangster, public kiss in Toysrus, virginity. I almost knew for certain that Rex and I were meant for each other. Emotionally I was attached to him because he reminded me of my friend, Angel, who resembled him but sadly passed away. Physically, I was attracted to his vibes and figure. And most importantly, socially we completed each other and needed each other's protection and companion.

I was not into Rex just because he was a gangster, although it could be one of the many reasons. I knew it would make me sound like a white guy having yellow fever who would only go after Asian girls. I needed to clarify that I would not just go out with any gangster, just because he was a gangster. Rex was different. He was not like the mafia members you would see on movie screen. I actually knew enough triad members and gangster cops from La Salle to deduce how typical gangsters looked like. While the gangster friends of Vivian and Tracy and Rita's gangster cop boyfriend were rather transparent, Rex really did not give people a clue of his background if you just observed him from the outside. Normally, gangsters had gangster vibes, in terms of the way they carried themselves.

But Rex looked nothing like those obvious gangsters. He reminded people of Leo Ku, if you knew what I meant. Delicate, gentle, shy, pure and upright with no vulgar demeanors when he walked around in school. That was what intrigued me most about Rex. He was a gangster that looked like a sheep, like his horoscope suggested. He looked like an Aries and a Taurus in Venus. He really did but there was more to it. He was not a black sheep, but a brown bear, and I was a grey wolf to match. But the interesting thing was that we both liked to dress in sheep skin.