He leads her down passageways and up steep steel stairways and out onto the deck. It's getting close to twilight1, the control tower of the Enterprise looms2 hard and black against a deep gray sky that's getting dark and gloomy so fast that it seems darker, now, than it will at midnight. But for now, none of the lights are on and that's all there is, black steel and slate3 sky.
She follows him down the deck of the ship to the stem. From here it's a thirty-foot drop to the water, they are looking out across the prosperous, clean white neighborhood of the Russian people, separated from the squalid dark tangle4 of the Raft per se by a wide canal patrolled by gun-toting blackrobes. There's no stairway or rope ladder here, but there is a thick rope hanging from the railing. The big Aleut guy hauls up a chunk5 of rope and drapes it under one arm and over one leg in a quick motion. Then he throws one arm around Y.T.'s waist, gathering6 her in the crook7 of his arm, leans back, and falls off the ship.
She absolutely refuses to scream. She feels the rope stop his body, feels his arm squeeze her so tight she chokes for a moment, and then she's hanging there, hanging in the crook of his arm.
She's got her arms down to her side, defiant8. But just for the hell of it, she leans into him, wraps her arms around his neck, puts her head on his shoulder, and hangs on tight. He rappels them down the rope, and soon they are standing9 on the sanitized, prosperous Russian version of the Raft.
"What's your name anyway?" she says.
"Dmitri Ravinoff," he says. "Better known as Raven10."
Oh, shit.
The connections between boats are tangled11 and unpredictable. To get from point A to point B, you have to wander all over the place. But Raven knows where he's going. Occasionally, he reaches out, grabs her hand, but he doesn't yank her around even though she's going a lot slower than he is. Every so often, he looks back at her with a grin, like, I could hurt you, but I won't.
They come to a place where the Russian neighborhood is joined to the rest of the Raft by a wide plank12 bridge guarded by Uzi dudes. Raven ignores them, takes Y.T.'s hand again, and walks right across the bridge with her. Y.T. hardly has time to think through the implications of this before it hits her, she looks around, sees all these gaunt Asians, staring back at her like she's a five-course meal, and realizes: I'm on the Raft. Actually on the Raft.
"These are Hong Kong Vietnamese," Raven says. "Started out in Vietnam, came to Hong Kong as boat people after the war there -- so they've been living on sampans for a couple of generations now. Don't be scared, this isn't dangerous for you."
"I don't think I can find my way back here," Y.T. says.
"Relax," he says. "I've never lost a girlfriend."
"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"
Raven throws back his head and laughs. "A lot, in the old days. Not as many in the past few years."
"Oh, yeah? The old days? Is that when you got your tattoo13?"
"Yeah. I'm an alcoholic14. Used to get in a lot of trouble. Been sober for eight years."
"Then how come everyone's scared of you?"
Raven turns to her, smiles broadly, shrugs15. "Oh, because I'm an incredibly ruthless, efficient, cold-blooded killer16, you know."
Y.T. laughs. So does Raven.
"What's your job?" Y.T. asks.
"I'm a harpooner," he says.
"Like in Moby Dick?" Y.T. likes this idea. She read that book in school. Most of the people in her class, even the power tools, thought that the book was totally entrenched18. But she liked all the stuff about harpooning19.
"Nah. Compared to me, those Moby Dicksters were faggots."
"What kind of stuff do you harpoon17?"
"You name it."
From there on out, she just looks at him. Or at inanimate objects. Because otherwise she wouldn't see anything except thousands of dark eyes staring back at her. In that way, it's a big change from being a slop-slinger for the repressed.
Part of it is just because she's so different. But part of it is that there's no privacy on the Raft, you make your way around by hopping20 from one boat to the next. But each boat is home to about three dozen people, so it's like you are constantly walking through people's living rooms. And bathrooms. And bedrooms. Naturally, they look.
They tromp across a makeshift platform built on oil drums. A couple of Vietnamese dudes are there arguing or haggling21 over something looks like a slab22 of fish. The one who's turned toward them sees them coming. His eyes flicker23 across Y.T. without pausing, fix on Raven, and go wide. He steps back. The guy he's talking to, who has his back to them, turns around and literally24 jumps into the air, letting out a suppressed grunt25. Both of them back well out of Raven's path.
And then she figures out something important: These people aren't looking at her. They're not even giving her a second glance. They're all looking at Raven. And it's not just a case of celebrity26 watching or something like that. All of these Raft dudes, these tough scary homeboys of the sea, are scared shitless of this guy.
And she's on a date with him.
And it's just started.
Suddenly, walking through another Vietnamese living room, Y.T. has a flashback to the most excruciating conversation she ever had, which was a year ago when her mother tried to give her advice on what to do if a boy got fresh with her. Yeah, Mom, right. I'll keep that in mind. Yeah, I'll be sure to remember that. Y.T. knew that advice was worthless, and this goes to show she was right.
收听单词发音 |
1
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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2
looms
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| n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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3
slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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4
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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5
chunk
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| n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量） | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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11
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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12
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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13
tattoo
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| n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于 | |
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14
alcoholic
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| adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者 | |
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15
shrugs
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| n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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16
killer
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| n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者 | |
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17
harpoon
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| n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获 | |
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entrenched
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| adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯) | |
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harpooning
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| v.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的现在分词 ) | |
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20
hopping
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| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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21
haggling
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| v.讨价还价( haggle的现在分词 ) | |
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22
slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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23
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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24
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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25
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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26
celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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