Chinaman Hu

He was tall. He reached up to the heavens. Everyone looked up to him, like he was God or something. I saw him from a distance. There was something about him that drew women to him like magnets. He would smile politely, joke lightly and move on. Never allowing their passes or their open invites to rest on him. I saw the look on the faces of those women. Imagining how it would be if they were in his arms, giggling in groups, discussing what they would do to him ‘when’ he agreed. I would smile at their girlishness. A dismally small number wondered if he were homosexual. “No way” the rest of them said, someone like him, who could make the knees of any girl go jelly, he could never be gay. There was so much excitement about him. The way he walked, the way he observed people, the way he stared at his laptop while he worked. It left the women gaping and wanting.

I always watched from distance. I was small before him, in stature, in everything. There were no men lining up to get a word with me, there were the bare minimum passes and comments which very bored young men threw past me. I ignored everything. It didn’t matter. I noticed his purposeful strides, the way he focused on what he was doing. I felt so incredibly drawn to him. I knew nothing about him. Yet, I knew him. I was scared to ask around. And the kind of people I was with, well, they never bothered discussing anything with me, why would they discuss something as personal as this. I wanted to know his name, to call him by it, to talk to him, to have him smile at me. I think I loved him.

I called him Chinaman Hu. Chinaman because, he had a Hero pen always pinned on his shirt; I noticed that, because I was crazy about Hero pens, always carried one with me, wherever I went. So he was my Chinaman H, but since I didn’t know his name, I called him Chinaman Who which eventually turned, Chinaman Hu!

One day, I was sitting beside the Lake and was lost in thought. Even the swans got bored of me, the bread I had gotten them was over and now they went back into the lake to look for more exciting lunch options.

“Do you feed them everyday?”

I jumped as the voice came from right behind me. In my start, I let go of my books and they fell to the ground. And my heart stopped beating. Chinaman Hu bent down to lift my books and give them to me. I could have been born tongue-less. There were no words that came out of my mouth. As he stood there apologizing to have startled me like that, I managed a barely audible

“Yes, I feed them everyday.”

He smiled. And the smile that I had only seen from distance became so real to me. The way his eyes crinkled and shone, the way his cheek dimpled…I had to stop staring at him with an open mouth. Then he started talking about animal behavior and how by feeding them everyday, I was actually penetrating their fear of humans and if I continued doing it, they might even forget that I was human and bond like I were another swan.

I just stood there nodding.

Perfect weather. It was almost like the heavens were bestowing their abundant climatic grace upon me. There was a slight breeze. His hair fell over his forehead and as he pushed it away, I noticed that he had only four fingers. As my eyes fell on his fingers, sadness came over his eyes. He looked away. I don’t know where I got the strength from, but I reached out and touched the place, where there should have been the ring finger.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I am a vet. Happened during one of our rescue missions, the poor dog had been tortured by his owner. He was so scared and so defensive. I don’t blame him, he is my pet now.”

I looked lovingly at him.

“You are really a nice person” I said.

And he smiled down at me, again. The sadness had passed. It was time for me to leave, as I looked around for my books and my bag, I noticed that my pen was missing. I began searching for it, patiently first, frantically later. Chinaman Hu watched with interest and then started helping me look for it, between explanations of, beautiful, green and Hero pen. We never found it. I was heart broken. It was one of my favorite pens. As I was about to leave, Chinaman Hu pulled out the pen from his pocket and gave it to me. It was blue, beautiful and Hero.

“Cant be the same thing, but keep it.”

Despite my denials, he insisted I keep it for the day and could return it tomorrow afternoon when I came to feed the swans. It sounded like a deal and I left. The loss of the pen ebbing out, as the joy of the prospect of seeing Chinaman Hu again filled my entire being.

“I have to find out his name tomorrow” I thought!


“What are you looking all smug and happy about?” Rina asked as her brother came into her room with a grin plastered across his face as he avoided hitting the door frame.

“I spoke to Chinagirl Hu!!!!!!” he said.

I am meeting her tomorrow by the lake!!!”