“Please let us through!” I cry, pushing Wink along past a couple of men, Jamie at my back. “I got me baby brother!” The Cockney wench bangs to be let out, apparently sensing a charade brewing. So I let her take over, careful not to overdo it.
Last time I tried to get Wink on a lifeboat, I was too polite, too quick to play by the rules, and that won’t happen again. This time, I’ll be as pushy and streetwise as the gangs in Cheapside, who’ll beg, barter, or beat the shadow off you if they want something badly enough.
The officer in charge, a pale young man with a haunted face, holds up a hand to me. My feet halt, but my mouth keeps going.
“He’s a wee one, barely seen life, and it’s been hard, with Mum gone belly-up.” I glance at Jamie, who quickly transforms his astonished face into one of mourning. “She dropped her teeth looking over the pier and fell in trying to catch them. Drowned right in front of his eyes. Come on, sir, give us a chance.”
Wink, whose face has begun twitching, squeezes out a tear, a good fat one that takes its time rolling down to the tip of his nose, where it bravely hangs on.
The officer scratches his blond whiskers. From the boat, a man with a paunch like a bag of flour puts his hands to his mouth and bellows, “We’re at capacity. Any more will sink—”
“You wanna let a child what seen his mum drown in front of him go down the same way? That would just be evil. Come on, sir, have a heart. Take us with you.” I grab Jamie’s arm. “We’re family. You can’t break up family. Please, we’re no trouble. You won’t even notice us.”
“Officer, lower away!” a man calls down from the Boat Deck.
From the back of the lifeboat, a figure rises, someone with the stocky build of a trimmer, and a shaved head. “Wink!”
“Ming Lai!” cries Wink, maybe blubbering real tears this time.
Beside Ming Lai sits Dina Domenic with her parents squeezed in next to her.
“Blimey!” I cry. “Another of our bruv’ers. It’s a sign from God Himself, a sign we should be on this boat. Hallelujah!” I clasp my hands and shake them over my head, like a high roller on his last throw of the dice.
The young officer twists at the whistle around his neck. “I can’t let all three of you.”
“How about just the deuce of them, guv’nor?” Jamie cuts in.
I grimace, and not just because his Cockney is as tragic as burnt chicken. The first two boats in this quadrant are already in the water, and the third is on its way down. This is the last lifeboat here.
“You said birds and babes,” Jamie keeps on. “Far as I can tell, you got mostly blokes in your bucket. What do you say?”
The officer swivels between the boat and us. I keep my praying hands in front of me, nudging Wink with my elbow.
Wink squeezes out another tear. He begins to whimper and squeak, escalating to full-belly wailing. Now the tears are really starting to flow.
“I won’t be no trouble, sir!” he hiccups.
“Let them on. For God’s sake, man!” cries another voice.
The officer crosses himself. “Very well, the wee one and the girl. I’m sorry, sir, you’ll have to wait for the next one.”
With a nod, Jamie steps back. Wink legs into the boat, still wearing his lifesaver, looking like a cloth napkin pulled through a ring. Quickly, he works his way back to Ming Lai.
As I step onto the gunwale, a baby cries, a wail too thin to carry far. The young mother who was behind us fights to keep her bundle from slipping. A tiny leg sticks out, attached to a tiny foot that has yet to stamp a print on the world. The mother shrugs up a shoulder, wiping away her tears. They won’t make it.
Jamie sees me eyeing the pair and shakes his head no.
“Ming Lai, take care of Wink,” I call to him in Cantonese.
“Of course, Little Sister,” he calls back, his deep voice as reassuring as a warm coat.
“Guv’nor, I’d like this lady to have my spot. That baby needs a chance.”
The paunchy man lifts his hands. “That’s two more people!”
Something pops in my chest, and this time, my boiler explodes. Why should he get a place while dutiful men, like this young officer and my stalwart Jamie, stay behind? “Sir, you’ve got a beer baby on your lap that’s twice the size of the one she’s holding, so shut your piehole!”
Paunchy begins to stand, his face twisting into something ugly. But in front of him, Mr. Domenic also rises. The Russian is so big, he could row the boat even without oars. Paunchy sits back down.
