I can’t be in this room any longer. I want to die, maybe that would be easier than dealing with all of this. I walk into the lounge. Angelica is standing by the windows—alongside two of the maids. I pick up Angelica and hold her as I look out. I’ve been in Rupert’s room for over twelve hours and while I was ensconced, the world outside has descended into hell. I won’t be surprised if Lucifer himself rises from the street up to the window in front of us and drags us back down with him. Everything is burning—the cars in the street, one of the buildings opposite us. Flames surround us. There’s the thumping sound of metal smashing and people are swarming the streets. It is a riot, but it looks like the end of the world. It is the apocalypse.
I keep looking for the police or soldiers but there are only a few. Every time I see one emerge from behind a car or a building he quickly disappears again or is submerged under a crowd of people. The maids are weeping quietly, unmoving.
I start praying to God to let me survive this night. Let me survive tonight and see tomorrow. Please let me see my family again. Please let me see my home. I’ve lost too much already, I can’t lose anymore, I pray as I look out at the city burning.
The maids are both from China, talking about how they are going to get home. “We’ll never make it,” one of them is wailing. That’s when I know for sure: I can’t stay here and wait. If I wait here, I’m going to die, or I’m going to be stuck here for months, years. A kind of madness takes over. I have to go home, right now, whatever it takes.
I sit on the sofa with Angelica wrapped around me. This is the last time I will ever hold her and I want it to last as long as it can. On my phone I look up commercial flights; I know there won’t be any but I have to check just in case. Nothing. Everything is canceled. But then I think, how do the Tais travel? How did the Tais travel? Everything’s easier when you’re rich. They always use this private jet company, Elite Air. I call them up and pretend to be Mrs. Tai’s assistant, watching the maids. They’re in their own world, staring out at the street. The girl on the other end of the phone says that they are charging a lot more than the normal price to get out of Singapore and you have to be at the airport within two hours, you can only fly within Asia and the East Pacific. Air Traffic Restrictions Partnership comes into effect at midnight and after that, no more flights.
I agree to everything, rushing through, yes, yes, whatever she says I will agree to. How much, how much. “5.45 million dollars.” Mrs. Tai left her bag by the bed in her and Mr. Tai’s bedroom, like she always did. I leave Angelica in the living room for a minute and creep past Mr. Tai’s body to get Mrs. Tai’s purse out and I’m about to give the American Express number when the lady at Elite Air says that the payment has gone through from the Wells Fargo account they have on record already and Mrs. Tai will need to be at the airport within two hours before the flights are all grounded.
Thank God we live close to the airport. I grab the important things I own and then I say good-bye to Angelica. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I know I’ll never see her again but I can’t bear to tell her that. Singapore probably won’t exist for much longer, who knows what will happen to the Tais? And besides, I’ve just stolen millions of dollars from them.
“Where are you going?” she asks, crying. She’s tired; it’s too late for her to be up.
“I need to go home to see my family. My family needs me.”
“But I need you.” Oh, my girl. I wish I could take her with me but I can’t. Even in this madness, I know that I can’t do that. I desperately want to bundle her up in my arms, but it would be the end of something. A normal life for me, the future she needs with her family. Snap out of it.
“I will see you again, okay? I know where you live, and I’ll come back when all of this is over and see you as soon as I can.”
She looks like she believes me and I breathe out a sigh of relief. I hug her again, so, so tight, and kiss her on the head and then I have to go. Down the elevator, and out in to the street, quickly before I can think about turning back. As I walk down the street, thick with smoke, my brain is thinking this can’t be Singapore, it just can’t be. Singapore is one of the safest and wealthiest countries in the world. I remember the lady from the agency telling me it was such a good place to work because it was safe. Just get to the airport. That’s the only focus now. Men and women with bandanas across their faces are throwing things at, who? One another? Who are they fighting? An invisible enemy.