White poster Pt. 2: A Deal with lady jane

It was as if the moon had poured a white sea across the quiet parts of Boston, while a light crackling sound moved the tide up and down. Yet, the white sea journeyed on, unaffected by the whip of each tide and the crash of each wave. But I can still hear that crackling sound as it flowed across the night sky and pierced every city across the world.

His entire neck was completely purple, just like the Fanta Grape cans that Pak Tan always promised to give us. His eyes were still, staring at the ceiling where the noose once was. His hands were cuffed into a ball, and he had clenched his fist so tight that he broke his thumb. The officers surrounded his body, taking photos and examining scene. Everybody knew the cause of death, but nobody was willing to accept it. Or at least, nobody was brave enough to admit it.

The officials refused to return his body home; it would remain there for eternity. His parents couldn’t afford the trip to Boston, and you could not find a single person on the streets willing to choke up fifteen thousand dollars. His photos, his belongings, his posters, everything we knew of Halim rested on the other side of the world, away from our hands and from our touch. He was gone. He was taken. He was dead. Forever.

He always had this one favorite tune by the Rolling Stones, called “Lady Jane”. He would sing it on the way to the salon. “I pledge myself to Lady Jane”. “Life is secure with Lady Jane.” It’s one of those “Hex” songs, like “Hotel California” or “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”; it had a mind and trick of its own, bewitching those who listened to it.

If there was one thing we understood about Halim, it was the fact that all his life he searched for a Lady Jane of his own. The posters, the stories, the talk would not do--not for Halim. But he eventually found her across his trek around the world, sacrificing everything he knew--and his life.

A deal with Lady Jane herself.

“My sweet lady Jane, When I see you again, Your servant am I, And will humbly remain...I pledge myself to Lady Jane”.