in the Economic Zone
at the border
between the mainland China
and Hong Kong
without any companions
A photographer
took some photos for us
dressed up with a wedding grown
We stayed in an hotel for the night
Next day we held our ceremony
in a restaurant
with about forty guests
My husband had a speech
but very short
We returned to the hotel
I was too tired
He came into me
and finished in two minutes
After a week staying in the Zone
we took the train
that took eight hours
going back home
at the River Shun
We had invited about fifty guests
My dad and mom were very happy
wishing us loving each other for life
I embraced them
that I had not done
for ten years long
I lived in the Zone alone
My husband drove
the big truck every day
between Hongkong and the Zone
He usually stayed with me
for one night in a week
Early in the morning
he left the Zone
I had to live in the Zone
for three years
before I could apply
for the Hong Kong Identity Card
so that I could live
in Hong Kong as a citizen
Then I would be allowed to work
II
As I wanted a bit of security
I begged my husband
to buy me a flat
He bought it for me
at the town
further from the Zone
for it was cheaper
He paid the down-payment
thirty percent
I would pay the balance
for twenty years
by instalments
I thanked him many times
from my heart
I began to like him
and felt more
passionate for him
We only met once a week
As his wife
I wished our relationship
to be more closed
I have tried many ways
to make our relationship
more romantic and solid
but in vain
To each other we seldom talk
No common topics we could chat
I had more passions
when we were in the bed
I wished he would touch me
I tried to kiss him
and caressed
tenderly his body
He didn’t like
what I did
Suddenly
he held my hand
leading me to touch
his important part
asking me
to make it give out
Sometimes
he ordered me
to lie down
All in a sudden
he came into me
I felt very painful
and burning inside
I dared not tell him
Then he went to sleep
at the edge of the bed
with his back facing me
I did the same
sleeping on the other edge
He snored loudly
III
My man usually
came home at two
in the morning
With unbearable patience
for him I waited
though he was drunken
For many months
he had not touched me
though together we slept
in the same bed
I started to feel
he was a stranger to me
so cold.
One night
I waited for him
until two
He told me
he would go
to his parents' home
I worried
that an accident
he might met
Called a tax
straightly I went
to his parents' home
They told me
he had left
six hours ago
to see his friend
Without a thought
I went to his friend’s home
I knocked the door
again and again
until my fingers
feeling pain
My husband
opened the door
A girl was just behind him
dressed in a nightgown
I got a terrible shock
I felt very painful
in my heart
With a dizzy head
I got on the tax
that was waiting for me
K C Lee