Last week we were at the Repulse Bay Hotel, playing our set after George Pio-Ulski’s Quintette, but before Nick Korin and His Swing Band. Afterwards there was a girl waiting for me on the dance floor. I’d seen her at the hotel before and never thought anything of it, but there was something funny about the sense of purpose she had about her that night. Tried to get me to dance with her, but I just wanted to go chill with Tanaka and Emily and our friends. Well, she got a little aggressive, grabbed my arm, popped a button off my shirt, and put it in her pocket. Can you imagine? I called her a crazy mama or something like that, you know, to make her go away, not to insult her or anything. And I got away from her, though she sure did give me the stink eye, like every ten minutes, ’til I decided to go home early.

A couple of nights ago, though, I was back at the hotel for our regular gig. I’d forgotten about that girl. Emily had just gotten married a few days before. She snuck off to the registry in the Supreme Court Building with her beau, a young man called Cheung Tak-Wing, the son of a servant at the Hong Kong Cricket Club. Her family was scandalized, as you can imagine, even more scandalized than they were when she joined our band. Rich people the same the world over, cousin, but Emily’s a great girl, so full of pluck and determination. We played a fabulous set including “Waiting for You,” “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön,” and the song me and Tanaka wrote together, “Moon and Stars over Sai Kung.” We danced and drank champagne. I noticed that strange girl who took my button was there watching us, but she kept her distance and I thought all would be well.