Aperture on the East (33 page)

Ivan returned to the table and set
down the bowl of warm water. He said, “I haven’t seen him waiting
for Zoe at the school, either. He’s probably given up on Zoe,
finally.” Ivan sat down and started making himself another spring
roll.

“
So, I hear that both of
you are doing well in school,” said Vo. “Zoe, you want to go to law
school, is that right?”

Zoe perked up a little and said,
“Actually, I am not sure yet. I am taking an elective in computer
science, and I am having a lot of fun writing codes and creating
simple applications. I wonder if I can one day be able to hack into
the mafias’ bank accounts and transfer their illegal money into
needy governments or charity organizations.”

Her ambitious goals made everyone at
the table chuckle.

“
I am sure you can,” said
Vo. “You will be the invisible cyber superhero.” His comment made
Ivan laugh out loud.

After dinner, Vo cleaned the dishes
while Ana sat with Ivan and Zoe to find out what they were learning
at school. Zoe had been staying up late to study for the high
school exit exam, long after Ivan had gone to bed sometimes. Ana
had never seen Zoe so dedicated to the academics.

In a matter of days a new routine was
established. Ana got up at dawn to meet Vo on the beach for a
stroll, and then they both came back to Ana’s apartment for
breakfast with Ivan and Zoe. After Ivan and Zoe left for school, Vo
would take Ana to work on his motorcycle. Occasionally Ana could
get a break from work and visit Vo at the Sailing Club for a quick
lunch. They would lounge on the padded beach chairs under a
thatched umbrella, gazing far out into the shining sea. After work,
Vo would take Ana to the market to get groceries, and then Ana
would make dinner while Vo helped Ivan and Zoe with their homework.
Vo would not leave until after Ivan and Zoe had retreated to their
bedrooms for the night. As much as Ana wanted Vo to stay, she would
always see him to the door with a friendly “see you
tomorrow.”

On Friday evenings Vo went to
Clement’s meetings with Ana, and negotiated with the art dealers
who dropped in occasionally to inquire about Ana’s work in
photography. Ana let Vo do all the talking, even though she knew
that he didn’t know much about the business of art, either. She
planned to save all the income she made on her photographs and pay
Vo back for his generous monetary support. If he could somehow
inflate the price of her work, well-deserved or not, she would be
able to repay him in full much sooner.

As May drew near, however, Ana’s
anxiety grew. Vo still hadn’t mentioned anything about returning to
the United States for the birth of his son, but Ana knew that it
was inevitable. Once Vo saw the baby boy and fell in love with him,
he might not return to Nha Trang ever. There were a slew of duties
for a new father. How would he get away?

“
What are you thinking?”
said Vo. He was getting his boat ready while Ana sat on the pier,
dangling her feet over the water. It was another splendid Saturday
morning, and they were going to the Pearl Island. Ivan and Zoe had
their own events that day, so Ana and Vo were looking forward to a
scrumptious picnic and a long, quiet nap on the beach of the
idyllic island.

“
You have made me so happy
in the last couple of months,” said Ana. “I felt like I’ve died and
gone to heaven. It’s so surreal. But I wonder if I am about to wake
up from this dream.”

Vo stepped off his boat and on to the
pier. He was about to sit down next to Ana when someone called out
her name.

Ana turned and saw a young man waving
at her. She stood up, trying to recall his name. He had probably
mistaken her for someone else. She looked at Vo, and shrugged her
shoulders.

The young man ran toward her and said,
“Remember me? Erik. From the Rocking Waves, the nightclub they tore
down.”

Ana glanced at Vo, and she could tell
that Vo recognized him. Vo’s face tensed up and his fists
tightened.

“
What do you want?” said
Vo. He took a step forward, and pushed Ana back behind
him.

Ana was still trying to identify where
and when she and Erik had met. She didn’t understand why Vo had
become so hostile all of a sudden. She squinted to study Erik’s
face, trying to decipher the situation.

Erik looked puzzled at first, and then
he grinned and said, “You were too drunk to remember me. We were
drinking vodka at the bar when the police raided the place. There
were gun shots and people screaming bloody murder. We scrambled out
of the scene and I took you home because you looked like you were
about to pass out any minute.”

Now Ana remembered who Erik was. The
vivid image of the raid suddenly invaded her senses. She now
realized why Vo looked so angry. She grabbed Vo’s hand, afraid that
he was going to strike Erik.

Erik continued to say, “Sure enough,
as soon as I got you to your bed, you were a goner. I was
exhausted, because I had to carry you up like, six flights of
stairs. So I thought I’d lie down to rest for a bit. Next thing I
knew, I had slept the whole night there. My head was hurting so
bad, but you kicked me out before I even had a chance to ask you
for a cup of tea. I tell you. It was a wild night.”

Ana’s jaw dropped. “You mean we
didn’t—” said Ana. “Nothing happened?”

“
What? What did you think
happened?” said Erik. He paused for a second, and then he chuckled.
“Oh, I see what you meant. Well, I was hoping to get lucky but you
were completely out. I never take advantage of women like that. I
am a decent fellow.”

Ana looked at Vo; he seemed as stunned
as she was.

Erik didn’t wait for Vo and Ana to
respond. He said, “Well, my year in Nha Trang is over, and I am
heading back to Australia. It’s nice running into you, Ana. You are
part of my first memorable encounters here. Really unforgettable
that was. Cheerio.” He turned around and walked away.

Vo turned to look at Ana as well. His
face had relaxed.

“
Ana,” said Vo, “it really
didn’t matter.”

“
It mattered to me,” said
Ana. “Regardless, I put myself in that situation, so you had every
right to be angry. You weren’t wrong to leave me. I deserved the
punishment.”

Without asking Ana for her permission,
Vo pulled Ana into his arms and held her as tight as he could. He
said, “I will never let anything separate us again.
Never.”

Ana was surprised by this gesture and
she wanted to push him away, but the familiar warmth of his embrace
overpowered her. She stood motionless, secretly relishing in the
heat of Vo’s body, feeling ashamed at the same time. Vo did not let
her go for a long time.

When they got into the boat, Vo’s cell
phone rang and he answered it. He greeted the caller in English,
but quickly switched over to Vietnamese. Ana could understand some
Vietnamese, but he was speaking too fast for her to comprehend. All
she could tell was that it had something to do with a baby, and Vo
seemed very excited.

“
Good news,” said Vo as he
put his phone away. “My mom just called to say that our baby has
arrived. Everything went well. Mother and baby should be going home
in a couple of days.”

“
Don’t you need to go back
to the States then? I am sure you are needed,” said Ana.

“
Of course they want me
there, but I have more important things to do here,” said Vo. He
undid the rope that tied his boat to the pier, and started the
engine.

Ana thought that Vo was acting very
callously, and couldn’t understand why he could be so outside of
his character when it came to matters concerning Kim. How could she
trust a man who didn’t seem to care about his newborn son? Ana’s
conscience ruled against Vo, but her heart made the decision to
stand by him. After all, they were just friends. She was not doing
anything wrong here, and how could she ever chastise someone who
had helped turn her life around?

July arrived, and Vo remained in Nha
Trang. He seemed happy and unconcerned about his family on the
other side of the Pacific Ocean. For selfish reasons, Ana never
brought up Kim or the baby during conversations with Vo; he didn’t
talk much about them, either, anyway. Ana didn’t try to persuade Vo
to return to the United States, but she did decide to distance
herself from him. She claimed to need time for her work in
photography, and would allow Vo to visit only in the evenings when
her children were present. She also stopped using his motorcycle
for transportation, saying that she’d rather walk for exercise.
Everything was within walking distance, so Vo couldn’t
object.

School was out for the summer. Ivan
was again attending the summer camp at the Institute of
Oceanography, this time with Ana’s full knowledge and her authentic
signatures on all the forms and waivers. He spent the rest of his
time skateboarding with his friends, and expanding his collection
of seashells. Zoe had passed the high school exit exam and got her
diploma. She didn’t apply to go to college because she wasn’t sure
whether she could finish high school on time. Instead, she would
work for a year. She found a job at the fish market, gutting and
cleaning fish of all sizes and varieties caught the night before.
She told Ana that she could improve her Vietnamese and learned the
culture better by mingling with the locals. When Ana visited Zoe at
the fish market, she could tell that Zoe was an oddity there, but
Zoe’s boss assured Ana that Zoe was welcomed by all; Zoe was quite
an entertainer and it made the work less mundane and the day go
faster, the boss had told Ana.

“
Zoe, Ivan, I am home,”
said Ana as she set down the bags of groceries at the kitchen
counter one evening.

No one answered, but Ana heard someone
sniffle and went to see who was upset. Ivan was nowhere to be
found. Ana went to Zoe’s bedroom, and found Zoe crying in her
bed.

“
What’s wrong, Zoe?” said
Ana. She sat down on Zoe’s bed.

Zoe sat up and threw her arms around
Ana. “He’s gone,” said Zoe.

“
Who’s gone?” Ana rubbed
Zoe’s back to try to calm her down.

“
Tuan,” said Zoe. “He’s
left me for good. I told him to go away but I didn’t know that I’d
be so sad when he’s really gone.”

Ana hadn’t seen or heard from Tuan for
months. Zoe would never give a clear response whenever Ana asked
about him. Ana missed Tuan as well, but had come to terms with the
fact that he was no longer a part of her family because Zoe didn’t
want him to be.

“
He found me at the fish
market this morning to tell me that he was going back to Hanoi,”
said Zoe. “He said that he would not come to Nha Trang again
because I’d broken his heart. He told me not to write or call,
because it would hurt him too much. So, he’s cutting himself off
from me, completely.” More tears rolled out of Zoe’s
eyes.

“
Do you want him to stay?”
said Ana.

“
I don’t know,” said Zoe.
“I just don’t want to be his girlfriend. I don’t want to be
anyone’s girlfriend. I know I’ve hurt him. That’s why he’s leaving.
I don’t know why I am so upset. I should be glad that he won’t
bother me anymore. I am going crazy.”

Ana didn’t know what to say. Sometimes
one would not know how much something was treasured until one lost
it. She held Zoe tightly, and let Zoe unload all her confused
thoughts and emotions through her tears. Things would sort out
themselves, eventually.

Someone opened the front door, and Ana
heard Ivan and Vo laughing and talking in the living room. She
grabbed a tissue and dried Zoe’s tears. Zoe was a little calmer
now. Ana said to Zoe, “You want to find out what the boys are up to
tonight?”

“
You go, Ma. I’ll clean up
a little,” said Zoe.

Ana came out of Zoe’s room and greeted
Vo and Ivan. They were discussing the elusive dolphins of the South
China Sea again. Vo had given Ivan a ride home from the Institute
of Oceanography.

“
Guess what, Ma,” said
Ivan. “Mr. Nguyen is having a party tonight. It’s his birthday. Can
we go? Please?” Ivan begged with folded hands.

“
It is?” said Ana. “I
didn’t know. I should’ve asked you about it. What an awful friend I
am.”

“
I don’t really celebrate
my birthday,” said Vo. “This time a few friends decided to throw me
a party at the Sailing Club. They booked the whole place, so I have
to go. I’m turning forty, feeling kind of old.”

Ana was not sure whether she wanted to
go to an occasion where there might be alcohol involved, but Ivan
kept begging her. She wanted to celebrate Vo’s fortieth birthday,
too, so she finally agreed. Zoe poked her head out of the room to
see what the commotion was about, and accepted the invitation. Ana
thought that a party might be a good thing to distract Zoe from her
agony over Tuan as well.

When they all got out of the taxi at
the door of the Sailing Club, they could hear the Spanish guitar
music flowing from the speakers. Someone at the door verified that
Vo was the star of the event, and let him and his guests in. The
cabanas that lined the pathway to the beach were illuminated with
soft incandescent lamps, and the rectangular fountain down the
center of the pathway was glowing aquamarine.