Brothers (28 page)

Li Lan no longer let Baldy Li leave the house, even sealing the window shut so that he wouldn't be able to sneak out. When she left for the silk factory in the morning she would lock him in the house, and the door would remain shut until she returned home in the evening. Thus began Baldy Li's truly solitary childhood. From daybreak to nightfall, his world consisted of two rooms, and so he began his all-out war against the ants and the cockroaches. He would often crouch under the bed with a bowl in his hand and wait for the ants to emerge; when they did, he would first splash them with water and then smush them to death one by one. Once a fat mouse scurried right past his face, and that terrified him so much that he no longer crawled under the bed. Later he began to attack the cockroaches in the armoire, locking himself inside with them in order to trap them. By the light seeping in through a crack in the door, he would chase them and crush them with his shoe. Once he fell asleep inside the armoire and was still dreaming happily when Li Lan got home. Poor Li Lan was so panicked that she hollered for him all over the house and even dashed outside to look down the alley. When he finally emerged, she collapsed to the floor, her face pale and one hand clutching her chest, unable to speak a word.

Just when Baldy Li was at his loneliest, Song Gang made the long journey to come see him. Bringing along five White Rabbits, Song Gang set off in the morning from the village without telling his grandfather. Asking for directions along the way, he arrived at Baldy Li's house around noon and knocked on the window, shouting, "Baldy Li! Baldy Li! Are you in there? It's Song Gang."

Baldy Li was dozing off out of boredom when he heard Song Gangs shouts. Jumping up to the window, he knocked on the glass, shouting,

"Song Gang! Song Gang! I'm in here."

Song Gang responded, "Baldy Li, open the door!"

Baldy Li said, "The doors locked from the outside."

"Open the window."

"The windows been sealed shut."

The two brothers banged on the window and hollered at each other for a long while. The lower panes of the window had been covered over with newspaper, so they couldn't see each other and could only communicate by shouting. Baldy Li then moved a stool over to the window so that he could perch there and look down through the only pane on top that hadn't been papered over. In this way, he finally caught sight of Song Gang, and Song Gang finally caught sight of him. Song Gang was wearing the same set of clothes he had worn to Song Fanping's burial. He looked up and said, "Baldy Li, I've missed you."

Song Gang smiled, a little embarrassed. Baldy Li banged the window with both hands, crying, "Song Gang, I've missed you, too."

Song Gang took out the five White Rabbits from his pocket and lifted them up to show Baldy Li. "See these? I brought them for you."

Baldy Li joyfully shouted, "Song Gang, I see them! Song Gang, you're so good to me."

Baldy Li started drooling immediately, but the window separated him from the candies in Song Gang's hand. He shouted to Song Gang, "Figure out a way to get the candy in here."

Song Gang thought for a moment. "Maybe I can stuff it in through a crack in the door."

Baldy Li hurried down from his perch and went to the door. He saw the candy wrapper pushing through the widest crack on the door but unable to make it in. Song Gang reported, "It won't fit."

Baldy Li anxiously scratched his head. "Think of something else."

Baldy Li heard Song Gang's labored breathing on the other side of the door. After a while he said, "I really can't get it in. Here, take a sniff first."

Song Gang thrust the candy close to the crack in the door. Baldy Li glued his nose to the crack and inhaled as deeply as he could. Finally he caught a whiff of the candy and burst into tears. Song Gang asked from outside, "Baldy Li, why are you crying?"

Through his tears Baldy Li replied, "I can smell the White Rabbits."

Song Gang started giggling. When Baldy Li heard him, he also started giggling, alternating his sobs with his giggles. The two boys then sat on the ground, one inside the house and the other outside, and chatted for a long time. Song Gang told Baldy Li about the countryside: how he had learned to fish, climb trees, plant sprouts, thresh wheat, and pick cotton. Baldy Li told Song Gang about all the things that had happened in town: how long-haired Sun Wei was dead, and how even Mama Su from the snack shop was now wearing a wooden placard. When he described how Sun Wei had died, Song Gang started weeping. "That poor guy"

The boys spoke through the door as if nothing separated them. They chatted all afternoon, but when Song Gang saw that the sun was setting on the alley, he hurriedly stood up and told Baldy Li that he had to get going. It was a long way home, so he had to get on his way. Baldy Li knocked from inside, pleading with Song Gang to stay for a while longer. "Its not dark yet…"

Song Gang rapped back. "But once its dark, I won't be able to find my way."

Before Song Gang left, he hid the White Rabbits under the front stoop, explaining that if he put them on the window ledge someone else might take them. But he came back after taking a few steps, explaining that he was worried that worms under the stoop might eat the candy, so he plucked two wutong leaves, carefully wrapped the candy inside, then put them back under the stoop. He peered through the crack in the wall, took another look at Baldy Li, and said, "Goodbye, Baldy Li."

Sadly Baldy Li asked, "When will you start missing me again?"

Song Gang shook his head. "I don't know."

Baldy Li listened as Song Gang walked off, his nine-year-old footsteps as light as a chick's. Baldy Li kept his eyes glued to the crack in the wall, guarding his milk candies like a hawk. Whenever anyone walked by, Baldy Li's heart would beat wildly, afraid they would flip over the stone stoop. He hoped that dusk would come quickly so that Li Lan would come home and open the door, allowing him to finally get his hands on the White Rabbits.

Song Gang quietly walked to the end of the alley and onto the main street. He looked all about him as he walked, seeing familiar houses and trees, and people fighting, crying, and laughing. Some of the people seemed to know him, and so he smiled at them, but no one paid
him any heed. A bit disappointed, he walked down the two main streets, over the wooden bridge, and out the towns southern gate. He lost his way at the first fork in the road after leaving the main gate and merely stood there, not knowing which way to turn. He could see that on one side were fields and houses, while the other side stretched out to the horizon. Song Gang stood at the intersection for a long time until he saw a man walking down the road. He cried out, "Uncle, uncle," and asked the man how to get to his grandfathers village. The man shook his head, saying that he didn't know, and then walked off. Song Gang stood amid the fields under the endless expanse of sky, becoming increasingly terrified. After letting out a few sobs, he wiped his tears and walked back through the southern gate into Liu Town.

Even after Song Gang left, Baldy Li's eyes remained glued to the crack in the door. His eyes were tired and blurry when he suddenly saw Song Gang walking back toward him. Baldy Li thought that Song Gang had started missing him again already and had walked back to see him. He pounded the door happily, shouting, "Song Gang, did you start missing me again?"

Song Gang shook his head. "I'm lost. I don't know the way home and don't know what to do."

Baldy Li chuckled and rapped on the door, comforting Song Gang. "Don't worry. Just wait till Mama gets home. She knows how to get to your house, so she could take you back."

Song Gang decided that Baldy Li had a point, so he nodded and peered at Baldy Li before settling himself back down on the ground. Baldy Li also sat down. The two boys resumed their chatting, their backs against each other, separated by the door. This time it was Song Gang who told Baldy Li all the things that were going on in town, all the people he had seen on the street who were fighting and crying and laughing. As Song Gang spoke he suddenly remembered the White Rabbits, so he hurriedly lifted the stone stoop and retrieved them. He said, "That was close"—the worms had just eaten through the leaf wrappers but fortunately hadn't gotten to the candy. He carefully put the five pieces of candy into his pocket and then placed his hand protectively over it. After a while Song Gang said softly, "Baldy Li, I'm really hungry. I didn't have lunch. Could I have the candies?"

Baldy Li hesitated, unwilling to spare them. Outside Song Gang continued, "I'm starving. Just let me have one."

Baldy Li nodded and said, "Why don't you have four of them. Just save me one."

Song Gang shook his head. "Ill just have one."

Song Gang took one of the candies out of his pocket, examined it, then brought it up to his face and sniffed for a while. Baldy Li didn't hear any chewing, only sniffing, so he asked, "Why does your chewing sound like sniffing?"

Song Gang giggled. "I'm not eating. I'm just sniffing."

Baldy Li asked, "Why aren't you're eating?"

Song Gang swallowed his drool, saying, "I'm not going to eat it. They're all for you. I'll just take a few sniffs."

Right then Li Lan came home. From inside Baldy Li first heard his mother's shout of surprise and delight, then her rapid footsteps; then he heard Song Gang cry out, "Mama!" Li Lan ran up to the house and scooped Song Gang up in her arms, all the while chattering nonstop like a machine gun. Baldy Li, meanwhile, was still locked inside. He banged at the door with all his might, shouting and crying, but it took a while before Li Lan registered his cries and opened the door.

Baldy Li and Song Gang finally saw each other again in person. The two boys grabbed each other's hands and bounced up and down, hooting and hollering, until they both worked up a headful of sweat and the snivel from their noses dribbled into their mouths. They jumped about for more than ten minutes before Song Gang remembered the White Rabbits in his pocket. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he rooted around for the candies, counting out "one, two, three, four," and "five," as he placed them one by one into Baldy Li's hands. Baldy Li put four of them in his pocket but unwrapped the last one and popped it into his mouth.

Li Lan had suffered through a whole day of struggle sessions at the silk factory and was worn down and weary as she approached home. But the moment she saw Song Gang, her face lit up with excitement. This was the first time since Song Fanping's death that she had been this happy. She exclaimed that she was going to give the two boys a good meal to celebrate Song Gang's visit, and, taking them both by the hand, she set off for the People's Restaurant to get noodles. As they walked along the streets at dusk Baldy Li felt as if he had not been outside for years. He was so joyful that he no longer walked but skipped, and Song Gang did likewise. Li Lan led them with a broad smile, and
her happiness infected the boys as they skipped along even more cheerfully.

As they reached the bridge they saw Mama Su from the snack shop standing there with a wooden placard around her neck. Her daughter, Missy Su, stood by her side, clutching her shirttail. Song Gang walked up to Mama Su and asked, "Why would someone as kind as you have to wear a wooden placard?"

Mama Su, her head bowed, did not respond, but Missy Su wiped her tears upon hearing Song Gangs words. Li Lan also stood there with her head bowed, whispering to Baldy Li and giving him a gentle nudge to share a candy with Missy Su. Baldy Li gulped, fished out a White Rabbit from his pocket, and painfully surrendered it to Missy Su, who reached out a tear-dampened palm and accepted it. Mama Su then looked up and smiled at Li Lan, and Li Lan smiled back. Li Lan stood for a while, then tugged at Song Gangs hand. Song Gang knew it was time to go. He said to Mama Su, "Don't worry. You will be rewarded in the next life."

Mama Su responded in a low voice, "You're a good boy. You will also be rewarded."

Mama Su then looked at Baldy Li and Li Lan and added, "You will all be rewarded."

Li Lan led Baldy Li and Song Gang to the People's Restaurant. The boys had not been there for a long time, the last time having been with Song Fanping, right after his flag-waving atop the bridge, when all of them were in heightened spirits. That time, everyone in the restaurant had gathered around as they ate their noodles, and the cook had even served them a special meat broth. Now the restaurant was nearly deserted. Li Lan ordered two bowls of plain noodles for the boys but didn't get anything for herself, explaining that she still had leftovers at home. As Baldy Li and Song Gang slurped down their bowls of steaming hot noodles, their noses were almost dripping into their soup. The noodle soup seemed to be as delicious as before. When the cook who had served them the last time saw that no one was paying attention, he came over and whispered, "I gave you the meat broth."

Li Lan led the two boys by the hand and walked along the street for a very long time. They passed by the basketball court that had once been all lit up. The three of them sat on stones next to the court and gazed out at the vast, empty ball court under the moonlight. Li Lan remembered how this space had once been brilliantly illuminated and
how Song Fanping had outshone everyone in that fierce game. She particularly remembered that awesome dunk of his, how the crowds momentarily fell silent, then exploded in gasps and cheers. Li Lan smiled to herself and told the boys, "Now that your father has passed away, there's no one in the world who can dunk a basketball like he could."

Song Gang stayed for two days at Baldy Li's place, but on the third morning his grandfather came, carrying a pumpkin on his back. He declined to come inside, preferring to stand outside, head bowed. Li Lan greeted him warmly, calling him Father and leading him inside by the sleeve. The old landlord blushed and shook his head. There was nothing Li Lan could do to persuade him, so she brought a stool outside and invited him to sit down. The old landlord declined and instead continued to wait patiently for Song Gang to finish his breakfast, moving only to place the pumpkin beside the door. When Song Gang emerged, his grandfather took him by the hand and, bowing slightly to Li Lan, led him away.