Old Town (34 page)

Ninth Brother pointed to the chair beside him. “Sit down and calm yourself a bit.”

“I can’t be calm. Do you know what Baosheng is doing every evening, coming and going like a shadow?”

Ninth Brother’s tone of voice was very steady. He said, “Sit down. Let us just pray for him.”

Second Sister lowered herself slowly into the chair. “It seems you already know. Why don’t you keep him in line? It’s been so hard for the five of us to get to where we are today.”

“It’s not easy for anybody. Don’t all families have a father, a mother, sons and daughters? Our children have been given to our Heavenly Father. So don’t worry so much.”

Second Sister stared at her husband, a furtive tear trickling down her cheek. “Oh, you! Normally you can’t bear to step on an ant. But where it concerns your son’s life, you aren’t worried. You’re too rigid in your feelings toward your own family.”

Ninth Brother heaved a great sigh and, closing his eyes, said, “I’ve already known for more than a month now, and during that time every night Baosheng never came home. And I can’t sleep at all.”

Second Sister wiped her tears and her heart ached as she looked at her husband. She knew that lately he hadn’t been sleeping very well and thought it was because his body had become overheated. Today she had boiled some cooling green bean soup for him.

“Why don’t you stop him?”

Ninth Brother still kept his eyes closed. “The child’s grown now. He’s beyond our control. Let’s just pray for him.”

Second Sister couldn’t stop the terrified images from piling up in her mind. It was as if it all were actually happening in some corner of Old Town. She stood up. “I still want to go find Baosheng.”

Ninth Brother took hold of her. “Let’s just pray.”

The oil lamp burned dry and the flame was out. Their prayers still went on.

3.

T
HE
MORE SHE
thought about it the more uneasy she felt. But she felt it impossible to express her anxieties and hidden resentment to her husband. Ninth Brother was full of compassion for the world. His own family was only one part of the world and he didn’t see them in a different light just because they were his wife and children. As the head of a family he possessed absolute authority and could totally prevent tragedy from happening. But he seemed unmoved, as if he were indifferent to Baosheng being one of his children. The three young ones were all flesh of her flesh. She would not stand by and watch any one of these being hurt in any way. She was going to launch a “protect the calves” campaign right under Ninth Brother’s own eyes.

During that period, Second Sister became a bit neurotic. Every night when Ninth Brother had fallen asleep, she would softly get out of bed and make her way in the darkness as if sleepwalking to count her children. Baohua had the habit of grinding her teeth at night. Standing in front of the door she would listen to the little gnawing-rat sounds the child would make. She would then feel her way to her sons’ room. Every time he turned over in his sleep Baoqing muttered incomprehensible words. Baosheng was still falling asleep like that before taking off all his clothes. She pulled back the cotton cover and took off his dirty clothes and socks. As usual, as he shifted from place to place, he would snore like thunder.

Turning over, Baoqing said, “Wait for me, bro.” These words were said very distinctly and Second Sister heard in them a danger signal. Who knows how many plots and deceptions these two little kittens were hatching in this small room behind their closed door?

She climbed up into the little attic before dawn. That was where the owner of the house had piled up all kinds of things. Up and down she carried bucket after bucket of water until finally the place was clean.

The first lunar month had not yet come to an end and Old Town folk held it taboo to do any major cleaning up during this month. Ninth Brother, seeing her busying away, covered with dust and dirt and the sweat soaking her back, asked, “What gave you the idea to do all this cleaning?”

“Baoqing is big now. He should have his own room.”

Ninth Brother had never paid much mind to folk customs and was not overly suspicious, so he didn’t see that Second Sister was just then doing things her own way, even if it meant deviating from accustomed thinking and practice.

Who is more important, the husband or the children?
Second Sister really couldn’t tell, but relying on her maternal instincts, she opened up mother-hen wings to shelter her chicks from the winds and the rain.

When Baoqing came home from school his mother brought him up to the little attic. “Son, you know Ma loves you the best. You have to obey and from today on come back home right on the dot. And in the evening you’re not to take even one step away from home.”

“Ma, this evening I want to go with Elder Brother to read books at the bookstore.”

Second Sister secretly congratulated herself on taking this timely measure. “That’s just what I mean! You can’t go running around with Elder Brother. Now…Obey!”

“He hasn’t done anything bad.”

“I don’t care what he’s done. I’m not letting you hang around with him! Do you want Ma to go on her knees before you?”

This frightened Baoqing and he quickly replied, “Ma, I’ll do as you say!”

After eating dinner, Baosheng signaled to Baoqing that it was time to go out. Baoqing shook his head in refusal.

Second Sister picked up the laundry bucket and followed Baosheng out. She walked past the street crossing and stopped him. “I’m not asking you where you are going, but I want to tell you, you are making Daddy and me lose our sleep every night.”

Baosheng lowered his head and, looking at the tips of his toes, said haltingly, “I’ll come home a little earlier.”

“Your Dad doesn’t control you. I don’t control you either. Don’t involve your sister and brother in this. Son, the trials and tribulations this family has gone through, you yourself ought to remember. Something unexpected and unpleasant can happen in the family to no matter whom.”

Sobbing, Second Sister was unable to go on.

Baosheng came forward to support his mother. He put down the little bench for doing the laundry and sat her down on it. “Ma, you’ve forgotten. I can use my slingshot,” he said with a laugh. And with that he drew from his pocket the little catapult and several glossy little stones. “This is my rifle. Whatever flies in the air or runs on the ground with two legs or four, one shot will lay it low for three days.”

“Oh, you! So big now, and still this naughty.” Second Sister laughed, bitterly shaking her head. “Legs grow out of your body and you just go wherever you please!”

Baosheng came close to his mother’s ear and said, “Ma, the daylight is coming. And when the day breaks everything is going to get better.”

Second Sister raised her eyes heavenward. The sky was just getting pitch black.
What kind of craziness is this child talking?

“You’re not to stay out until daybreak!”

Baosheng left. Second Sister was standing there blankly when she saw Elder Sister, a bundle coiled in her hand, approaching West Gate from the southern part of Old Town.
I’m sure she’s running from his temper once again
. Second Sister straightened up and was about to rise and greet her but then sat back down again. Elder Sister loved to talk and always wanted to get to the bottom of things. She also loved to make things up out of thin air. If she discovered any “spider threads and horse hoofmarks”—clues, in other words—about Baosheng, and after a few days made peace again with her husband and went meekly back to the Zhang household, there’s no telling what she would then say.
No! I can’t let her go back home
.

Elder Sister bent over the Eight Immortals table, tears pouring out of her. Her scoundrel of a husband had again beaten her over the usual petty matter. Off to the side, Second Sister listened to the end of the story and then gave her a hot towel.

“You came at just the right time. Fourth Sister has taken ill. It’s still not too late in the day for us to go see her, and it would be even better if you could stay a few days with her.”

When Elder Sister heard that her fourth sister was sick, she forgot all about her own heartbreak, and, giving her face a good wipe, picked up her bundle and was ready to set off.

Two days before, Second Sister had gone to see her mother. There she found out that Fourth Sister had miscarried and was in an extremely weak condition. Fourth Sister’s husband never lifted one finger to help her, so the sick woman still had to wash the clothes and cook the meals. That family really did need someone to help out.

So I really haven’t told a lie
, Second Sister thought.

Two hours later Second Sister returned home. Ninth Brother was sitting by the lamp reading the Bible. He asked her, “Why hasn’t Elder Sister come back with you?”

“I had her stay to take care of Fourth Sister for a few days so she wouldn’t have to sit around here doing nothing and feeling worse.”

“That makes good sense.”

The way Ninth Brother looked when he praised her made Second Sister feel a bit guilty.
Have I gotten used to telling lies now?
She took up her sewing and as she squeezed in front of the lamp, silently said to the Angel,
“O Angel, forgive me. Actually, I was only hiding some ideas from Ninth Brother. If that offended you, please go easy with me.”

4.

B
AOHUA STEPPED INTO
the classroom just as the bell for classes rang. She had been like this ever since she was little, always arriving late at a languorous pace, and rushing off in a hurry. When she reached the third year of lower-middle school, she wouldn’t have been able to call most of her classmates by name. Everyone, including the teachers, called her Little Miss Dainty. In fact, she had an inferiority complex and took on an unsociable and eccentric air to cover up her feelings of unworthiness. Because she was exceedingly petite and delicately built and because she couldn’t get the hang of mathematics, she refused to make friends in school.

The atmosphere in the class that day felt somehow different. More than half the desks were standing empty. When the bell rang, the students were still chirping and twittering among themselves—the place sounded like a vegetable market that had just opened. The Chinese language teacher stood by his lectern, at a total loss.

Baohua went to sit in her usual place. Beside her a girl student was saying to a friend, “Are you going to the general student demonstration today?”

They whispered together for a while, then stood up and left. The teacher pretended not to notice, and this in turn encouraged a great crowd of those restless and undecided students to leave the classroom with a noise like the rustling wind.

The teacher said, “I don’t know how to teach you remaining four or five kittens. Just study by yourselves and if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can come and ask.”

Several girl students gathered together and boldly expressed their views. Some said that there was going to be big trouble today, while others said, no, nothing big was going to happen. That long-haired student, the daughter of the boss of Old Town’s cigarette factory, said that the communists would be coming soon, and that they were especially against the people with money, so her family was moving its wealth to Hong Kong and she herself was about to go there to study.

Baohua sat all by herself off to one side, listlessly turning the pages of her schoolbooks. Hearing of the imminent arrival of the communists she felt a bit of excitement. When the communists came Enchun could also return to Old Town and continue his studies. She felt confident about taking the exams for the teachers’ training college. The gates of the Teachers’ Training College and the commercial college where Enchun studied faced each other across the way. They could go to school together again every day, just like they used to. Enchun would ride his bicycle, and as she fantasized riding on its top bar, her back glued to Enchun’s chest as they raced forward into the wind, Baohua felt all beautiful inside.

The bell sounded. The Chinese language teacher at his lectern pretentiously cleared his throat and announced the end of his class. Next was math class. Baohua dreaded math and the math teacher.
Since the teachers weren’t bothering about those skipping classes today, why don’t I just skip out too?
She collected all her schoolbooks and followed the Chinese language teacher out of the classroom.

She bought a few olives at the grocery shop at the street corner. As she chewed she thought about going to East Street to take a look at what was happening. She was a naturally timid girl and not someone who liked to join in any excitement, but she longed to hear more news about the communists. The communists were now closely linked with her happy life. Putting the last olive into her mouth, she abruptly made up her mind, turned about, and bravely headed for East Street.

At this very moment, an unexpected visitor arrived at the Lin home—Enchun’s friend, Huang Shuyi. Had Baohua decided instead to go home, she might have run into her quite by chance, and perhaps in later days the trajectory of her fate would have been completely different. Ninth Brother had left to make house calls, so Second Sister received this girl. The girl said that she and Enchun had left Old Ridge three months earlier and were now teaching school in a little market town more than sixty miles beyond Old Ridge. She herself had rushed home this time to attend her old grandmother’s funeral and had been entrusted by Enchun with a letter and gifts for his parents and all the Lin family.

Second Sister exchanged conventional greetings with the girl and asked about Enchun. When the girl spoke of him a blush spread over her cheeks and Second Sister could tell that she liked Enchun very much. She supposed that they shared many goals in common and that, later on, when they became man and wife they would become even more congenial. Enchun had been a well-behaved and good boy ever since he was a child. So Ninth Brother early on saw him as a “half son” and hoped that when he and Baohua grew up they each could get positions as grade school teachers and live out their lives in peace and security. He never expected Enchun to be so discontented with his lot in life. Second Sister had already given up this “half son” because her Baohua was a weak and shy child, unable to stand the bumps and jolts of life.

The girl, Huang Shuyi, took her leave without waiting for Dr. Lin to return. Second Sister opened the presents. There was a piece of gambiered fabric from Guangdong Province, enough for a summer outfit for each member of the Lin family, and a small red paper packet for Baohua, with a silk handkerchief and short letter inside. In the letter Enchun welcomed Baohua to spend some time with him during the vacation period.

Second Sister put the handkerchief and letter into her pocket. While she was cooking lunch, she sat in front of the oven, took these items out and looked at them over and over. She wondered…if Baohua saw this letter, would she be willing to wait for her vacation to go find Enchun? She was that headstrong and willful. When a contrary mood struck her she was uncontrollable. Second Sister knew that last year when Baohua had been sick and had to quit school, this was connected to Enchun. Whatever else, they had to avoid any further trouble. She decided to hold on to the letter.

Baohua took a shortcut and hurried to East Street. The demonstrators had already reached the gate of the city government at Drum Tower and there were only a few people who had not yet dispersed from watching the uproar. On the ground were many placards. Baohua picked one up that read “Oppose Hunger.” She assumed that this demonstration had nothing to do with the communists. By the side of the road were a few people whispering to each other that over by Drum Tower the police had come out in force and scattered the demonstrators, and that a lot of students had been seized. Hearing that the police were arresting people, Baohua immediately took off for home. As she was nearing West Gate she happened to run into Mrs. Chen just then seeing Huang Shuyi off. Her heart felt as if it had been scalded.
Had Enchun come home?

Turning around, Mrs. Chen caught sight of Baohua. “Is school out, Baohua?”

“Hello, Auntie. Who was that woman?”

She didn’t know that Baohua had met Huang Shuyi. “That’s your Enchun’s colleague. I just found out that Enchun is a grade-school teacher in another part of the country. Thank the Lord, this is really very good news.”

“Does she teach together with Older Brother Enchun?”

“Oh, yes. And in two years you too can become a grade-school teacher.”

“How is it that Older Brother Enchun hasn’t come home?”

“He should soon. He can be back during the next school vacation.”

Mrs. Chen had Baohua wait a bit while she cut some roses for her to take home. When she came back out of the house with the clippers, Baohua was gone without a trace.

Under a tree beside Little West Lake, Baohua wiped away her tears. She never expected that the relationship between that girl student and Enchun would have been so close. Last year she had been really shocked when those two had left Old Town together. Later she knew that Enchun was in trouble and had to leave and at the time she thought that girl student was just helping him get out of Old Town. It was only today that she discovered they had been together all along. They had gone together to Old Ridge and then together had gone to some distant place to teach. Enchun had entrusted the girl with visiting his father and mother. This implied something very special, for sure. However, this time Baohua wasn’t so fragile. She decided to cut the bond of affection between them in one stroke and never pay any more attention to him. She vowed that someday she would marry a man who was more handsome than Enchun.

This day was unusual for the three children of the Lin family. Baosheng and Baoqing both took part in the demonstration, and Baosheng was also a subleader of this particular student movement.

The eldest of the Guo sons saw all of this happening from the street at Drum Tower and, all stirred up, he shouted out slogans along with the students. During the previous year, before there had been any student demonstrations in Old Town, he had himself attacked the government office. By then, his home had been out of liquor for days. He really hated the government.

Suddenly, at the very moment the police began to move in, he spotted his nephew Baoqing among the student demonstrators. Out in the front ranks it was utter chaos. He lunged forward and seized Baoqing by the ear. “You come home with me!”

Terrified, Baoqing begged for mercy. “Uncle, please, whatever you do, don’t tell Ma! Tomorrow I’ll send you over a bottle of liquor.”

When he heard there
was
liquor, Eldest Brother Guo was even less willing to let go of him. “I’m your mother’s brother and I can’t stand by and watch you court death. You’ve got to come with me!”

So, in this way, Baoqing was dragged home by his drunkard uncle.

Everything was quite peaceful at West Gate. Second Sister still didn’t know that the students had taken to the streets. After making lunch, she waited for the children to come home.

Eldest Brother Guo didn’t betray Baoqing. He wheedled his way to a bottle of watered-down grain spirits, and went off muttering and swearing to himself.

Baohua also returned, the same as always.

Baosheng got hit by a police baton at the gateway of the city government. One-half of his face was all a great bruise. When he got back home he told his parents that he hadn’t been watching where he was going and had bumped into the south wall. That morning Ninth Brother had gone out on house calls and heard about the student demonstration. Afraid that this would worry Second Sister, he didn’t mention it to her. In words pregnant with meaning he ordered his son, “Be careful when you go out on the street.” His father’s gentle and concerned glance made Baosheng so choked up he couldn’t eat.