The Beauty of Humanity Movement (78 page)

“Cheers, my friend,” Ph
ng says, reaching for the nearly empty bottle. He drains it, then burps. “Do you ever think you might not get married?”

T
raises his eyebrows. What’s this all about? Of course T
doesn’t think this; not getting married is not an option.

“Did I ever tell you how my parents met?” Ph
ng continues. T
knows Ph
ng’s father was a soldier when he met his mother, a village woman. He had an awful job with the People’s Army, scouting for land mines along the border with the South. Ph
ng’s father used to tell him about how he would be sent on ahead of the troops and usually find himself in some village at night, where people were obliged to feed him and give him a bed because he was one of the good soldiers fighting for the freedom of the country.

“My father was sleeping in this house one night, and he got up to go and pee outside. When he came back inside he climbed into the nearest of the son’s beds. Except it wasn’t their son he crawled into bed with, was it?” says Ph
ng. “It was their daughter.

“But how was he supposed to know? All the children were bald; their heads had been shaved because of lice. The girl screamed and my dad was so terrified he slapped his hand over her mouth to quiet her. They stayed in this position all night, both of them trembling with fear.

“The next morning, the girl’s father wouldn’t look at either of them. He just said, ‘Take her. Take her away.’

“But what was my father supposed to do? He said to this man, ‘Look, I’m a soldier. My job is to locate land mines. This is the middle of the war. I sleep in a different bed every night, if I sleep at all. I can’t possibly take the girl with me.’

“The girl’s father said, ‘Take her or I will kill her.’”

“
Ôi z’ôi ôi
,” says T
. “That girl is your mother?”

Ph
ng nods. “He had to take her,” he says, shrugging. “He threw her over his shoulder and ordered her to stop screaming. She was only eleven years old. He had to hide her in holes and tunnels, and he left
her with water and rice cakes, and he always promised to return, even though every time he went to search for land mines he thought he would be killed. She’s never forgiven him.”

“But they’ve been married forever,” says T
. “And they have you and your sister.”

“Still,” says Ph
ng.