Mingmei Yip - Song of the Silk Road

“No, go right now!” I was surprised to hear my voice like that of a stern mother talking to her unruly child.

He uttered a dejected, “Yes, ma’am,” and left for the communal bathroom.

During my turn, it was not surprising to find that the water was just a trickle of lukewarm, brownish liquid and the walls as filthy and slimy as the ground. People must have wiped their noses or even peed on them. This was the most unpleasant, unromantic bathing experience I’d ever had. But I closed my eyes and remembered when Alex saw my half-naked body striking erotic poses in the legendary Concubine Yang’s spa. From that moment on, I had become his femme fatale and he my homme carnal. I smiled, despite showering in a dirty bathroom where ironically I was trying to rub myself clean.

Suddenly, after the unsatisfactory shower, I needed to find the toilet, to do my business, hopefully with satisfaction. There was no need to ask where it was. I just followed the stink—more effective and less confusing than any visual signpost—leading me to my destination, which was about ten yards from the hotel.

The toilet looked even more disheartening than I’d expected—and my expectation was pretty low in this part of China. It was shielded only by four flimsy, wooden planks. Cracks between the “walls” were so wide that people didn’t need to peek but could easily see all. Inside, everything left by previous visitors was on open display. Holding my breath, I braced myself to go inside, pulled down my pants, and tried my best. While still in the nurturing stage, suddenly I heard some strange noises coming from underneath me. Seized by an unspeakable panic, I snatched up my pants and yelled, “Who’s there? Pervert! I’m going to call the police!”

The noise continued loud and clear despite my threat. This just couldn’t be a Peeping Tom, or Wong. Could it?

Gingerly I looked down to see two big, curious eyes staring back at me.

Those of a fat pig, its coat crusted with… Yuck!

Just as I was about to step out of the pit, the noise rose again, this time even louder.

“What’s a pig doing underneath the toilet?” I muttered to myself.

However, feeling somewhat relieved that at least it was not a John or a Tom or a Wang, I shooed the pig away, pulled my pants down, and successfully relieved myself.

Just then a great commotion arose like a small carnival below me.

“Oh, my God, what’s happening?” I quickly wiped my bottom, pulled up my pants, and looked down. To my utter shock and disgust, there was a whole group—adult, teenage, and baby pigs—competing to snatch up what my bottom had just dropped!

I dashed outside the toilet and sprinted back to the hotel as if chased by the King of Hell wielding a rusty sword.

After I plunged into our room, a startled Alex stared at me. “You OK?”

Still panting heavily, I asked, “Alex, are you going to use the bathroom?”

“Yeah, why not?” He made a funny face. “Anyone there?”

“No.”

“Then what’s up?”

“It’s for me to know and for you to find out.” I giggled. “Be careful what you wish for… you’ll be getting your oink, oink….”

Alex threw me a puzzled look, grabbed the toilet paper, and left. I decided that while he’d be conducting his business cheered by his beloved “oink, oink,” I’d take a walk to stretch my limbs and calm myself. On the ground there was practically nothing to see except a few telephone poles above and tiny lizards darting around below. The sky, however, had turned a striking purple, set off by a few reddish gold clouds. In the very far distance, a dry tree trunk surrounded by bushes looked like it was trying to touch the sky, as if bridging heaven and earth. The image was so unexpectedly beautiful that I felt lost, imagining myself the first human at the beginning of time. I rushed back into the hotel to snatch my camera, then dashed back out to snap pictures.

It was the chirping of a bird that pulled me back to the here and now and the darkening sky. I suddenly thought that Alex must be back and worrying about me. I started to run back to the hotel.

To my great relief, Alex was sound asleep in bed. Poor thing! He must have been exhausted from the long day’s driving. Feeling totally awake myself, I sat on the sofa, turned on the TV, keeping the volume low, and tried to see if there was anything interesting to keep me company. Alas, it was snowing heavily—not outside, of course, but on the screen. I twisted the antenna for a few minutes before I could finally recognize that it was a kung fu movie with ferocious faces, swift-flying legs and fists, and Bruce Lee-esque howling. After a few more minutes, during which I could not see through the “snowstorm” to decide who was the hero and who the villain, I turned it off.

Finally boredom took over so I switched off the light and crawled into bed. Although Alex was sound asleep, I could feel his body heat envelop me. I was also relieved that sex was not in the cards, since it looked like he was going to sleep through the night. However, even in his deep sleep, occasionally he’d reach out to hold me, grasp my hand, or touch my leg, then gave out a few satisfied murmurs before he fell back into oblivion.

My young lover, silent and motionless except for his chest’s gentle heaving, turned into a child in front of me. Staring at his innocence and vulnerability I felt overwhelmed by an expansive tenderness. A motherly voice told me that I should be the one who’d protect and take care of him, not the other way around. Poor child, he must have long suffered from his biological parents’ abandonment, then his adoptive parents’ emotional neglect. He must be very lonely. I couldn’t remember him ever mentioning any friends, male or female. Did he have any?

I cuddled against Alex and buried my face in his naked chest, feeling his heart beating with mine in the dark. As I was letting the day’s cares melt away, I suddenly felt a sharp sting on my right toe, and a loud “Aiiiya!” shot out from my mouth.

Alex sprang up from the bed and pulled me to him. “Are you hurt?” he asked, his arms protective and his voice frightened.

“My foot!”

“Wait,” he said, and went to snap on the light.

Feeling the sharp, throbbing pain escalating, I yelled, “Alex, it’s my right toe!”

“Don’t move and let me take a look.” He knelt down by the bed and lifted my foot. “My God, it’s red and swollen.”

Before I had a chance to respond, Alex was already sucking hard at my toe and spitting out brownish liquid. I was too frightened even to ask him to stop. Oh, God, I’m not ready to die. Please just let me go in and come out of this terrible desert!

Finally Alex stopped, big beads of perspiration oozing from his forehead and coursing down his cheeks.

He said, his expression dead serious, “Lily, we’d better go to the hospital right now.” Despite the gentle sound, I knew it was an order, not a suggestion.

At the counter, the receptionist was fast asleep on a cot, but Alex awakened him in a peremptory tone and demanded directions to the hospital.

The rest was a blur. I knew that Alex carried me all the way to the truck and drove me to a hospital, but I had no idea where. A young doctor with a frayed white coat checked my toe, cleansed and bandaged it, then gave me an injection. Alex and I both felt tremendous relief when he told us the bite, probably from a scorpion, was painful but not lethal. However, I needed to stay overnight for observation. After this “good” news, I collapsed onto the stained hospital bed.

Early the next morning, the doctor came back to check up on me. He did another examination, changed the bandage, and gave me another injection. After that, he handed me a small plastic bag of medicine and gave instructions on how to take it. Alex and I thanked him profusely, paid, left the hospital, then drove back to the hotel.