Hwang Sok-Yong - The Shadow of Arms

“Mother’s sleeping and Mi also went to bed early tonight. Big brother is. .”

“Not in?”

Lei let out a short laugh. “He said he got married.”

“Then the sister-in-law must be at home. Big Brother married? Hard to believe.”

Lei quickly changed the subject. “I know, but I’ll tell you about it later. You haven’t eaten, have you?”

“Yes, I have.”

“So, why are you back? I thought I’d never see you again.”

“How’s Mother?”

“Same as always. So you didn’t join the Front?”

Minh shook his head helplessly.

“No, I couldn’t gather the courage. I’ve been to Saigon. I should continue studying, after all.”

Lei took his hand. “You did the right thing, Brother. Shoan’s been so wretched and pitiful. Every time she sees me, she asks if there has been any news of you.”

He suppressed the urge to ask after Shoan. “So. . our big brother got married. Don’t they live here?”

“No, I hear they have a place in Son Tinh. We haven’t seen it.”

Pham Minh knew very well what kind of area Son Tinh was.

“I have a favor to ask. Tomorrow, on the way to school, call brother Quyen for me.”

“Where, at his office?”

“Yes, just tell him I came back home.”

“All right, I’ll do it. Really, aren’t you going to see Shoan tomorrow?”

“I’ll contact her later.”

Minh placed a finger on Lei’s lips.

“And not a word about me to your friends, either. Promise?”

“Sure, I promise.”

“And what sort of woman is our new sister-in-law? How old is she?”

Lei shut her mouth. Then, all of a sudden, with tears welling up in her eyes, she put her arms around Minh’s neck.

“Big Brother has lost his mind. She’s a Korean woman, and they say she was a bargirl. So Mother is crying all day long.”

“It’s all right. I’ll see him and you shouldn’t worry about it.”

Minh patted Lei on the shoulder.

“I’ll bring you some green tea.”

“That’d be very nice.”

Lei went out to boil some water. Meanwhile, Pham Minh was sitting alone in her room. On Lei’s desk stood a palm-sized frame with a discolored snapshot inside. It was a picture of the two brothers and two sisters when they were children. Wasn’t it right after the Geneva Accords were announced? Sister Mi was a schoolgirl in an ahozai , Pham Quyen a young boy, and Pham Minh was holding little Lei who had on a white nightgown. Minh lifted up the picture, scrutinized it for a moment, then quickly set it back down with the image facing the wall.

“It’s for you, sir,” said Lieutenant Kiem, handing the receiver to Pham Quyen who was standing by the window, his morning cup of coffee in his hand.

“Who is it?”

“She said she’s your sister.”

Pham Quyen frowned. Chances were she’d be relaying his mother’s usual complaints.

He reluctantly took the telephone.

“It’s me. . what’s up?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “I’m busy, speak up.”

“Big Brother, well, I’m afraid you’ll have to come home today.”

“I know, it’s Mother again, isn’t it? So what’s ailing her this time?”

“Anyway, you should come.”

“Tell her I’ll stop by on Sunday. I have no time today.”

Lei sighed. “Little brother is back.”

“What? When?”

“Yesterday.”

“Are you home now?”

“No, on my way to school.”

“All right.”

Pham Quyen quickly replaced the receiver. Lieutenant Kiem held out a typed document.

“Here’s the list of members of the Autonomous Council.”

Quyen mechanically accepted the piece of paper.

“It needs the boss’s approval today.”

Quyen looked down at the roster of members of the Quang Nam Province Autonomous Council. He himself had drawn up the list along with several staff members of the Developmental Revolution Committee, a body composed mainly of soldiers.

“The first meeting is next week, right?”

“Yes, sir. Thirty representatives will attend.”

“We have plenty of time. Have it approved this afternoon. I’ll be out for a while. Did the general stay at Bai Bang last night?”

“Yes, and he’s still there, sir.”

That French mixed-blood tagged along with him from Saigon again, Quyen thought to himself as he picked up his hat.

“If the general asks for me, call me at home.”

“You mean in Son Tinh, sir?”

“No, the place on Doc Lap.”

Once outside the building, Quyen looked around. He saw the general’s garishly camouflaged convoy Jeep. The driver was rushing over toward him.

“Where’s the Land Rover?” Quyen asked.

“The general took it, sir. There’s a sedan.”

“No, just give me the keys to the Jeep.”

Quyen drove out in the Jeep General Liam used to commute back and forth to work. The star plate was covered.

Minh’s return meant he had completed a certain level of training. He might have come home to say goodbye before heading for a battle zone. Probably he hoped to return to Hue, but there would be little chance of that, Quyen told himself. Quyen meant to interrogate his brother himself. He wanted to find out his ideological bent and have him enlisted. He’d be a lot safer if he could manage to have him posted to a navy hospital ship. Or he could find a girl and marry him off. At any rate, that boy would not be allowed to move an inch until he changed his way of thinking.

After parking the Jeep in front of the house, Quyen stayed still in the driver’s seat until his breathing calmed down. Apart from Minh, he had also decided how to handle the rest of his family. No problem. He removed his.38 revolver from his belt, pushed the cylinder out and ejected five bullets, leaving only one. Then he placed the gun back in its holster.

He walked into the hall through the front door with wisteria growing on either side. Inside the living room, his mother was sitting in a chair in front of the bamboo screen and Minh was on a round stool in the corner leading toward Lei’s room. Minh was talking to his mother about something but fell silent when he saw Quyen come in. Both peered up at Quyen, each with a different look on their faces. His mother’s lips were already distorted.

“How could you do it? Abandoning your poor mother in a state like this. . That Dai Han woman is no daughter-in-law of mine. As long as I live, I’ll never allow such shameful behavior. Bring the bitch over here right now. I’ll tell her what kind of family we Phams are, and I’ll run her off. You’ve seen it yourself, haven’t you? That couple who used to live right here in the neighborhood. . ”

“That’s enough, Mother.”

“Now that Minh is back, I’ll say my piece to you in front of your brother. Remember that man, our old neighbor Cheng, who worked in the office of the old rubber factory? Was he ever treated decently by the other workers? You know why? Because he married a French whore, that’s why!”

“Ah, that wasn’t why they looked down on him. It was because he played the dog for the French plantation owner. Mimi is not an evil woman. And I rushed over here not because of her, but because of this boy here. Mother, we’ll talk about Mimi later. Now, you, I need to talk to you.”

Quyen pointed his finger at Minh, who stared back at him with a blank face. Quyen walked in toward Lei’s room. When his mother started to follow them, Quyen turned around and blocked her way.

“Why can’t you talk in my presence?” his mother asked. “Don’t trouble the boy with your trashy problems while he’s on leave. I’m going in with you myself to listen to the lies sitting right beside you.”