Anchee Min - Pearl of China

Absalom’s forehead was bleeding. He had tried to stop the mob and had been knocked down. Even that hadn’t stopped Absalom from continuing to reason with the intruders. He was determined to show God’s grace. It had been Papa who had offered his last money to the looters so they would leave.

Pearl was devastated to learn that the dean of the university, a personal friend, had been killed.

“More soldiers will be coming to Nanking,” Papa predicted.

Pearl and Grace held their children. Grace wept. The sisters wondered if it would be wise to separate the family.

Papa told Pearl that soldiers and mobs were everywhere and that it wasn’t safe to be outside. “They will shoot the moment they see a foreigner.”

Absalom talked again about faith in God.

Pearl turned away.

Absalom suggested that they all pray together. “Let us properly prepare to meet our fate.”

No one responded.

Absalom went to his room and closed the door.

Pearl and Grace looked at each other. Their eyes were filled with tears.

I was afraid. No one knew what to do.

Pearl took a pen and paper and began to write quickly.

“I’m going to the pier,” she announced. “Perhaps a foreign ship might take pity on us. It won’t hurt to try. I am writing down all our names.”

“Let me do it,” I volunteered. “You’d be a walking target with your blonde hair.”

Pearl gave me the folded letter. “Give this to anyone whom you think could help us.”

“Let me go,” Papa offered. “The soldiers will rape Willow. Besides, she is pregnant.”

“No, Papa,” I said. “You are old…”

Before I could say more, Papa took the letter from Pearl and left the house. I had never seen him run so fast. His small frame bounded like a deer as he moved out of sight.

We dared not light candles. The children were asleep. Pearl and Grace stood behind the front door. They listened to every sound. I was exhausted from carrying water to the house and tried to sleep on a straw mat on the floor. I thought about Dick and Papa and prayed for their safety.

Hours later, a loud banging on the door woke me from a deep sleep.

Thinking it was the mob, everyone jumped up.

“Who is it?” Pearl asked.

“Open the door, please! It’s me, Soo-ching!”

“Do I know you?” asked Pearl.

“Yes, I delivered my son in your backyard!”

“What?”

“My name is Soo-ching, and my son’s name is Confucius!”

“Oh, Confucius, yes, I remember!” Pearl opened the door.

A heavy manure stink came with her into the room.

“What has happened to you, Soo-ching?” Pearl asked.

“I poured a bucket of feces over myself for safety,” she said.

“How can I help you?” Pearl asked.

“Help me? No, I’m here to help you! Because tomorrow you will be dead!”

“What do you mean, Soo-ching?”

“I was forced to cook for the soldiers. They are preparing a celebration banquet for tomorrow. I asked what for, and they said they were going to kill all the foreigners in Nanking, tomorrow!”

Pearl’s face turned pale.

“I come to offer you a hiding place, Mrs. Pearl,” Soo-ching said.

“How kind of you, Soo-ching!” Pearl cried.

“Buddha blesses you, Pearl. You offered me a drop of water when I was dying of thirst. Now it is my turn to offer you a flowing creek.” Soo-ching turned to introduce her son. “Confucius, come and pay your respect.”

Confucius, a stick-thin, cross-eyed boy, bowed to Pearl.

With tears in their eyes, Pearl ’s family, including Absalom, gathered. They followed Soo-ching and arrived at her thatched hut.

The moment Soo-ching opened the door, mosquitoes came swarming out like brown balls. They targeted our faces, arms, and legs. Their buzzing was like ten erhus playing at the same time.

“Everyone stays away because of the stink,” Soo-ching said.

As soon as Pearl, Grace, Absalom, and the children had let themselves into the hut, Soo-ching moved bales of hay against the door to seal it shut and make it difficult to open. She brought buckets of donkey piss and slopped it on the hard-packed ground before the door.

Papa showed up exhausted. He hadn’t been able to find any help. I asked what he’d done with Pearl ’s letter. He told me that he had given it to Carpenter Chan. “He’ll find a boat if there is a boat to be found.”

I was upset. “ Pearl has been waiting for your return.”

Papa said that it was time for us to think about our own survival. “Have you heard anything from your husband?” he asked. “I thought he would come to fetch you.”

“Dick did send a message,” I said. “But who is going to help Pearl and her family?”

“We have done our best,” Papa replied.

“Why don’t you go and find yourself a hiding place?” I was disappointed.

“I will.”

I never anticipated what would happen next: Papa and I were kidnapped in broad daylight. Unable to resist a reward, an acquaintance sold Papa to the soldier mobs.

The informer pointed at Papa. “This man knows exactly where the foreigners are hiding.”

Papa and I realized that we were dealing with professional soldiers whose leader was a warlord we used to know, Bumpkin Emperor.

It had been over twenty years since I had first met him. The man had gone from being a local warlord to becoming the commander of the Nationalist forces in our region. Bumpkin Emperor claimed that he had killed more foreigners than anyone else in the country. He was responsible for the dean’s death.

The soldiers prepared to torture us. They wanted to know the hiding place of the foreigners. I clenched my teeth and prayed. The soldiers choked me with hot-pepper water until I passed out.

I woke to a clean room. Papa was sitting next to me.

I sensed his nervousness and asked, “Papa, where are we?” I saw that his fingertips were wrapped in cloth bandages.

“Have some water, Willow.” He passed me the cup.

“No, Papa. Please, first explain what happened.”

“I’m getting you out of here.”

“Papa, what is going on?”

“I made a deal, and we are both going to be released.”

“Deal?” I stared at him. “What kind of deal? What did you do?”

He avoided my eyes.

“Speak, Papa!” I tried not to let my imagination run wild.

“The important thing is that both of us are safe,” he insisted. “Look at you, blood all over. You could have lost your baby.”

The possibility of what he might have done hit me.

“Don’t tell me, Papa, you didn’t…” I stopped, realizing what must have happened.

Papa lowered his head.

“This can’t be! No! Papa, it mustn’t be…”

Papa began to cry like a guilty child.

I could feel my blood freeze in my veins.

“I have committed a terrible crime.” Papa spoke in a small voice. “I deserve to go to hell.”

I pulled at his arms and shook him. “No! You didn’t do it!”

“They used sharpened bamboo splinters and shoved them under my fingernails.” He raised his hands and pulled off the cloth, revealing bloody fingers. “They said that they were going to kill you if I refused to cooperate.”

“You told them where Absalom and Pearl were hiding?”

Collapsing to his knees, Papa nodded.

“There are no foreigners here!” Soo-ching and Confucius shouted as they tried to push the soldiers away from the hut.

A crowd gathered and watched in fear.

One soldier hit Soo-ching with the butt of his rifle. She stumbled back, dazed, and her nose started to bleed.

Confucius jumped on the soldier and bit him.

Other soldiers pulled Confucius off and kicked the boy in the stomach.