Ha Jin - A Free Life

Nan didn't argue with her, knowing he couldn't make her change her mind, but he talked with their son, who promised not to fight with his hands again.

In reality there was no need for Taotao to keep his word-Sean and Matt left him alone thereafter. For several days smaller boys dared not sit close to Taotao, who was known as a tough kid. But soon they forgot about the fight and accepted him as one of them.

Despite her hard words, Pingping had been worried about the incident. She told Janet about Taotao's violent act. To her surprise, her friend assured her, "No big deal. As long as they don't bother him again, this is over. In a way, Taotao did the right thing. What else could he do to stop them? You should be proud of him. My brother once was bullied by a bigger boy in our neighborhood, and my mother wouldn't let him in unless he went to fight with the boy on the street."

"How is your brother now?"

"He's doing fine. He's a financial planner in North Carolina, making tons of money." Janet smiled, her upper lip shaded by blond fuzz.

Pingping didn't reveal Janet's opinion to her husband, unsure whether Janet was just partial to Taotao. She knew the Mitchells adored the boy.

AFTER mid-October business turned brisk at the Gold Wok. Because Pingping no longer had time to go home and check on Tao-tao in the evenings, she made him stay in the restaurant after dinner, doing homework and waiting for his parents to close up. At school, his classmates had been talking about Halloween. He was quiet about it, knowing he wouldn't be able to go trick-or-treating as he had done back in Massachusetts. His parents did ask him whether he wanted a costume, but he said he wasn't interested.

Pingping bought two large pumpkins and placed them at the front door of their house. Taotao hollowed them out and carved the jack-o'-lanterns, but didn't put a candle inside. Across the street, in Alan's yard, a pear tree was laden with dozens of tiny pumpkins, all made of plush and wearing a painted smile. Whenever a breeze blew, those orange-yellow fruit, resembling giant apples, would jerk and bob incessantly.

On Halloween Eve, just after dark, Pingping and Taotao returned home, carried out a folding table, and set it up in their driveway, near the carport. On it they put a lamp and three baskets of candies: peanut butter cups, toffees, and egg-shaped chocolates. Since they had to go back to the restaurant, they Scotch-taped to the tabletop a sign, an oblong of cardboard, which said PLEASE LEAVE SOME FOR OTHERS!

There were a lot of customers at the Gold Wok that evening, and Taotao looked unhappy and restless, even though his parents allowed him to watch TV in the storage room. Toward nine o'clock, Janet came and said to Pingping, "I waited for Taotao at home, but he didn't show up. We prepared lots of goodies for kids. You should've let him join others to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood."

"Your house is too far away," said Pingping.

"Fiddlesticks, it's just a five-minute drive."

"Taotao has homework to do."

"Oh, Pingping, it's Halloween. Let him go out and have some fun."

"He can't go by himself. We are busy now."

"I can take him around to get some candies. Do you mind?"

"Of course not, but is not late?"

"Not really."

Pingping went to the storage room and called to Taotao. The boy was more than happy to leave with Janet, but he needed a getup. "I can't wear this," he said to his mother, pointing at his green V-neck.

"I ask whether you want special clothing, you said no. You can't blame me now."

"Don't worry," Janet stepped in. "We have a vampire mask at home. You can use that."

"I love that humongous thing!" The boy had seen that grotesque face hanging in the Mitchells' game room.

"Oh yeah?" Janet said. "You can wear that. I'll figure out what to put on myself."

Nan told his son to come home soon, which Taotao promised to do. After Janet and the boy left, Nan, Pingping, and Tammie went about wiping the tables and mopping the floor, though there were still six customers eating in the room.

When they had closed up, they set out for home without delay. It was a clear night, and the stars seemed less distant than usual. In the air lingered a smell of burned grass and wood. On the street across the lake, flashlights were flickering, and groups of children in ghostly garb were still walking back and forth, some accompanied by dogs and grown-ups. There was also a lantern bobbing in the distance like a will-o'-the-wisp. Merry cries and laughter surged up now and again.

In the Wus' driveway the lamp was still on. To Pingping and Nan 's surprise, none of the baskets on the table was empty, all still half full. Into the original chocolates, toffees, and peanut butter cups were mixed some other kinds of goodies-3 Musketeers, gumballs, peppermint patties, jellybeans, M amp;M's. There was also a red apple half buried in the candies. Both Nan and Pingping burst into laughter, amazed that the children were so innocent that they'd thought the sign begged them to leave some of their own spoils for others. The Wus were touched. Nan said thoughtfully, "If this were in China, the lamp, the extension cord, the baskets, the pumpkins, and even the table would be gone, much less the sweets." "That's true," agreed Pingping.

As they were speaking, a bunch of Ninja Turtles, each wearing a plastic carapace, appeared down the street, jabbering and capering. Nan cupped his hands around his mouth and cried at them, "Hey, do you want more candies?"

"Sure we do," a girl trilled back.

Immediately Pingping removed one of the baskets and placed it under their Ford parked in the carport. She wanted to save it for Tao-tao. The children raced over, brandishing their rubber swords, their capes fluttering.

A boy asked the Wus, "How many can we have?"

"As many you want," said Pingping.

In no time the children pocketed and bagged all the goodies from the two baskets, then headed away for the next lighted house.

Nan turned, enfolded Pingping with one arm, and kissed her on the cheek. Surprised, she asked with a smile, "What's that about?"

"I'm happy. If only we had once lived like those kids."

EVER SINCE they'd bought the restaurant, Nan and Pingping had been thinking of finding a legal guardian for Taotao. If they both died, they wanted their son to be safe and raised with care and love. They thought about a few Chinese couples they had known in the North, but none of them were suitable, mainly because those people already had children and might not treat Taotao like their own. If only they had a family member or relative in America. After long consideration, they decided to ask the Mitchells to be Taotao's guardians in case they both departed this life. Dave and Janet were good-hearted and financially secure. More important, they were fond of children and could give Taotao a loving home.

When Nan and Pingping mentioned this to Janet, Janet was amazed, her eyes aglow. She said, "We'll be more than happy to be his guardians."

"What we do and make this legal?" asked Pingping.

"We should see an attorney perhaps, if you want to spell it out on paper. Dave will be thrilled to hear this."

So on the first Monday morning of December the two couples arrived at the Shang Law Office in Chinatown. Mr. Shang had just undergone eye surgery and was wearing a green eyeshade, which somehow reminded Nan of a photograph of James Joyce. The Wus reiterated to him their intention-they wanted the Mitchells to keep their son and property if they both died. Mr. Shang said, "That's a good idea. You belong to the propertied class now." Three days earlier Nan had called and given him all the names and information needed for the agreement, so he assumed that the paperwork was already done.