Ha Jin - A Free Life

Nan added, "She must have a dozen boyfriends, and you're just one of them, like a toy."

" How do you know?" asked Taotao.

His mother put in, "I took care of her for several years, and I know what she's like. She's not a serious girl. She's boy crazy and just playing games with you."

"She's my friend."

"You must never take a girlfriend like her."

"Why?"

"Why? Our family is not their kind and we're poor. We don't have eight fireplaces in our house, do we?" "No. But that doesn't mean she's bad."

"Stop arguing. I served the Masefields long enough. Do you want me to be a servant of my daughter-in-law?" " What are you talking about, Mom?"

Nan also felt that Pingping had stretched this too far, but he didn't say another word. He didn't want Taotao and Livia to be close friends either. He'd feel uncomfortable to see the Masefields again and was afraid they might not treat Taotao well.

" Do you want to be a servant boy all your life? " Pingping asked their son.

"No."

"Then drop Livia. You're a poor boy, and a rich girl like her will treat you like a piece of trash. Do you remember Phil?" Phil was Heidi's brother-in-law, a Spaniard without a penny of his own, and the Masefields would frown at him even in the presence of Heidi's sister, Rosalind, the one Phil had married.

"Yes, he's a good guy," Taotao said.

"Do the Masefields respect him?" asked his mother.

"Not really."

"Do you want to be like him?"

"Damn it, Mom! I'm not going to marry Livia, okay? You're crazy and imagined the whole thing."

"Then why do you carry on with her?" "We just have a good time."

"Stop this American 'fun' crap! I don't want you to learn how to toy with girls. You must be a serious and responsible man."

Taotao turned pensive, but looked unconvinced. His mother went on, "It just wastes your life to have a girlfriend so early. I want you to concentrate on your schoolwork. As for a girlfriend, you can wait until you graduate from college."

The boy made no reply and turned to his father, gazing at him beseechingly. Nan sympathized with his son, yet he felt the boy shouldn't be so close to that girl or he might get hurt. On the other hand, it would be better for Taotao to know some girls before he grew up and entered into any serious relationship. If Nan could have restarted his life, he'd have dated many girls casually before losing his heart to a woman. "All right," he said to both his wife and son, "time for bed."

" I want him to promise us to break with Livia," insisted Pingping.

"I'll take her just as a regular friend, okay?"

Pingping said no more, knowing Taotao was too stubborn to make a full promise right now. She went into her room and picked up a towel for a shower, still grumbling about what a weakling her son had become.

The next day Mrs. Spiller, the geography teacher, asked Taotao in class, "What happened to your face? Somebody hit you?"

"No, I bumped into a wall when I was going to the bathroom last night." Though a little flustered, the boy forced a smile.

"You look awful."

"It hurt like hell, but I'm all right now." "Uh-uh, language."

"Sorry." He lowered his head and resumed working on his map. The teacher had assigned the class to create a country of one's own, and each student was to draw a map of an imagined territory containing different time zones, several cities, forests, plains, highways, harbors, sea routes. Taotao loved the project.

THE MITCHELLS left for Nanjing in early June. The two-month delay had been prolonged for another month, and as a result, they'd had to rebuy some clothes for Hailee, who wore larger sizes now. Even so, the Mitchells were elated by the final approval of the Chinese side. At long last they could bring their daughter home, they kept telling others. When Janet and Dave were away in China, Ping-ping would stop by at the jewelry store from time to time, chatting with the tall Susie, who kept everything in good order, as if she owned the business. Since the previous spring Susie had been working full-time for Janet. She told Pingping that her boss was a cheapskate and wouldn't give her a paid vacation. Pingping defended her friend, saying, "Look, you have health insurance, right?"

"Yes, but it's not that good. Every time I go see the doctor, I have to spend twenty bucks for the co-pay." Susie made a pout, then licked her upper lip.

"We have a child, but we don't have any real insurance. You're lucky. It cost Janet a lotta money to cover you."

Susie looked annoyed and kept flexing her henna-nailed fingers. She was wearing so much rouge that she looked sunburned. "I know you two are close," she muttered. "Don't tell Janet I bad-mouthed her."

"Of course I don't do that."

Susie often went to the Gold Wok for lunch, mainly because it was convenient. She didn't have a car, and her boyfriend, a young carpenter who had a centipede tattooed on each bicep, would drive her to work and pick her up when she closed up in the evenings.

Today there were few customers at the restaurant after two o'clock, so everybody could take a breather. Pingping and Niyan settled at a table drinking tea and paring apples to eat. Nan was reading Time magazine, to which he had subscribed for business use. Usually they didn't have lunch; whoever was hungry could take a bite from the kitchen. But they'd eat a meal together late in the evening before they called it a day. Nan often cooked light, homely food for their dinner, such as fish-head soup, sauteed watercress, and tofu with peas and pickled mustard greens.

As Nan lifted his coffee mug absentmindedly to his lips, the phone rang. Pingping picked it up. "Where are you calling from, Janet?" she asked excitedly.

"Where can it be? I'm in Nanjing!" Janet said.

"Do you have Hailee already?"

"Not yet. We have to wait another day."

"It's very hot there, right?"

"Yes, it makes me miss Atlanta. I've never been in such weather. It's scorching outside during the day, but that doesn't seem to bother the locals."

"That's why Nanjing is called 'Furnace.' "

"We went to see the other baby yesterday."

"What baby?"

"The one whose photo came together with Hailee's, remember?" "Yes, how she's like?"

"She's a lovely girl too, a bit taller than Hailee. My heart went out to her. The good news is that a single woman in Philadelphia is going to adopt her. That makes Dave and me feel better."

"So no more guilty, okay? Did you go to other place? I mean, look around and buy things?"

"We went to the Yangtze River and a park. Nanjing is a fascinating city. There's a lot of good food here."

"Did you walk on Yangtze Bridge?"

"Yes, it was kind of scary."

"How come?"

"It trembled whenever a train passed beneath us. Dave and I were afraid it might collapse. You know he can't swim."

Pingping laughed. "You're so funny, Janet. Everything is all right so far?"

"Yes. I'm calling to see how things are at home."

"Everything is fine. Your house and yard is safe and clean. I went there yesterday morning. Your grass is cut, and everything look nice. Don't worry. Susie keep your store good too. She's very careful about everything."

"Thanks a lot, Pingping. After we get our daughter, we'll have to go to Beijing to get her papers. Then we'll go see the Great Wall before we fly back."

"Why you do that? Isn't hard to go there with baby?"

"We figure we won't be able to travel for a long time once we have Hailee. Also, we want to take some photos, to show them to her in the future."

"I see. Travel safely then. Don't worry about anything here."

Having hung up, Pingping said to Nan, "They're going to see the Great Wall with the baby. Isn't that crazy?"

"Hailee is really a lucky girl," Nan said poker-faced. "If some American family had adopted me when I was an infant, I could have become a movie star, or at least a CEO."