Tie Ning - The Bathing Women

As they returned to the living room, Mike asked with some excitement, “Are you tired?”

Tiao said, “No, I’m not tired.”

“Let’s go out, then,” Mike said. Tiao glanced at her watch, and it was eleven.

They left the house and went to Austin’s famous Sixth Street for a wild night. On weekends Sixth Street never slept. It was a streetful of bars and nightclubs and people, with all sorts of activity — late-night pizza stands, rock and roll bands, portrait artists, Mexican-American gangs driving low-riders, those special cars popular in the seventies in Los Angeles, which bounced as they went, and also formal dance night, when high school students could wear adults’ tuxedos or gowns and rent hotel rooms. Mike pulled Tiao by the hand and snaked through the crowds in the bars, each place bubbling with enthusiasm and playing music loud enough to strike someone deaf. He dragged Tiao to the famous Amy’s Ice Creams shop to taste the exotic cinnamon ice cream. The employees in the shop kneaded all kinds of ingredients into the ice cream and tossed it onto stainless steel counters the way country people in northern China kneaded and tossed floured dough. Tiao found it both exhilarating and satisfying to watch. They stood on the street eating sausage pizza, Mike’s favourite, each of them holding one palm-sized slice. Tiao liked that, too. For a moment she thought about Youyou, those sweet times they cooked crazily to make up for the delicacies they couldn’t have. Back then she never would have predicted that someday she would be standing on a street in a foreign country with a stranger at midnight, heartily chewing delicious pizza. Yes, Mike was a stranger to her, a strange American man, but she liked him more and more. His energy, his youth, even the concentration he had when he was eating, all broke down her reserve and her nagging awareness of her age, with an irresistible force. The experience was utterly new to her, to be with a man eating and wandering the streets late at night, out simply for pleasure. On this night alone, it was exactly what she longed for. Her heartbeat seemed especially strong and her legs full of energy. With great appetite, she polished off two slices of pizza in a row, and chose to go into the bars with so much noise that conversation was impossible. Mike tried to shout above the din, but she couldn’t hear a word, just watched his mouth and face busily moving around. Finally they fled the bars and set out for home holding hands. They walked onto a bridge with the deep, dark Colorado River flowing underneath. Mike said, “What is happiness? Happiness is to be in your hometown, holding your sweetheart’s hand, and eating your favourite food! That’s me right now. I’m very happy.”

In your hometown, holding your sweetheart’s hand, and eating your favourite food … sounds good.

Tiao looked at Mike on the bridge and his happy face moved her, but she was also reminded of her own hometown. She wasn’t sure whether she was happy, because, of the three ingredients included in Mike’s recipe for happiness, she had only the delicious food. She couldn’t say she was happy, but she enjoyed going around a little drunk. When they finally admitted to each other that it was time to go home and sleep, the sky had already started to light up.

They slept in their own rooms for two hours, got up, and showered. Then they ate breakfast quickly and took off again.

They drove to San Antonio, near Austin. On the American highway, they sang Chinese children’s rhymes. “‘Eat the milk. Drink the bread. Beneath your arm, carry the train. Ride on a briefcase, instead. Afterwards, get off the case. Eastward, then, turn your face. There you’ll see a man bite a dog. Pick up the dog. Give a stone a whack, but then the stone will bite the dog back …’”

“‘A little car is honking, beep, beep, beep, Chairman Mao sits in the backseat.’”

“‘The car is coming but I don’t care. I’ll give the car a phone call over there. The car turned around, and ran my little feet down.’”

Mike demonstrated for Tiao how he could drive with his knees, showing off, and his efforts to please Tiao made her feel tenderly toward him.

San Antonio, full of tropical flavour, lay before them. Gigantic plants, sweet-scented flowers, and a green river leisurely meandering through the town and then circling around it, all made San Antonio romantic and sentimental. Walking on the riverbank, they waved casually at the passengers on a river cruise, who looked so relaxed and peaceful surrounded by the flowers that decorated the boats. Just then Mike suddenly embraced Tiao, kissed her tentatively but passionately, and Tiao couldn’t help kissing back. Everything happened so quickly but seemed entirely natural to Tiao. Their lips pressed together, and for a moment Tiao’s mind went blank. Suddenly applause rose from the river. It was the passengers on the cruise, who cheered, “Go! Go!” for them. Tiao heard the applause from the cruise, which made Mike hold her even tighter. Her legs felt limp — it was as if she were floating, and a serenity and joy that she had never felt before filled her whole body. The river, flower fragrance, and applause from the cruise … all of it allowed her and Mike to kiss each other openly and without self-consciousness, passionate and innocent, full of fervour and grace. She felt on the point of being smothered by him, but even the threat of death couldn’t stop her. She forgot shyness, unashamed of kissing Mike in public to the sound of applause. It was such a pure thing, and she’d so longed for such essential purity. Maybe this is my compensation, she thought.

He finally loosened his hold on her. Trying to catch her breath, she smiled at him, and he, also gasping, returned her smile. He said, “You blushed. I love to see you blush.” He took her in his arms again and whispered in her ear, “You have no idea how lovely you are. You have no idea how young you are!” He kissed her again and she kissed back.

At the site of the Alamo Mission, he told her when he saw a policeman, “I’m going to kiss you and make this policeman jealous.” Then he gave her a long kiss.

In a Mexican restaurant, he told Tiao as he saw a waiter pass, “I’m going to kiss you and make this muchacho jealous.” He kissed her for a long time.

In the famous Double D Ranch House Grill & Bar — where the waitresses were known for their big breasts — when he saw the waitress he said, “I’m going to kiss you and make Ms. Big Breasts jealous.” He gave her a long kiss.

He chattered nonstop with excitement — truly nonstop. He cupped her face with both hands and then stroked the nape of her neck with its covering of fine hair. He said, “How delicate and soft your skin is! You’re my xiruan, my exquisite one. You’re just my xiruan !” Tiao couldn’t help being touched by the word “xiruan.” She told him that in Chinese, in addition to meaning soft and delicate, xiruan also was used to indicate things that were easy to carry with you, valuables or jewellery. Mike said, “Then I was right. You’re my little xiruan. Little xiruan. ”

They didn’t drive back to Austin until very late.

They said good night to each other, took a shower, and then went back to their own rooms. They said their good-nights a little bit stiffly, with some nervousness — as if they didn’t know how to go back to before, the time before they went to San Antonio.

They hadn’t slept much already for a day and night, but Tiao didn’t feel tired. She didn’t want to lie down; she stood in front of the mirror looking at herself.

Mike opened the door quietly. He opened the sides of his big, loose-fitting bathrobe, like a pair of white wings, and enfolded Tiao against his chest.