alt="Image"/>n was told the name of the American family was Pops and it meant
friendly father. Believing the name to be real, he felt reassured. Had he known it was a nickname with a secretive, twisted, and perverse meaning, he would have been aghast.
Bi
n reflected upon the picture of his two daughters. His contact had graciously provided him with a black and white photocopy. In the picture, H
ng held Linh’s hand.
Not that she was afraid Linh would run out into traffic. She knew better. She held Linh’s hand because she loved her. Their spirits entwined like one. Anyone looking at the picture could see their true beauty. Perhaps the American family were sincere when they said they loved my children? It would be impossible not to ....
Bi
n had not always lived in Hanoi. As a child, he was raised in the South. Saigon. Bi
n still preferred the city by its old name, but while working in Hanoi, he was careful to refer to it as H
Chi Minh City.
Bi
n’s father had served with the South Vietnamese army and fought alongside the Americans until the Communists achieved victory in 1975. His father had learned English and taught it to Bi
n, who in turn, taught it to both his daughters. After the war, Bi
n’s father was placed in a re-education camp, where he died thirteen years later. Bi
n scoffed at the term
reeducation. It was a camp of forced labour and brutality.
Bi
n’s wife, formerly from Dong Ha, had been exposed to heavy concentrations of Agent Orange during the war. Their daughter, H
n decided, when so many other families had children who were born without feet or arms.
H
n was told that Pops would have an American doctor fix it, but only if H
n knew that H
ng would wish it to be so. She wanted to be perfect.
She does not understand that she already is.
Linh was born without any abnormalities. Something that was cause for extreme joy. A sign that the future would improve, thought Bi
n. He had received a teaching degree just days after Linh was born. He felt like their lives were complete and that their future would be good. But it was not good.
Bi
n’s wife died six months later of organ failure brought on by the dioxin in her body. The closest Bi
n ever came to being a teacher was doing janitorial work at a school. The Communist party was only too aware of his family’s sympathy to the South during the war. He would not be allowed to teach.
It was not until recently that the government recognized the benefit of tourism and knew that Bi
n’s ability to speak English could be an asset. He was sent to Hanoi to act as a tour guide at Uncle H
’s Mausoleum.
Bi
n lived in a one-room apartment facing an alley that he shared with his daughters and his own mother. His kitchen, like others in his neighbourhood, was a small plastic table and chairs set out on the sidewalk at the front of the building. The rest of his kitchen consisted of a hot plate set up on wooden boxes in the alley. The boxes were on their sides and a piece of cloth wired to the boxes acted as a curtain to keep the dust off the dishes. All this was enclosed with a wrought-iron grate bolted to the alley wall, which protruded just over an arm’s length away from the boxes. Entry was through a padlocked door.
For the first few months, he was paid barely enough to buy rice and noodles. Later, he learned to become a little shrewder about accepting tips from the tourists. Soon he would be able to afford a bigger apartment. One that would give his mother her own room to snore in.
It was midnight when Bi
n pedalled back through the Ba Dinh district of Hanoi and quietly carried his bicycle into his apartment. Tomorrow he would face questions. He did not like the fact that he had to deal with smugglers. Lying to friends about where his daughter went made him feel guilty—but he understood the need for secrecy.
H
ng sat quietly on the floor as the van continued through the streets of Hanoi, occasionally stopping to pick up more women. H
ng figured they were all about six or seven years older than her. She caught the friendly smile of a younger woman who had been in the van when H
ng got in. H
ng forced a quick smile back before turning away—directing her attention to the floor of the van. She remembered her vow to stay strong and did not want anyone to see the tears on her face.
“Em tê;n là gì?” the young woman asked her.
“H
ng,” she answered, continuing to stare at the floor.
“You ... talk ... English,” she noted, slowly enunciating the words of this foreign language.
“A little,” replied H
ng.
She smiled again. “Yes, me talk a ... small ... English,” she said, holding her thumb and finger close together to emphasize her point. “My name Ng
c Bích. You, me, we teach English each other, okay?”
“Okay,” replied H
ng, looking down at the van floor.
“You cold?” asked Ng
c Bích.
H
ng shook her head.
“Very
