“Did you write your mother a letter when you sent her the bag of rice?” U Po Thein asked Ko Nay U.
“I sent it registered freight on the train, with a letter attached. She should have received it by now.”
U Po Thein had never ceased to care deeply for his wife but did not want his children to have an inkling of the strong feelings he still held for her. He had developed the habit of talking about her with a guarded self-composure and dignity.
“What else did you buy in Rangoon?” asked Way Way. “The furniture is great.”
Her brother poured his coffee into a saucer to drink, and to prevent the tablecloth from getting stained Way Way quickly placed another saucer in front of him on which to set down his cup. “I like my coffee cooled before I drink it,” he said as he slurped it in one gulp. “I bought the furniture at the Bombay Burma Company because U Haji Ahmed’s furniture was priced too high. Do you like the colors? I don’t care for light-colored wood, so I chose the dark reddish brown, like ripe thabyei. I didn’t buy anything else because I was on the lookout for second-hand books for the library I’m opening. That takes a lot of time.”
Ko Nay U was planning to open a library in the town. Ever since his school days he had been unable to live without reading, and always had his nose in a book. He bought and read every newspaper, magazine, and new novel that came off the press. Since his marriage he had had to give the rice business priority, but his heart was not in it. He had always wanted to go to Rangoon and set up a bookshop for magazines and works of fiction.
Suddenly Way Way heard the sound of U Saw Han’s footsteps and her heart turned over. The newly acquired sitting room furniture was out there to greet him first. Way Way was trying to show him that although they lived in a country town they were not bumpkins and had some taste. Of course, we do not come up to the standards of his house, with its stuffed sofas and wool carpet, but this much in a country place isn’t so bad, she reassured herself. “I think that’s U Saw Han,” she said.
U Po Thein got up from his seat and, taking off the scarf that was wrapped around his neck and leaving it on his chair, went out to the front.
Ko Nay U leaned forward in his seat and said laughingly in a low voice just loud enough for Way Way’s ears, “Master Chicken Shit.”17 Way Way was worried that her brother might be heard out in front and punched him on the shoulder, telling him silently not to clown. Ko Nay U grinned widely, showing all his teeth, and was soon convulsed in soundless laughter.
“I heard you were not well, Uncle.18 How are you now?” U Saw Han’s voice was heard to say.
“Oh, I’m much better. I was frightened because of the blood, but was only something like a nose bleed the doctor says, so that must be it.” He then called out to his son, “Maung Ne U …”
Way Way tapped her brother on the shoulder and said, “Go on. Father’s calling you.” Ko Nay U straightened his face and went out front. Way Way followed.
“This is my son. He’s the manager of the Thukadama Rice Mill.”
U Saw Han, dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt and long white pants, put his white pith helmet under the arm of the hand that held a tin of cigarettes, and extended his free hand to shake Ko Nay U’s.
Ko Nay U shook hands pleasantly and said, “Good to meet you,” and pointing to a chair said, “Please sit down.” With a smile, U Saw Han nodded and sat down on one of the brand-new chairs that no one had sat on until then. Ko Nay U then introduced Way Way to him saying, “This is my younger sister.”
U Saw Han stood up from his chair and said, “Yes. I had the pleasure of meeting your sister yesterday. Come, Way Way, do sit down.” Smiling, he sat down again. “Way Way is a real asset to you in your work, isn’t she?” U Saw Han said to U Po Thein. “Yesterday, she let me know that the cargo boats were going to be too slow in arriving, so I telegraphed Rangoon a second time.”
U Po Thein smiled and said, “I’m fortunate indeed to have her. I can take it easy and leave everything to her.” Way Way was a little embarrassed to have them talk about her right in front of her like that, and stared uncomfortably at the vase of flowers.
“What year were you in college?” U Saw Han asked Ko Nay U, who sat slouched in the chair with his legs crossed.
“1935,” he replied.
“I left after my B.A. in ‘33. Which hostel did you live in?” U Saw Han asked again, his face quite relaxed and at ease.
“Tagaung Hall,” answered Ko Nay U.
“You weren’t there for the student strikes, then.”
“I didn’t go back to college when the strikes were over. I got married and left school.”
U Saw Han looked across at Way Way and said, “Don’t you want to go to college, Way Way?”
Since U Saw Han’s manner when he talked to Way Way was as to a child, she shook her head like a child and said, “No, I don’t want to anymore,” and smiled.
U Saw Han looked down at his wrist watch and said, “I must be getting along to the office. I have an eight o’clock meeting with some brokers who must now be waiting for me.” As he stood up he began to speak. “Well …” U Saw Han seemed to be considering something, then said to Ko Nay U, “Why don’t you come to my place for dinner this evening. You too, Uncle, and Way Way. I invite you all. Please come.”
Ko Nay U smilingly replied, “Oh no, let it not be said that we have eaten a meal offered by the guest before we have invited him.”
“‘Guest,’ ‘host’—let us not think in such terms. I invited you first. You don’t have any previous engagements, do you?”
U Po Thein was reluctant to accept, but found it even more indelicate to argue about an invitation. Way Way, looking bashful with downcast eyes murmured, “Oh, please don’t trouble …”
“No need to feel shy. Please come. I’ll have everything arranged.” U Saw Han looked into each of their faces in turn while he spoke and then said to U Po Thein, “Well, I’ll be on my way.” Turning toward Ko Nay U and Way Way, he tossed out a “Cheerio!” in English and left.
Way Way spent the rest of the day feeling very uneasy about the fact that it would not appear proper for a young girl to eat a meal in an unmarried man’s house. She was afraid of what people would say.
“Oh for crying out loud, girl, your father and brother will be with you, and you cannot refuse an invitation to a meal by a respected person like that! It would be very rude,” said Daw Thet.
Even though Daw Thet was persuasive, Way Way was fearful and undecided all day long. As evening approached she became quite agitated. She could see the large dining table next door from her upstairs window, and became worried all over again as to how to use the knives and forks set near each plate. She was thoroughly intimidated by the sight of things she had never seen before. She had occasionally eaten a chicken pilaf with a spoon and fork at a danbauk shop in Rangoon, but never had she seen such an array of cutlery as on U Saw Han’s table. She was so frightened that she could hardly look it. She wondered what the two spoons lying alongside each other at the head of each plate were used for. She also noticed freshly-cut tiger lilies arranged at the center of the table.
Since she began her bath only at sundown, she had to finish getting ready by lamplight. She wore a thin muslin blouse and yellow Mandalay silk tamein19 in a traditional royal pattern. At Daw Thet’s insistence she took off the plain gold chain and put on a diamond necklace, but she adamantly refused to wear the diamond solitaire earrings because she thought they made her look too old. She moved the diamond bracelet from her left hand to her right and wore a wristwatch in its place. When she was completely dressed, Way Way looked at herself in the full-length mirror on the wardrobe door and began to wind a string of fresh jasmine around