He tidied his suitcase and went out the door. A tall woman wearing a black skirt stood at the front doorway of his house. Joe had seen her before. She had an Eastern woman’s face, her expression detached. Joe greeted her; she merely nodded her head. Perhaps she stood there by chance. The two crows suddenly cawed. The sound reverberated through a vast sky.
At the intersection he ran into the beautiful black woman. She smiled at him with spirit, showing glistening teeth. Joe answered her with a smile, confusedly trying to avoid her, but she willfully moved to the side of the road.
He was troubled by the thought of the sordid action he’d just taken, because he was carrying away the better part of the family’s savings. If he didn’t return, Maria would have to sell her jewelry to live on. Yet it didn’t matter, she always had ways to get through trouble.
13. JOE ARRIVES IN THE EAST
“Maria, Joe’s gone to the airport,” Lisa said as soon as she came in.
“Did he bring that book?” Maria had not moved her eyes away from the loom. She was following an image in the recesses of its pattern, her face flushed.
Lisa shot up from her chair as soon as she sat down. She felt Maria’s sorcery growing stronger. Someday this house would be the residence of a demon. When she walked around the room she felt the soles of her feet tingling on the floor. The voices coming from inside the walls brimmed with menace.
“Was the book he brought his map?” Lisa asked.
“Yes, he’s going to the country of poppy flowers. It’s very beautiful. But is it really what he has desired for so long? I’m not too sure.”
“He’s a mild-tempered demon.”
Lisa couldn’t stand still inside the house. Her heart was under attack. She ran into the yard and stood gasping among the shrubs. The sunlight made a weng weng drone, and the loom inside the house still shuttled evenly.
Maria stopped the work under her hands, glanced at the empty chair beside her, and called out once, “Lisa.”
Just at this moment the same image floated to the surface. It was a swiftly moving black wolf. Maria blinked her eyes and it disappeared, but she heard it give a long howl.
Lisa made a sign at the window, saying, “I can’t come in. You are too severe, my heart can’t endure it.”
“It’s because I am retracing Joe’s journey. Tonight he will stay on a plateau, where there are wolves.”
“Oh, and so your heart is full of expectations for him. If troops march there at night, what will it be like?”
Lisa raised her head and saw sparks exploding from the walls with a pa pa crackling. She hastily moved back a few steps. She tripped over a gladiolus, knocking against its sharp spike, and her face oozed blood. The two cats ran over from behind her, their bodies giving off electric sparks, pa pa. In her mind the scene of a trek on the plateaus appeared — soles rubbed to bleeding by boots and deep gullies swaying with white flowers. She wanted to leave, but she heard Maria screaming from the house. She rushed to the window and looked all around inside. She saw Maria staring at the unfinished tapestry, trembling.
“Maria! Maria! Are you all right?”
Maria didn’t speak.
Lisa rushed inside and placed her hands on Maria’s shoulders. There was nothing on the light brown tapestry. She heard Maria’s teeth knocking. Her body ran with sweat.
When Joe boarded the plane he saw a woman board as well. He couldn’t see her face because she wore a large straw hat pressed down low. On the gangway, the wind billowed her black skirt. She seemed to hesitate, and suddenly she stood still on the stairs. The fat man behind her pressed her on indignantly. Finally, as if waking up from a dream, she started forward again. “Damn, Irene,” the fat man said.
On entering the cabin the woman disappeared among the seats. Joe suddenly thought, Could the Eastern woman he’d seen at the door of his house and the bookstore owner’s former wife be the same person? Was she named Irene? Or did the fat man call all women “Irene”? He indistinctly remembered the bookstore owner calling his former wife something “__Mei.” He was under the impression that the women of Country C were the ones called “Mei.” Why was Daniel’s Vietnamese girlfriend named Amei, too? After he took his seat, he stood back up and surveyed the entire cabin once more, but he still didn’t see the woman. However, he hadn’t seen her face clearly, either. So how could he find her? He fastened his seatbelt and shut his eyes.
Shit, there was a wasp spinning around his head. Had it come from his office? Would it sting him? Sure enough, it flew nearer and stung his eyelid sharply. Frightened, he felt his entire head go numb. Even his eyes couldn’t shut all the way. He touched his face with effort. It had no sensation. Now he caught sight of the black-clad woman. He couldn’t think of where he’d seen her before, because he couldn’t concentrate.
The woman stood above him. She was speaking to the flight attendant.
“Once people are out of the cabin the freezing wind will bite their faces,” the attendant said.
“I got used to it a long time ago. Every morning I draw water at the side of the brook,” the woman said. “At noon, the grass bakes in the sun, and Mother speaks to me from the balcony. She asks me whether I want a drink of milk.”
“You see this man, his face is swelling so terribly.” The flight attendant pointed to Joe.
He wanted to move his lips into a smile, but they wouldn’t move.
“His wife is a woman named Mei,” the black-clad woman said, indicating him. “This morning, at home, she saw a wolf. It bit her clothing and would not let go. She grew agitated and cried out.”
Joe didn’t understand what she was saying. He felt the entire cabin begin to move. The man sitting on the inside seat stepped over him. People were gathering their luggage one after another.
“The temperature on the ground is 20 degrees below zero Celsius,” the broadcast said.
Waiting until the cabin was empty, Joe at last picked up his luggage and moved outside. He was afraid. Outside the cabin, as expected, a freezing wind blew. It was fortunate Joe’s face had no feeling, only his hands felt a little painful in the cold. He nearly fell down on the stairs. The plane was stopped on the tarmac. Joe saw dazzling snowcapped mountains in every direction, illuminated by the sun, as if on fire. He casually chose a door and pushed it open, walking outside.
Someone took hold of his suitcase. He loosened his hand without noticing, and let the man lift it. The man carrying the suitcase wore a straw hat. Joe couldn’t see his face.
The airport was small, so he walked right out of it. A few men and women were out on the street. These people didn’t mind the cold. They wore peculiar clothing that left their backs bare. The expression on their dark, ruddy faces was solemn. Their hair was worn very long. The man kept in front of him. When the street was almost at an end, he placed the suitcase on the ground, saying: “Now go ahead by yourself. From here you can’t get lost.” He spoke in Joe’s language.