“Well, isn’t this getting interesting? Let’s tail him.”
As Yong Kyu walked out of the sentry station, Toi slowly followed. “No need to follow them,” he said. “They’re headed for Banh Hao’s store.”
Toi asked a few more questions of the QC instead. As they got back in the Jeep parked below the bridge, Toi remarked, “Goods in the back were nuoc mam. Now they’re really making us laugh. No doubt Nguyen Thach and that young fellow are in the same group. Listen, Ahn, I know where that nuoc mam is manufactured.”
“Where?”
“The factories are all jammed together down by the fish market.”
“You mean by the inner port terminals?”
“That’s right. Right next to the military pier. Remember when that dog bit you?”
“At Dr. Tran’s house?”
Toi’s white teeth shone beneath his mercury sunglasses. “Remember how they had mountains of fertilizer and construction materials piled up there? Remind you of something?”
“A warehouse in the fish market not far from that terminal. Am I right?”
“To be more precise, a nuoc mam factory. I’ll bet you anything there are guns in those nuoc mam pots. Wow, we’ve found it. We’ve just hooked a whale. All we have to do now is pull.”
“I’m off-duty from here on out.”
“What does it matter?” Toi was driving skittishly, jerking the wheel recklessly. “I’ll let you have a grand sum when you leave for home.”
“I don’t need it. I’m just thinking about passing a tip to the captain before I get on board to ship out.”
Pham Minh walked inside the Banh Hao store. Gunnery sergeant Le Muong Panh, who had been sitting there, raised a hand in greeting. Pham Minh reported the types and quantities of goods, then added, “There are some pamphlets, too.”
“What kind?”
“A speech to be delivered at headquarters and also at Nguyen Ai Quoc School. For educational use of the members of local organizations.”
“Let’s go in.”
They gave the workers orders on how to handle the cargo and then passed across the yard to the office. Banh Hao, who was leafing through some papers, gave them a cheerful welcome.
“So, you’ve just arrived?”
“Yes, sir. The two machine guns are included. They’re light machine guns, sir.”
“The urgent thing now is for us to expedite supplies of rockets and mortar shells.”
“I’m aware of that, sir.”
“Soon with the rainy season there’ll be an offensive all over the country. We must fill those requisitions by then, without fail.”
“Comrade Nguyen is doing his best, sir. As you know, the supplies to the militias only include small arms. Heavier weapons are only released to the regular ARVN forces.”
“They come in every now and then,” said Le Muong Panh, “but it’s too irregular. We’ve got to open a supply source in the regular army.”
They had some tea together, then, out of the blue, Banh Hao asked, “The fourth company across the river will mount the attack on the air base, right?”
“I beg your pardon, sir?”
Because Pham Minh seemed puzzled, Le intervened, “Uncle, Comrade Pham is an undercover administrative agent, so he has not been participating in combat operations.”
“Oh, is that right?”
There was a brief silence. Pham Minh got to his feet. “I’d better be going now.”
“Say hello to Comrade Nguyen Thach for me.”
Pham Minh went over to the Hoitim Cafe in order to work up his daily calculations. He spotted Lieutenant Kiem sitting back in one corner.
As soon as Pham Minh sat down, Kiem lowered his voice and quickly said, “We’ve got to suspend things for the time being.” He peered around nervously and then continued, “A security officer and an unfamiliar civilian came in to the adjutant’s office. They said they wanted to see Major Pham and the governor. When I told them that both were away, they said they wanted to have a look around the warehouses, so I showed them the storage at the provincial office. Then they left, saying they would be coming back.”
“Maybe they were conducting an audit?”
“This is not the time of year for audits, you know that. They didn’t say a lot, but they sure acted high and mighty.”
“Where’s my brother?”
“He’s gone back up to Ha Thanh.”
“The cinnamon harvest is not done yet?”
“It’ll soon be finished, I heard.”
“What about the general?”
“He’s gone to Hue. He’ll probably be back tomorrow.”
Pham Minh thought for a while before speaking.
“Very well. We’ll stop everything for a few days. But I don’t think it’s anything so big. You know, the general is a direct relative of the president himself. Nobody can challenge his authority.”
He handed over a fat envelope to Lieutenant Kiem. “This is for yesterday’s.”
Kiem snatched the envelope and left the café in a rush. Without touching his coffee, no longer hot by this time, Minh was absorbed in thought for a while. He needed to put some distance between himself and Kiem. It was then that he heard the rustle of silk, and a white ahozai dress approached his table and then stopped. He looked up.
“Ah. . you’re. .”
“You don’t recognize me?”
The girl in the ahozai was Tran Van Phuoc. Pham Minh had met her a few times in the company of Chan Te Shoan.
“Mind if I sit down with you for a little while?”
Pham Minh straightened his posture and gestured with an open palm to the chair facing him.
“Mr. Pham Minh, what on earth happened to you, anyway? Do you know what the students behind you in school are calling you? A coward, a government army dog. Things like that.”
Pham Minh quietly said, “Did you sit down here just to say that?”
Phuoc smiled and then shook her head. “No, there’s more. Is it true that your leaving the NLF has something to do with your change of heart toward Shoan?”
“Nothing at all. You’ll have to excuse me.”
As he indignantly got up to leave, she quickly continued, “Shoan’s getting engaged today. I’m going to the ceremony right now. Any message for her?”
Pham Minh paused for a second, then just walked past the counter and out the front door of the café. From the violet interior, he had walked out into streets that seemed all grey. The humidity was getting worse and worse. The monsoon season with its daily downpours and hot, humid blasts of jungle air was just around the corner.
Pham Minh revved the accelerator of his motorbike all the way up and for a long time just flew down the school road with trees racing past on both sides. The loud whine of his engine bounced from muffler to the surface of the road, echoing far and wide. Recklessly, he whizzed around a last corner and skidded into Nguyen Thach’s maintenance shop. All the vehicles in the yard were gone, and in their place cement, fertilizer, slate, and other materials from the provincial office were stacked everywhere. The warehouse where Pham Minh had his office was now filled to the rafters with cinnamon, and they had just rented another additional warehouse over by the bus terminal. The current situation offered a ready excuse for Pham Minh to share office space with Nguyen Thach.
Thach was sitting inside with a puzzled expression on his face. Without speaking, he watched closely as Minh came in the office and plopped down on the sofa. Then Thach said, “Everyone in Da Nang must have been notified by now that Mr. Pham Minh is in a bad mood, eh?”
Pham Minh said nothing in reply. Thach picked up a newspaper and moved over to the armchair in the middle of the office. As he sat down, he asked, “Anything new?”