“That sounds plausible. Where are they getting the goods?”
“Turen, sir. It’s like child’s play.”
“How come your younger brother, Thach, is giving them space?”
Cuong gave a quick glance at the two men standing back there and, in a lowered tone, said mischievously, “To keep the other merchants guessing, sir. We know about lots of things. And if we have friends like them sharing our office, then the other traders won’t take us lightly. Now old man Huyen will have to be wary of us. Thanks to the circumstances, my brother is enjoying some fringe benefits.”
“I see. Typical of you to look at it that way. I’ve also just hatched a good idea about those two.”
“What’s that, sir?”
“It’s a military secret.”
Cuong and Major Pham broke out laughing, patting each other on the back. The two men sauntered up toward them. Toi was talking to Thach about something. Ahn Yong Kyu approached Pham Quyen and said, “Major, if you’ll give us a ride we’ll come along with you. If not, we can go separately in our car.”
Pham Quyen looked puzzled and asked, “And where are you going?”
“To your new residence, sir. Miss Oh invited us for dinner. We’re friends.”
“Go on, get in my car,” Pham Quyen responded in a haughty tone.
“Yes, but we’ve got something to carry.”
Ahn whistled to Toi, who went inside the warehouse and came back out with a large wrapped box.
“It’s an oven, sir. A gift for Miss Oh.”
“Ah, that’s nice.”
Thach rushed over and pulled the zipper on the back flap all the way up, then helped load the box. Yong Kyu and Toi climbed in the back of the Land Rover. It was roomier than it looked from outside, and the space could have comfortably held another two people. Cuong and Thach stepped back and looked on proudly as Pham Quyen drove out through the front gate. Unlike the back entrance, the front alley was rather wide and it soon opened onto the main avenue near the inter-city bus terminal.
“It’s a fine car,” Toi said.
“Feels a bit dull, though,” said Pham Quyen. Looking at Yong Kyu in the rearview mirror, he asked, “Having a good time?”
“Thanks to you.”
“Are you taking deliveries at Turen every day?”
“No, sir. Just Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”
“How much so far?”
“Oh, a few thousand, not so much.”
“Enough to pay for the pass and the use of the conex box, I suppose.”
They drove along Doc Lap Boulevard past the Grand Hotel and sped along the beach road. From that point on a residential district began. On both sides of the street were tall trees with trunks that it’d take three men linking arms to encircle. They passed by a tennis court nestled in a forest clearing, made a right turn at a main road and headed up a sloping grade. Houses were scattered among the trees and the breeze off the sea had a briny edge. The vista to the left looked down on Son Tinh, the far end of Da Nang Bay and the ragged peaks of Bai Bang were also visible.
They came into a residential compound for high-ranking US officers and foreign civilians. The car pulled to a stop in front of a stairway carved out of stone. On either side of the steps there were blooming orchids, hyacinths, African lilies, mescals and white and yellow irises. It was a one-story house with white plaster walls. The long leaves of a palm tree hung down in front of the picture window in the living room. Oh Hae Jong, who had been watching for them for some time, came out. She was wearing a casual dress with fluffy sleeves in the style of the Philippines. Yong Kyu nodded at her.
“How are you? It’s a nice place.”
“Ah, I’ve just finished arranging things. I find it easier to stay in a hotel.”
She was not wearing any makeup and had an apron around her waist. It was becoming on her. Pham Quyen’s expression became much more relaxed than it had been when he spoke to them earlier.
“Now, gentlemen, have a seat. I’ll be back after a quick shower.”
They sat down on the sofa and Hae Jong brought them drinks.
“Are you planning to settle in Vietnam, then?” Yong Kyu asked.
“Why shouldn’t I? Now I have a nationality and a passport, too,” she replied in a teasing tone, glancing at Yong Kyu out of the corner of her eyes. He remained silent.
“I’m practically married to Major Pham. I went to see his family a few days ago. They’re all very good people.”
Hae Jong seemed happy and poured out more words. “Now that I’ve moved into this house, it seems there’s no such thing as war in this world. I can hardly breathe because of the fragrance of those flowers, you know. Later, let’s go out on the veranda in the back and have dinner out there. I brought some kimchi and red pepper paste from the Dragon Palace.”
Yong Kyu looked at her with vacant eyes. What he saw was a fallen leaf that had been drifting along on stormy waves and now had stopped, shivering for a brief moment, atop a little rock above the water. He sat there facing the only woman from his country in the city of Da Nang. A woman who could go anywhere with a single suitcase. Hae Jong had come to Vietnam with the armed forces, and the army’s deployment and her life in Vietnam were, he thought, facing the same fate.
“What’ll you do when the war ends and our military forces pull out of here?”
Hae Jong’s eyes opened wide and round.
“Ends? Just like that?”
“No war goes on forever. One day they’ll shake hands, or frown, and they’ll end it.”
Well, so much the better, then. A country like this, if there were peace, would be a paradise, don’t you think?”
“Do you love Major Pham?” Yong Kyu asked casually, as if joking. She let out a short laugh but did not answer.
“Jay. . or James was the name, didn’t you say?”
Hae Jong did not remove her eyes from her fingernails.
“Your relationship with him or with Major Pham at present is not so advantageous for you. I’m sorry. . war has been the matchmaker, the mediation. War is always fluctuating. It’s hard to follow through on one’s decisions. No one has any idea what will happen to this country once the war is over.”
Yong Kyu kept thinking he should shut his mouth, but the words kept on streaming out. Unlike back at the headquarters during the interrogation, Hae Jong made no protest about his nosing into her personal life.
“He and I are in the same boat, so I don’t expect any problems,” she replied in a bored tone.
“Because he’s not a Westerner, is that it?”
“No. . he’s like a bullet out of a muzzle. No place to return to. On paper, I’m the bona fide wife of a Vietnamese.”
“Last time at Madame Lin’s, you said you were heading for Bangkok, didn’t you?”
“Things were different, then. They hadn’t yet issued my passport. Now I have a commercial passport that lets me take my pick and fly to America, Europe, Southeast Asia or anywhere for the next two years.”
Then, in protest, Hae Jong raised her voice. “The reason I like you, you shouldn’t forget, Mr. Ahn, is not because we are both Koreans.”
She rose from her chair and Yong Kyu looked up at her.
“Except for your pretensions of giving me the advice of an older brother, you’re a good friend. We speak the same language and you have a kind heart. But that seriousness of yours, I can’t stand it. Oh, the soup must be boiling.”