“Big Brother, well, I’m afraid you’ll have to come home today.”
“I know, it’s Mother again, isn’t it? So what’s ailing her this time?”
“Anyway, you should come.”
“Tell her I’ll stop by on Sunday. I have no time today.”
Lei sighed. “Little brother is back.”
“What? When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Are you home now?”
“No, on my way to school.”
“All right.”
Pham Quyen quickly replaced the receiver. Lieutenant Kiem held out a typed document.
“Here’s the list of members of the Autonomous Council.”
Quyen mechanically accepted the piece of paper.
“It needs the boss’s approval today.”
Quyen looked down at the roster of members of the Quang Nam Province Autonomous Council. He himself had drawn up the list along with several staff members of the Developmental Revolution Committee, a body composed mainly of soldiers.
“The first meeting is next week, right?”
“Yes, sir. Thirty representatives will attend.”
“We have plenty of time. Have it approved this afternoon. I’ll be out for a while. Did the general stay at Bai Bang last night?”
“Yes, and he’s still there, sir.”
That French mixed-blood tagged along with him from Saigon again, Quyen thought to himself as he picked up his hat.
“If the general asks for me, call me at home.”
“You mean in Son Tinh, sir?”
“No, the place on Doc Lap.”
Once outside the building, Quyen looked around. He saw the general’s garishly camouflaged convoy Jeep. The driver was rushing over toward him.
“Where’s the Land Rover?” Quyen asked.
“The general took it, sir. There’s a sedan.”
“No, just give me the keys to the Jeep.”
Quyen drove out in the Jeep General Liam used to commute back and forth to work. The star plate was covered.
Minh’s return meant he had completed a certain level of training. He might have come home to say goodbye before heading for a battle zone. Probably he hoped to return to Hue, but there would be little chance of that, Quyen told himself. Quyen meant to interrogate his brother himself. He wanted to find out his ideological bent and have him enlisted. He’d be a lot safer if he could manage to have him posted to a navy hospital ship. Or he could find a girl and marry him off. At any rate, that boy would not be allowed to move an inch until he changed his way of thinking.
After parking the Jeep in front of the house, Quyen stayed still in the driver’s seat until his breathing calmed down. Apart from Minh, he had also decided how to handle the rest of his family. No problem. He removed his.38 revolver from his belt, pushed the cylinder out and ejected five bullets, leaving only one. Then he placed the gun back in its holster.
He walked into the hall through the front door with wisteria growing on either side. Inside the living room, his mother was sitting in a chair in front of the bamboo screen and Minh was on a round stool in the corner leading toward Lei’s room. Minh was talking to his mother about something but fell silent when he saw Quyen come in. Both peered up at Quyen, each with a different look on their faces. His mother’s lips were already distorted.
“How could you do it? Abandoning your poor mother in a state like this. . That Dai Han woman is no daughter-in-law of mine. As long as I live, I’ll never allow such shameful behavior. Bring the bitch over here right now. I’ll tell her what kind of family we Phams are, and I’ll run her off. You’ve seen it yourself, haven’t you? That couple who used to live right here in the neighborhood. . ”
“That’s enough, Mother.”
“Now that Minh is back, I’ll say my piece to you in front of your brother. Remember that man, our old neighbor Cheng, who worked in the office of the old rubber factory? Was he ever treated decently by the other workers? You know why? Because he married a French whore, that’s why!”
“Ah, that wasn’t why they looked down on him. It was because he played the dog for the French plantation owner. Mimi is not an evil woman. And I rushed over here not because of her, but because of this boy here. Mother, we’ll talk about Mimi later. Now, you, I need to talk to you.”
Quyen pointed his finger at Minh, who stared back at him with a blank face. Quyen walked in toward Lei’s room. When his mother started to follow them, Quyen turned around and blocked her way.
“Why can’t you talk in my presence?” his mother asked. “Don’t trouble the boy with your trashy problems while he’s on leave. I’m going in with you myself to listen to the lies sitting right beside you.”
Pham Quyen raised both arms and his face looked as though he was about to cry.
“Mother, please. My head is about to burst with worries about our family. How have I failed in taking care of us? Each month I bring home enough money for you to live, and I even took in sister Mi and her children. I asked you to be patient for a while longer. If you let me get a bit more comfortable, very soon I’ll be in a position to move our whole family somewhere away from this war. But I’m telling you, if you do this every time I come home, I’ll have myself transferred to another military district.”
Pham Minh took his mother by the shoulders and turned her around slowly. “Go and lie down, please. There are things I need to discuss with Big Brother.”
Mi’s head appeared over the kitchen partition. Quyen sent his sister a fierce look and she grabbed her mother and led her down the hall between the kitchen and the living room, saying, “No need for you to get upset, that’s no good. Why don’t you go and lie down.”
As the two women disappeared through the door, Quyen turned and went inside Lei’s room. He sat down in the chair in front of the desk and Minh followed him in with an anxious look on his face.
“Close the door and sit down.”
Minh went over and sat astride the bed as he was told.
“What did you tell Mother?”
With his head lowered Minh answered Quyen’s question.
“The first thing she asked me was if I’d come on leave, so I said I was on leave for two weeks.”
“All right. Now you must give me honest answers. Where were you and what were you doing the past two months?”
Pham Minh remained speechless with his head down. Then Quyen pulled out his revolver, took off the safety and set it down on the desk.
“I’m not asking you as your brother. I’m questioning you as a major in the Vietnamese army. You may refuse to answer my questions. If, however, I determine you’re withholding necessary information, I’ll turn you right over to the military security forces. Those guys are professionals. In a single night they’ll make you spill out every detail of what you’ve been through. Since you’re a fighter with the NLF, you won’t be treated as a regular military prisoner. There are no regulations or treaties to protect you. You’re a spy. The only way I can help you is to do what I can to minimize the torture as you undergo interrogation, have you sent to the prisoners’ camp and then in six months I’ll try to pull you out as a defector. You were in the training camp for new recruits in the jungle, weren’t you?”
Minh said nothing. Quyen picked up the revolver.
“If you’re stubborn I can shoot you. I’d be better off if there were an accidental shooting instead of getting into trouble with the army because of you. If I shoot you and report it to the police as an accident, the whole case will be closed before noon tomorrow with a simple report. I think that would be best for the rest of the family.”
Quyen rose and latched the door. Then he grabbed Lei’s pillow and placed it around the hand in which he held the revolver. He pointed the muzzle directly at his younger brother.