Aperture on the East (19 page)

After a few minutes, Zoe went to the
phone and called Tuan. When she hung up, she said, “I’ve got to go.
I will check on you tomorrow.” She got up and walked toward the
door.

“
I’ve missed you, Sestra,”
said Ivan.

“
I’ve missed you, too.”
Zoe left the apartment.

She ran down the stairs, and out of
the building. She had no clue how to help take care of Ivan. She
wasn’t going to bother helping her mother get sober again; it never
worked. Ana would get sober on her own when she put her mind to
it.. For now, Zoe’s problem was how to help her brother get through
this bout. She briefly entertained the idea of just leaving Ivan to
his own devices, but she loved him too much to abandon him. She had
to think of something.

Tuan stopped his motorcycle in front
of Zoe. When he turned off his motorcycle engine and removed his
helmet, Zoe flew into his arms and cried. Tuan stood there with his
arms open for a few seconds before he wrapped them around
Zoe.

Zoe went on for a few minutes, her
body seized in a spasm whenever she took in a breath. Finally her
crying became a quiet sob and she told Tuan what happened at the
club tonight. She took the piece of paper from the pocket inside
her dress and handed it to Tuan. Tuan wiped her tears with his
shirt sleeves.

“
Zoe,” said Tuan, looking
at the bruises on her arm, “you should leave Yurik now. It’s not
safe for you there.”

Zoe broke away from Tuan and said, “I
don’t know if my band can still play in the club if I leave
him.”

“
Your friends will
appreciate it if you remove them from harm’s way, too. That club is
no place for young girls like you.”

“
You need to warn your
neighbor Billie. I saw her talking to these Asian women in the
restroom, too. They all look like Irisa. I am worried that Billie
would get kidnapped and forced into prostitution. I don’t know what
they were saying, but if these women also have tracking devices in
their arms, Boris could hear them. Billie can be in danger right
now.”

“
You are worried about
Billie with all this stuff going on in your life?” said
Tuan.

“
Anyway, our band needs to
stay there. It’s the only way I can get access to Irisa. I can’t
help her if I stay on the outside.”

“
How do you think you are
going to help her?”

“
With you, of course. You
are the cop. You should do something.”

Tuan looked away for a moment, and
then said, “It’s not as easy as you think.”

“
Why not? Arrest Boris and
his men. Grab Irisa and the other women and they will tell you
everything.”

“
Does Irisa know which
island they are kept on?”

Zoe didn’t answer.

“
If we were to snatch up
the thugs at Rocking Waves now, it would only serve as a signal for
their bosses to round up everyone and disappear. We won’t be able
to save the rest of the women still on that island.”

“
Boris can tell you who
his bosses are and where they are hiding,” said Zoe. “You can
kidnap him without anyone knowing.”

“
That might work, but
chances are with an international scheme like this, he doesn’t know
the real names of his bosses and he doesn’t know which island the
women are kept on, either,” said Tuan. “Boris is just a pawn in
this game, taking orders from superiors who are hiding in the
dark.”

“
How about searching all
the buildings on all the islands? There are not that many islands
around here. I looked at a satellite map of this area.”

“
It’s true there aren’t
many islands, and I can probably guess which island they are on,”
said Tuan.

“
Well?”

“
Remember what you said
about police corruption before? I am afraid that’s our biggest
obstacle here.”

“
You are kidding,” said
Zoe.

“
No. I can’t tell you too
much, but do you really think Rocking Waves can exist without some
officials here being involved?”

Zoe thought about it, and suddenly
realized the magnitude of the problem. Still, she persisted. “Is
there nothing you can do?” said Zoe.

“
I am on the bottom of the
ranks here. I have no clout. I will probably get fired, or worse,
killed, if I stick my neck out.”

“
Ugh! Why is everything so
complicated?”

Tuan hesitated, and then
placed his hands on Zoe’s arms. “Just have some faith. The problems
will work themselves out
—
Irisa’s, and your
mother’s.”

“
I don’t see how in either
case,” said Zoe, feeling pessimistic. “Well, there’s one thing you
can do now. Give me a ride back to the club.”

“
Zoe, I really wish you
would leave Yurik.”

“
Why? To be your
girlfriend?”

Tuan seemed surprised to hear that. He
let go of Zoe’s arms and said, “Who wants to be your boyfriend? I
just don’t want to visit you in the hospital when Yurik puts you in
a coma.”

“
If that were to happen I
am sure you would be happy that the world is rid of one more
troublemaker,” said Zoe. “I hope you don’t give me a ticket for
being in a coma underage.”

Tuan didn’t say anything
back.

Zoe took the extra helmet out of the
storage box of the motorcycle and put it on her head. She got on
the backseat and said, “Come on. I need to get my guitar
back.”

Tuan, frowning, put on his helmet and
sat in front of Zoe. He started the engine, and they took off into
the night, headed for the lion’s den again. Her mother was a lost
cause, Zoe thought, but Irisa was not.

Ana woke up when she heard someone
knocking on the door of her apartment. She sat up in her bed,
immediately overwhelmed by a throbbing headache. She felt queasy
and weak, but still managed to come out of her bedroom and say,
“Who is it?”

“
It’s me, Vo.”

Ana was not expecting any visitors,
especially not Vo at this moment, when she was having a
hangover.

“
Give me a minute,” said
Ana after she let Vo in and asked him to sit down in the living
room. She hurried into the bathroom, and quickly combed her hair,
washed her face, and brushed her teeth. She inspected what she was
wearing, and thought that it was suitable for now. She went to the
kitchen and made some hot tea, and then brought two cups of tea out
with a plate of biscuits.

“
I’m sorry to disturb you
this early in the morning,” said Vo. “I should have called, but I
was out walking, and decided to stop by and check on you. You
didn’t look very well the other night at the
restaurant.”

“
I’m fine. Thanks,” said
Ana. “Speaking of the other night at the restaurant, I should
congratulate you on your engagement.”

“
You shouldn’t. I didn’t
go through with it,” said Vo. He took a sip of his tea.

Ana couldn’t believe what she heard.
“You didn’t go through with it?” said Ana.

“
I didn’t. I couldn’t. I
can’t.”

Ana bit her lower lip. Her heart was
pounding. She sipped her tea, not knowing how to
respond.

Vo went on to say, “You didn’t come
back, or you would’ve seen the disastrous ending to that occasion.
I just came right out and said it to everyone that I opposed the
engagement. I told everyone that Kim was not the one for
me.”

Ana swallowed hard and said, “That
must have been really difficult for Kim. She must have felt so
humiliated. You should have done it in a more private
setting.”

“
So you are fine with me
canceling the whole thing?” said Vo.

“
It’s not my place to be
fine or not fine with it. I just feel bad for poor Kim,” said
Ana.

“
Kim actually looked
relieved. I thought I saw a smile on her face before I left. My
mother was the one who was humiliated. She hasn’t said a nice word
to me since. I should’ve just told them from the very beginning
that it wasn’t going to work. My feeling for Kim has always been
friendly, at most brotherly. It was never remotely romantic. I was
just going along with my mother’s plan because I was at a point
where I thought it didn’t make a difference whom I married.” Vo
paused, looked Ana in the eyes, and then said, “But over the last
few months, things have changed, and I have to be honest with
everyone or I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

“
Good. I think you did a
brave thing, and it was the right thing to do, being honest,” said
Ana, sipping her tea.

“
My heart is with someone
else,” said Vo.

“
Yes, I know. Colette.
That was her name, right?”

“
That’s not what I meant,”
said Vo, gazing at Ana intensely.

Too nervous to find out what Vo
actually meant, Ana said, “Excuse me a minute.” She stood up, and
went to the kitchen.

She opened the refrigerator and
reached for the vodka, but decided against it. She closed the
refrigerator, and stood in front of the stove for a minute. She
took a few deep breaths, and then returned to the living room with
the tea kettle. She poured more hot tea for Vo and herself, then
took a seat across from Vo’s. The interruption caused an awkward
pause in Vo’s impassioned discourse. He stood up, and started to
pace the room.

“
Are you all right?” said
Ana, who was starting to relax with the warmth of the hot
liquid.

“
I don’t know,” said Vo.
“There’s so much I want to tell you. I don’t know where to start. I
don’t know how to start.”

“
You seem really tense.
Would you like to look at my portfolio?” Ana presented Vo an
over-sized album of photographs. Vo sat down again to browse
them.

Ana saw that Vo’s face softened, and
she said, “I bet you’ve seen all of these places. I took all of the
pictures in Nha Trang.”

“
I have seen these places,
but not the way you saw them,” said Tuan. “They all looked so
different the way you captured them with your camera. Look at this
photo of Hon Chong Rock. I’ve never seen it from this aerial angle
before. How did you do it?”

“
I asked the owner of the
seafood restaurant across the street to let me stand on their
roof,” said Ana with a smile. “I promised to buy some snails. I
speak passable Vietnamese, you know.” She moved to the seat next to
Vo’s, and started to narrate the photographs.

“
This is one of the Po
Nagar Cham Towers. I was lying on my back on the ground to take
this. The sun was right on top of it. I was blind for an hour after
that,” said Ana jokingly.

“
What about these
fishermen? How did you get them to look at the camera?” said Vo,
studying a spread of three fishermen crouching on the sand by a
round bamboo basket boat.

“
They were taking a break,
so I approached them with cigarettes. I like the lines on their
faces. They are hardworking people,” said Ana, “not like me. I
loiter about taking pictures.”

“
You should value your
work. These are exceptional photos,” said Vo, marveling at the
photographs, with his arm almost touching Ana’s.

“
Thank you. You are kind.”
Ana studied Vo’s face as he perused the rest of the
album.

“
Next time we go to the
Pearl Island, you should bring your camera,” said Vo.

“
The Pearl
Island?”

“
You will go again with
me, won’t you?” Vo turned to look at Ana. He seemed surprised to
see Ana’s face so close to his. Their eyes locked for a second, and
then he leaned toward her.

Ana didn’t resist. The kiss was timid
and uncertain at first, but soon became passionate as Vo drew Ana
into his chest and pressed her hard against his body. Ana felt as
if she had always belonged in Vo’s arms since time began, that this
was meant to be. Ana and Vo were caught ablaze as the ember of
desire quickly escalated into flames. They let it burn for a long
time, neither of them eager to put out the fire. They only
separated when Vo tasted something cold and salty; Ana’s tears were
flowing down her face.

“
Ana. Oh, Ana. I am sorry.
I have upset you,” said Vo, still holding Ana. He let her chin rest
on his shoulder.

“
No, you didn’t upset me.
I’m just a little overwhelmed,” said Ana. She started to wipe away
her tears with her hand.

Vo gave Ana a soft squeeze.

“
You know,” said Ana,
trembling, “I left the restaurant the other night because I was a
little heartbroken.”

“
I know,” said Vo,
tenderly.

“
A little jealous,
too.”

“
Just a
little?”

“
Actually, a lot,” said
Ana, still sniffling.

“
I’m happy to hear that,”
said Vo.

Ana pushed Vo away and said solemnly,
“I’m not a good person. I’m terrible in fact.”

“
That makes two of
us.”

“
I have hurt so many
people. My kids don’t talk to me. I haven’t held down a job for
longer than six months ever. I am pushing forty and I still haven’t
settled down.”