Aperture on the East (12 page)

Zoe hesitated for a few
seconds, and gave in. She walked to Tuan, and introduced herself.
“My name is Zoe. Zoe Romanova. I’m from Russia.”

Tuan extended his hand,
and Zoe shook it.

“I figured you’re from
Russia. Most white people we see nowadays are from Russia. Good
thing you speak English, so we can talk to each other. I live here
now, but I’m from Hanoi.”

“So you are a police
officer,” said Zoe. “You look a little young.”

“I don’t like to brag,”
said Tuan, “but I was on a fast track, and I finished high school
and university early, university being the People’s Police Academy
in Hanoi. I’m starting at the bottom though. I am what some might
call a junior lieutenant, the lowest ranking police
officer.”

Zoe was impressed with
this fact, but she tried not to show it. Instead, she pointed to
the one-stringed instrument and said, “What’s it called
again?”

“It’s
called
đàn bầu.
I learned to play this from my mother. Do you want to try?”
Tuan gestured for Zoe to sit down, and she agreed.

Tuan showed her how to
press the string down with the pinky side of her right hand while
plucking the string with a long plectrum held between the thumb and
index finger of the same hand. He showed her how to play the
pentatonic scale by plucking at different points of the string.
Then he showed her how to alter the pitch of each sound by using
the left hand to manipulate the vertical rod, which also made the
sound resonate when it was shaken back and forth
rapidly.

“Wow, this is like the
whammy bar on my guitar,” said Zoe. She was fascinated.

“Exactly,” said
Tuan.

Zoe got up from the chair,
and asked Tuan to play another tune on the
đàn bầu.

Tuan sat down to play
another soulful song. Zoe closed her eyes. She couldn’t explain the
sensation she was feeling in her chest; it was a combination of
sorrow and yearning, a sense of nostalgia for the past and a
glimpse of hope for the future.

Tuan got up after the song
and said, “So, you came here just to look at the
instruments?”

“I came to get some
strings,” said Zoe. “And I am looking for someone to play drums for
my band.”

“You have a
band?”

“Yes. We play at the
Rocking Waves. You should come and see us sometimes.”

“So you do work at that
nightclub,” said Tuan, looking straight into Zoe’s eyes.

Zoe realized her mistake,
and did not say anything back.

“Don’t worry. I won’t
bother you there again, now that we are friends,” said Tuan with a
smile. “I do hope that you are of legal age to work, but I’m not
going to investigate a friend.”

Zoe relaxed a little, but
she wasn’t going to give away her age just yet.

“Well,”
said Tuan, “I happen to know someone who owns a set of drums and
plays well.”

“Is this friend a girl? We
are an all-girl band.”

“Yes, a girl. She is a
neighbor of mine. She might be interested in your band.”

“Could you please give her
my contact information?” Zoe handed him a flyer. “And let her know
that we play gothic metal. I hope she likes that genre. But at this
point, we are desperate for someone, anyone, to hit the drums,
period.”

“Gothic
metal. What’s that?”

“I’m sure you can find
music videos of that genre online. Or, you could just come to the
club and listen to us. We would sound much better if we could get
your friend to do the drums.”

“I will ask her tonight,”
said Tuan. “I’m quite busy so I may not be able to see you play.
I’ll warn you though; nightclubs are not safe for young girls like
you.”

“My boyfriend works there,
too, and he takes care of me,” said Zoe.

Tuan raised an eyebrow
again. He seemed surprised at first, and then he had a look of
sudden realization on his face.

“Your boyfriend looked
dangerous,” said Tuan, shaking his head.

“No, he isn’t. He is the
sweetest,” said Zoe. “I stay with him now.”

“You stay with him? What
does that mean? You’re living with your boyfriend?” Tuan seemed to
be taken aback.

“You have a problem with
that?”

Tuan was a little red in
the face. “I guess you two are getting married soon.”

Zoe broke out in laughter.
“Who said anything about getting married? I’m not even sure I love
him.”

“Then why do you live with
him?” Tuan furrowed his brow.

“You wouldn’t understand,”
said Zoe. She couldn’t admit that she didn’t know why she was
living with Yurik, either. She liked Yurik a lot, but she was
probably doing it more for survival than for any romantic
sentiment.

“
I bet you yourself don’t
even know why,” said Tuan sharply. Zoe was stunned to hear
it.

Tuan continued to say, “The time is
changing I guess. Some Vietnamese girls are living with their
boyfriends, too, especially in the cities. They hide it from their
parents, though, usually. How about you? Do your parents
know?”

“
Yes, my mother knows, and
she’s fine with it.” Zoe told a small lie.

“
I assume your mother is
here in Nha Trang?”

“
She is, and since you are
my friend, I hope that you leave her alone.”

“
Why, does she get in
trouble with the law often?”

Zoe was flabbergasted. “You have a way
with words.”

“
You are offended. I am
sorry. I don’t sugarcoat what I want to say.” Tuan shrugged his
shoulders. “Anyway, just be careful in that club. There are things
going on there that you don’t know anything about.”

“
You are patronizing me. I
know everything. I work there nearly every night.”

“
Just keep a sharp eye on
the people there. At least, let me know if you see anything that
troubles you. I trust that you are a morally good person. Anyway,
need a ride? I got an extra helmet.”

“
Are you riding your
police motorcycle?” Zoe was somewhat excited as she imagined
herself riding on one.

“
No. I told you I’m off
duty. You’re coming or not?” Tuan walked toward the exit. He waved
at the shop owner to say goodbye.

“
Wait, I’m coming,” said
Zoe. She grabbed her guitar and hurriedly followed Tuan out of the
store.

It was a breezy summer afternoon, and
Ana decided to take a stroll on the beach. Sunset was about an hour
away, and the water had gone from a bright emerald to a deep
sapphire. The waves were picking up as the tide began to rise. Ana
could see a full moon on the horizon. She had tied her hair up in a
side ponytail, and it brushed her face softly whenever the wind
blew. Her long white dress with a turquoise dip dye on the bottom
was also billowing as she walked. She was feeling blissful, for
some reason.

She recalled the
activities she had undertaken earlier in the day. She had first
hired a taxi to take her to the Ba Ho Stream for a hike, and then
she swam in the three pools surrounded by boulders and waterfalls.
Following that, she went for a long and restorative mud bath at the
Thap Ba Hot Springs. She returned to town for lunch, and had
bánh canh chả cá
, a
local specialty featuring fried fish cakes and noodles in a fish
broth, which was lighter and sweeter, more tantalizing to her
palate than the ubiquitous
phở
made with a beef broth. Afterward, she went home
and gave Russian lessons to two students. When she checked her
e-mail just before she set out for the beach, she discovered that
she was the first place winner of an online photography contest,
and that a check of one hundred U.S. dollars would be coming her
way.

Ana relished the small joys of her new
life in Nha Trang, especially since it was apparent that the
relationship between her and her children would not mend any time
soon. The hopefulness she felt when she first arrived in Nha Trang
was rapidly deteriorating. Zoe had not called or come to visit
since she moved out. Ana could always go to Rocking Waves to see
Zoe, but she wouldn’t go, imprisoned by her guilt, shame, anger and
pride. Ivan seemed to avoid Ana, and wouldn’t even acknowledge her
presence when he saw her. He had practically stopped talking to her
all together.

The sun was setting behind the hotels
and the apartment buildings as Ana looked toward the ocean,
marveling at the sky, feathery streaks of pink orange painted on a
grayish blue canvas. The locals were gathering again to socialize
as the tourists left. There was a playground, and children were
laughing and shouting at one another as they took turns to go on
the slide and the swings. Ana inhaled the soft breeze that was
blowing in from the sea. In her heart, a small flame of hope kept
burning, and the wind, rather than extinguish it, amplified
it.

As she walked, she began to notice a
figure approaching her from the other direction. When she
recognized who it was, her buoyant mood was elevated even
more.

“
Hi, Vo,” said Ana with a
smile.

Vo was wearing blue jeans with a white
button-down shirt half tucked. He was also smiling at
Ana.

“
Ana, not taking any
photos?” He looked around her as if trying to locate her
camera.

Ana was not carrying anything at all.
She said, “I’m just taking in the scenery here.” She pointed to her
head.

“
Yes, it’s important to
look through the lenses you were born with sometimes,” said Vo.
They both laughed.

“
Mind if I walked with you
a bit?” said Vo.

“
Not at all,” said Ana,
“but you were walking in the other direction.”

“
I was not going anywhere
in particular,” said Vo.

They started walking in the direction
that Ana was going.

“
You and I have met
several times,” said Vo, “but we haven’t really gotten to know each
other.”

“
That’s true. What do you
want to know?”

“
Well, I do know a few
things about you because McKenzie has been talking about you so
much. He likes you a lot.”

“
It means that he only
tells you the good things about me, right?”

“
Are there any bad things
about you?”  said Vo.

Ana didn’t say anything
back.

“
How long are you staying
in Nha Trang?” said Vo.

“
Originally,” said Ana, “I
planned to stay here for a year. I have fallen in love with Nha
Trang, however, and I am thinking about living here
indefinitely.”

Ana thought that she saw a satisfied
grin on Vo’s face before he went on to ask Ana why she had decided
to move to Nha Trang.

“
Long story short, I was
suffocating in my hometown for personal reasons, and I was tired of
the climate. I saw a travel brochure about Nha Trang, and I took
the chance.”

“
That was a very brave
thing to do,” said Vo.

“
What about you? You grew
up in the United States. What made you come back?”

“
Ah, I was also
suffocating in my hometown for personal reasons.”

Ana raised an eyebrow, as if accusing
Vo of mocking her.

“
For real, but I sense
that you don’t want to talk about your long story, and I don’t,
either. Temperature wise, New Orleans is not bad. We have great
food and music.”

“
I’d like to visit New
Orleans in the future,” said Ana. “I had not visited another
country before I came to Nha Trang. As a matter of fact, other than
my honeymoon to Anapa by the Black Sea, I had not been outside of
my hometown of Novosibirsk my entire life. How about you? Have you
travelled much?”

“
I was fortunate in that
regard,” said Vo. “After high school I went on a long backpacking
trip. I worked as a deckhand on cargo ships in order to move among
continents and islands. And then when I got into marine biology, my
research took me just about all over the world.”

“
I envy you,” said
Ana.

A moment of silence later, Vo said,
“You went on a honeymoon, but you are here alone.”

“
I’m not exactly alone. My
kids came with me. My daughter will turn seventeen soon, and my son
is eleven,” said Ana.

“
And the
husband?”

“
We are divorced,” said
Ana in a low voice.

“
I see,” said
Vo.

Ana took a deep breath and said, “So,
I heard that you are to marry soon. Kim’s father is a big investor
of Quan Bien Dong, and my boss Mr. Tran talks of you two just about
every day.”

Vo laughed and said, “My mother is
trying to set us up. Kim’s mother and my mother used to go to
school together before my family left in 1975. Kim’s father became
a businessman a decade later when the Vietnamese government pushed
for the economic reform, and he made money brokering deals between
fishermen and boat manufacturers. Now he owns quite a few
restaurants and hotels, too.”