Aperture on the East (15 page)

“
Those are strange
questions,” said Zoe. “She and I are not exactly friends. One thing
I can tell you. Her boss is Boris. He’s the only boss in the club.
Everyone else is just a peon.”

Tuan didn’t say anything back, so Zoe
continued to say, “And why can’t she just talk to me? Why does she
have to write things down?”

“
Has it ever occurred to
you that perhaps she could not talk for a reason?”

Before Zoe could answer, Tuan said,
“What’s that?”

Zoe saw that Tuan was looking at her
wrist where a bruise was visible. It must have been from Yurik
grabbing her earlier. She didn’t want to talk about it, and so she
said, “I hit it on something.”

Just now Yurik came out of the
nightclub. He immediately wrapped his arm around Zoe’s shoulders
and said to Tuan, “You again. Are you bothering my
girl?”

“
No, not at all,” said
Tuan. “I was just making sure that she was fine until you could get
here. It’s past midnight and it’s not safe for a girl to loiter
about a nightclub alone. I am going now. You two take care.” Tuan
rode away on his motorcycle, with a sharp rumble that quickly
dissipated as he fell out of sight.

“
I don’t want you talking
to that cop again, you understand?” Yurik said to Zoe
harshly.

Zoe struggled out of Yurik’s grasp and
said, “Who makes you the boss of me?”

“
Well, last I checked, you
were sleeping in my bed and eating out of my kitchen. That makes me
the boss of you. Now get in the car,” said Yurik as he pushed Zoe
into a small sedan parked outside the nightclub. Zoe knew that she
had made a mistake moving in with Yurik, but she was not about to
crawl back to her mother’s apartment and apologize. Not yet,
anyway.

It was a gorgeous sunny day in
mid-July. There were a few slivers of clouds in the azure sky. The
water was the color of jade. The breeze was soft and warm. The only
waves came from the movement of Vo’s fishing boat, which was
heading toward a remote island. Ana was sitting at the bow, just
outside the pilothouse. This was the first time she had gone out to
sea since she arrived in Nha Trang, and she was full of
anticipation.

The surface of the water in the
distance was shimmering in the sunlight, juxtaposed with small,
glittering white crests created by the gentle wind. Ana looked down
in the water, which was so clear that she could see tropical fish
hurrying to make way for the boat as it glided through the ocean.
Ana was a little tense before she stepped on the boat, as she could
not recall ever being on one. She tried to think of her past trips
to various lakes in her landlocked hometown, but could not
associate any with a vehicle off from dry land. She had learned to
swim in school, and had enjoyed splashing in the shallow parts of
the beach in Nha Trang, where she could stand if she felt fatigued.
She had never dipped in the open ocean, however, where there was no
land in sight. She was anxious. Nevertheless, as soon as Vo took
the boat out of port, and she was able to bask in the warm sun with
nothing to see but blue and green, she relaxed. Being cocooned by
the monotonous sounds of boat engine, waves, and wind was also very
calming. The effect was almost similar to having had a glass of
wine, she thought to herself, feeling thirsty.

The deep green water gradually became
a bright aquamarine as the boat came closer and closer to its
destination. Ana looked ahead and could see a small island with a
double-peaked mountain in the middle. She didn’t see any other boat
around. Vo stopped the engine and put the anchor down a short
distance away from the beach. He lowered a ladder down one side of
the boat.

“
We have to get off here
and wade in. Do you think you can manage?” said Vo.

The water didn’t seem too deep, so Ana
said, “Sure.”

Vo gently lowered a kayak into the
water; the kayak, barely fitting the length of the boat, had been
secured with ropes inside the hull. Vo then put a waterproof bag on
his shoulder and went down the ladder first. Ana could see that he
was able to stand with the water coming up to his waist. He
signaled for Ana to follow, and spotted her from below as she came
down the ladder. The water came up to about her chest.

Vo untied the kayak from the boat and
pushed it toward the shore. Ana followed him. The water was clean
and warm. She could see the white sand underneath. They made it to
the beach without any problems, and Ana was relieved.

Vo took out a mat from his bag and
unrolled it, spreading it out over the sand in the shade of a
coconut tree. He then removed his wet shirt and set it down on a
rock nearby. Ana was a little bashful to see Vo’s bare chest, but
she decided that it was too cold to stay in the wet clothes even
under the hot sun. She removed her thigh length linen cover and set
it down on the rock next to Vo’s shirt. She wore a one-piece
swimsuit, solid blue.

They both sat down on the mat to take
in their surroundings for a few minutes without talking to each
other. The mountain behind them was silent and green with bushes
and trees, but Ana could hear the call of the white birds flying
around the top of the mountain. The medley of the waves, breeze,
and coconut tree branches knocking one another was so soothing that
Ana felt almost tipsy. Vo had provided her with a large towel to
wrap herself in, and even though they were in the shade, Ana felt
comfortably warm. She lay down to observe the sky, peering through
the leaves of the coconut tree. The sun was off to one side, as it
was not yet noon. Ana turned toward Vo to admire the golden circles
that the sunlight, filtered through the coconut leaves, imprinted
on Vo’s face and chest.

“
Thank you for taking me
out here,” said Ana, “even if we are to do nothing but turn around
and go right back. I have never been to a place as beautiful as
this.”

“
You’re welcome,” said Vo.
“I discovered this island one day when I was just out exploring the
sea off the coast of Nha Trang. I can’t find it on the map. Just as
well, I have it all to myself when I come here.” He also lay down
to look at the sky with Ana.

“
So you get to name it, if
you are the first person to discover it,” said Ana.

“
I haven’t thought about
that.”

They let a few more minutes pass in
silence. Ana’s stomach started to make a signal.

“
It’s time for lunch,”
said Vo. He pulled out some bread, fruit, and smoked sausages, as
well as a large bottle of water.

“
No beer?” said Ana, who
had imagined having a glass of wine or champagne on the
beach.

“
No. We have to stay
alert. I mean, it’s relaxing here and all, but we are in the
wilderness. Besides, I have to operate the boat to get us back
later today.”

“
Aye aye, captain,” said
Ana.

After the picnic, Vo helped Ana into
the front seat of the kayak, and he hopped on behind her. He handed
Ana a paddle and said, “Just take us wherever. And you can just let
the paddle rest on your lap if you get tired. I will do most of the
work so you can just enjoy the scenery.”

They went kayaking around the small
island. The water was calm and inviting. When they came across a
small stretch of coral reef, Ana was delighted to see the
multi-colored tropical fish.

“
Unfortunately, it’s rare
to see reef sharks or manta rays here,” said Vo. “Most snorkelers
like to see those.”

Ana thought it was a good thing not to
run into them, even though she heard that they were generally
harmless.

After kayaking, Vo took out snorkeling
masks and explained to Ana how to use hers. She was nervous in the
beginning, but she felt safe and secure with Vo right next to her.
They snorkeled first right on the beach, and then went farther to
the coral reef that they had come across on their kayak. Ana was
amazed to see the different anemones and starfish. It was hard for
her to imagine that all of it occurred solely by chance and
evolution.

When they dried off on land they ate
some more, and then both fell asleep under the coconut tree in the
glory of the afternoon sun.

Ana felt a little disoriented when Vo
woke her up a while later. She forgot where she was, although she
remembered dreaming about abandoning herself to a distant island,
where Vo and her frolicked at the edge of the water. Then she
realized that the dream was actually happening.

Vo was lying on his side with his head
propped on his elbow, gazing at Ana. For a moment Ana thought that
Vo was going to kiss her, but he soon sat up and cast his eyes
toward the ocean instead.

“
Is it time to go?” said
Ana, with a little disappointment in her voice.

“
Almost, but we can stay a
little longer,” said Vo. “I’d like to see sunset, but I don’t like
to be out on the water in the dark. We would have to camp here
overnight if we want to see sunset.”

“
That sounds very
romantic,” said Ana, who then quickly regretted her choice of
words.

Vo didn’t seem to notice. He said,
“It’s been a long time since I camped on the beach
overnight.”

Ana sensed some sadness in Vo’s voice.
“Who were you with the last time?” asked Ana.

Vo was quiet for a moment, and then he
told Ana about Colette.

He couldn’t stop once he started. He
told Ana about how he and Colette, Vidal’s twin sister, grew up
together as neighbors and how he fell in love with her. Colette had
started college while he took a year off to travel the world after
high school. When he returned, he focused on his study and then his
career in marine biology; the thought of marriage never entered his
mind.

“
We sailed from New
Orleans to Key West once,” said Vo. “We spent a week alone at sea,
and we camped on beaches as beautiful as this one. It was
unforgettable.”

Vo looked straight at the wide open
ocean. Ana could tell that he was reliving that saga in his
mind.

After a minute, Vo said, “Colette
hinted several times for us to get married, but I kept putting it
off. It took me years to get my PhD, and then I spent a few more
years to work on my postdoc. I got offered a faculty position two
years ago, and that was when I finally proposed to
Colette.”

Ana looked into Vo’s eyes; they were
dark and sad, like a storm of tears might just pour down at any
minute, but she could see not a single drop.

“
She planned the whole
wedding,” said Vo. “I was too busy to do anything. We had several
fights. She didn’t think I cared, and maybe she was right. I was
fine with things the way they were. We had already moved in
together, and I thought, what was the wedding going to change? I’d
still wake up next to her every morning.

“
Then one day, two months
before the wedding, Vidal’s law firm had an office party, and she
went with him. She met one of Vidal’s partners, someone who was
young, charming, carefree, full of life, a carpe diem kind of guy,
the way she put it. They started seeing each other, and then a
month before the wedding, she called it off.”

Vo looked down; his body was
trembling.

“
Naturally I was furious,”
said Vo. “I cursed them. I wanted them to go to hell. And I guess
the Devil heard. They died in a car crash two weeks later; he had
been driving drunk. There is no word that can describe how I felt.
I still loved Colette, you know. I blamed myself for cursing them.
I just wasn’t man enough to let Colette be with someone that could
give her what I couldn’t. I was so small. I didn’t deserve her at
all. And she died thinking that I hated her.”

Ana could tell that Vo was fighting
back his tears, trying to look strong. She didn’t know that there
was so much emotion behind the cool face of this man. She sat
silently, not knowing what to say to comfort such a tormented
soul.

Vo took a deep breath and rubbed his
hands against his cheeks. He turned to Ana and said, “Sorry. I can
be a wimp sometimes.”

“
Nothing wrong with that,”
said Ana.

They sat without a word for a few more
minutes. The silence was strangely comforting.

Ana noticed something in the sand and
dug it out to show Vo. “Look!”

Vo took it over. It was an oyster the
size of his palm. He opened it with a little force, and was greeted
with something shiny inside.

“
It’s a pearl!” said
Ana.

Vo took the pearl out of the oyster
and gave it to Ana.

It was just smaller than a marble,
ivory colored with small pits on the surface, not smooth like the
ones Ana had seen in jewelry stores.

“
Looks like the giant
tears you are trying to hide from me,” said Ana.

Vo smiled.

“
You know what they said
about how a pearl is formed,” said Vo. “Something irritating like a
parasite got in the oyster and the oyster tried to ward it off by
secreting a substance around it over and over again. The oyster
turns something painful into something beautiful.”

Ana contemplated about the origin of
the pearl she held in her hand, and then asked, “So do you bring
Kim out here? Did she find a pearl, too?”