Aperture on the East Read online

  “Whatever.” Zoe plunked back down to her bed.

  “So, is it okay if I come and watch you play?” said Ana.

  “Sure, we are there from nine to one every night. Come after work.”

  “That is pretty late for your age. Don’t they have an earlier shift or something?”

  “This is a nightclub. They don’t start early.”

  “All right, all right,” said Ana. “And all you do is play music, nothing else.” She raised her eyebrow.

  “I am not a prostitute.”

  “Then why do you come home at five o’clock in the morning if you finish at one? And what are you doing during the day besides sleeping?”

  “I think I’ve said enough.” Zoe yawned. “Could we continue this on another day? I’m really tired. Could I have my pillow back?”

  Ana threw the pillow at Zoe, who caught it and put it over her head, turning away from Ana. Ana was not sure if this was a satisfactory resolution of their present crisis, but she felt much better than when she started the confrontation. She sighed, and left Zoe’s room.

  Chapter 8

  Ivan was cruising down the beach promenade on his skateboard when he heard his name called out from behind him. He stopped and turned around. A familiar figure, also on a skateboard, was closing in on him. It was Misha, his desk mate from school.

  “Nice board,” said Misha, stopping in front of Ivan to look at his skateboard.

  “Thanks,” said Ivan.

  “I am meeting some friends to do some flips. Join us?”

  Ivan hesitated for a moment. He and Misha weren’t exactly friends. He wanted to go with Misha, but was not sure whether Misha’s friends would welcome him. Besides, the last time someone had invited him to do something, it turned out to be a trick to get him into a dark corner so that a bunch of kids could throw raw eggs and vegetables at him and kicked him in the stomach.

  “Well?” said Misha.

  Maybe kids down here would be friendlier. Ivan decided to take a risk. “Why not?” said Ivan.

  They got back on their skateboards. Ivan followed Misha down the busy promenade, and avoided hitting the pedestrians. A few people, both locals and foreigners, objected with frowns.

  They soon came upon a group of helmetless skateboarders who were showing off their tricks. A few local children were watching them. Ivan recognized one of the skateboarders as another student from his class. Misha called out to them. “Hey, we got a new pal.”

  All the skateboarders stopped to greet Misha and Ivan. Misha introduced everyone to Ivan. The other classmate’s name was Viktor; he quickly went off to impress Ivan with an aerial stunt.

  Brian and Josh were American, George was British, Laurent was French, Koji was Japanese, and Duong was Vietnamese. Misha did a special introduction on Duong, who did not speak much English or attend an international school like the rest of the gang. He saw the skateboarders one day, went to the junk yard to salvage a used skateboard despite his mother’s protest, and made his way into the skateboarders’ circle simply by showing up and saying “hello, hello” repeatedly until he got his wish. He could slide down the street, and do an ollie when he put his mind to it.

  “Awesome,” said Ivan, moved by Duong’s determination.

  Ivan couldn’t help but feel happy. So far no one had called him names or tried to make him trip. Everyone was laughing and joking around. Ivan was excited about being included in a group, possibly for the very first time in his life.

  “We all go to different schools, but we found one another here at the beach,” said Misha.

  “Hey, are we going to skateboard or not?” said Koji.

  With that, everyone took turns to demonstrate his best trick. Ivan did a perfect 360 pop shove-it, and everyone else shouted and clapped. A scrawny boy, wearing an oversized T-shirt and baggy shorts, came up to Ivan and made a gesture, pointing to his skateboard.

  “I think he wants to borrow your board to try,” said Brian.

  Ivan got off his skateboard and toed it to the boy, who promptly put two feet on the board and just as quickly fell backward and landed on his bottom. All the other local kids broke out in laughter.

  Ivan helped the boy get up and said, “Are you okay?”

  “Okay, okay. Try again?” said the boy.

  “You can try again, but you need to do it this way,” said Ivan.

  Ivan put his skateboard on a patch of grass nearby, and showed the boy how to position his body and feet so he could stay atop the skateboard. He got off and let the boy try. The boy got on the skateboard gingerly, and to everyone’s amazement, balanced himself without falling again.

  “Nice job, Ivan,” said Misha. “We’ve been showing these kids how to skateboard, and you are a natural teacher. How come you didn’t tell me you could skateboard? We sit together at school every day.”

  “Well,” said Ivan, “I didn’t really ever have a chance to talk to you. We can’t talk during class, and you always leave so quickly when the bell rings.”

  “Oops. I guess it is my fault,” said Misha. “It takes all the patience in me to sit through those fifty-minute classes, and I only get a few minutes to play ball with my friends before the bell rings again.” Misha took a deep breath in and said, “Well, starting tomorrow, I will grab you for recess.”

  “But you don’t come out at all,” said Viktor. “I never see you outside.”

  Ivan remembered being bullied on the playground, and felt too embarrassed to explain why he preferred the safety of the classroom where a teacher was usually present the majority of the time.

  “That’s because he didn’t have anyone to play with, and now he has us,” said Misha. “You will come and play ball with us, won’t you?”

  “Of course,” said Ivan. He was glad that he had made some friends. His mother was right this time. He couldn’t wait to tell her all about it.

  “Hey, look who’s here?” Laurent pointed at a girl walking along the edge of the sea.

  Ivan turned his head, and saw a red-haired girl in a flowing white dress strolling barefoot on the sand with the aquamarine sea behind her. She seemed to be collecting seashells.

  “It’s the know-it-all class president of ours, Sofia,” said Misha.

  “We know her, too,” said Josh. “There was an English speaking contest and each international school had to present two students to compete. She won the gold medal. I got silver, and English was my native language.”

  “No joke. And I speak the King’s English,” said George. “I got bronze.”

  Everyone giggled. Viktor made fun of Sofia by imitating the way she talked and acted, and everyone except Ivan bent over holding his midsection in even more explosive laughter.

  “She was the only one who talked to me on my first day of school though,” said Ivan in Sofia’s defense.

  “It’s her job,” said Misha. “She is the class president, appointed by Ms. Mimi. She is teacher’s pet number one.”

  “Because she got the best grades,” said Viktor. “But you seem to be getting the top scores on quizzes, too, Ivan. Sofia has competition now.”

  “Well, I am new, so I am not going to have the best grades,” said Ivan.

  “You never know,” said Misha. “Anyway, she is a pretty nice person. She brings the best snacks and candies to share with all of us. Her father is very rich, I can tell. He came to school one day in an Armani suit, just to see Ms. Mimi in a five-minute conference. His chauffer takes Sofia to and from school every day in a Rolls-Royce.”

  “The only Rolls-Royce in town,” said Koji.

  So it seemed that Sofia indeed was a local celebrity, at least among the international students, thought Ivan.

  “It’s been fun, guys, but we have to go,” said Brian. “We’ve got a biology project to do, about the humpback dolphins of the South China Sea.” He and Josh rode away on their skateboards.

  The rest of the gang hung out for another ten minutes before they all decided to call it a day and went their separate
ways.

  Ivan did not leave immediately. He could see Sofia still walking on the beach in the distance, her red hair standing out against the blue ocean. Ivan said goodbye to the local kids, and rode on the promenade toward Sofia. When he was close enough, he got off his skateboard, wrapped it under his arm, and walked.

  “Hey,” said Ivan when Sofia stood for a moment to look at the water, which was malachite with a few shades of turquoise under the late morning sun.

  “Ivan, what are you doing here?” Sofia smiled.

  “I was just hanging out with some friends earlier,” said Ivan, still a little uneasy about using the term “friends” yet.

  “Skateboarding, I see.” Sofia looked at Ivan’s skateboard.

  “You are collecting seashells?” said Ivan, looking into Sofia’s bucket.

  “Nha Trang beach has the best seashells. If you come out during low tide, you see all kinds.”

  “This beach is pretty cool,” said Ivan. He didn’t know of any other beach to compare it to.

  Ivan and Sofia walked a little along the shore. Sofia said, “I was going to get some durian smoothie. Do you want to come?”

  Ivan didn’t know what that was, but a girl was inviting him to do something together, so naturally he said, “Sure.”

  They ran across the street when they saw a break in the stream of vehicles. They walked past a woman with a conical hat sitting on a stool with a pot of soup next to her feet. There were a few additional stools around her and a few customers were enjoying bowls of snails in a lemongrass broth. Ivan looked at the pot of soup and could hear his own stomach sing to the aroma, but Sofia led him inside a café instead. Sofia ordered two cups of durian smoothie. Ivan grabbed a cup and took a sip through the large straw. Despite the interesting odor, the smoothie was sweet and refreshing.

  “The actual fruit stinks, but this is my favorite iced drink in Vietnam,” said Sofia.

  They sat down near the corner of the café, looking at the passersby through the glass window. Ivan was thinking about the social advances he had made that day when Sofia said, “To tell you the truth, I saw you and your friends back there. You were pretty good on the skateboard. Actually, you were amazing. I am not good at any sports. I could walk pretty far though. I am an hour’s walk away from my house.”

  “That’s a long walk. Do you come every Sunday?” said Ivan. He couldn’t believe that he had just been called “amazing” by a girl as pretty and smart as Sofia.

  “I come to the beach whenever I can. I adore the beach. During the week I am occupied with school work, but on the weekends I am allowed on the beach for as long as I want.”

  Allowed? Ivan thought that was a strange word to use.

  “I’m from Novosibirsk,” said Ivan, “which is a landlocked city. So, I love the beach, too.”

  “Do you miss home?”

  “I miss speaking Russian and hearing Russian, and maybe the food, too. Other than that, I’m having fun here.”

  “I have never been to Russia, believe it or not,” said Sofia. “My father is too busy to take me.”

  “What about your mother?”

  “My mother died a few years ago. She had a sick liver,” said Sofia quietly.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” Ivan didn’t know what to say next, and they sat silently drinking their durian smoothie. Ivan liked Sofia’s company, and didn’t mind the void of words.

  Sofia finished her drink and said, “I have to go now. I will see you tomorrow in school.” She got up from her chair.

  “Sure. And maybe next Sunday I will see you on the beach again?” Ivan said nervously as he also got up from his chair to walk Sofia out of the cafe.

  “Maybe, and we can have another durian smoothie, or something else,” said Sofia with a smile. Ivan could feel his heart melt away in that instant.

  They closed the café door behind them, and Ivan followed Sofia to the curb. There was a black sedan parked in front of them with its engine running. Ivan saw the silver hood ornament in the form of a woman with arms outstretched behind her as if she were about to fly. Two overlapping R’s were underneath it.

  The driver came around to open the door to the backseat.

  “Bye, Ivan,” said Sofia. She kissed Ivan on the cheek, and hopped into the car.

  Chapter 9

  “She’s not bad,” said Mai, who was enjoying a chilled Coca Cola with Ana in the Rocking Waves Nightclub. They were sitting at a table around the dance floor.

  It was ten o’clock on a Sunday night. The number of people present was more than half capacity. The band was taking a break, so Ana could actually talk to Mai without screaming at her.

  “She is pretty good on stage,” said Ana. “Thanks for coming out with me tonight. I am too old to come to this kind of place by myself.”

  “Thank Mr. Tran for letting us off early,” said Mai. “I don’t get to go out much. We Vietnamese women are not supposed to be coming to places like this. But I am old school. I see a lot of young Vietnamese girls here.” She squinted and surveyed the multi-ethnic mix of patrons.

  “They could be from Japan or Korea, you know,” said Ana.

  “If I don’t look at those girls and just listen to the music, I am fine,” said Mai. “The way they dress and dance is not decent.”

  Ana chuckled at Mai’s conservative ideals of women; she decided to change the subject.

  “It’s funny,” said Ana. “I gave her that guitar long ago. She loves it more than she loves me. She sleeps with it. She takes it everywhere. She used to get in trouble for taking it to school, so she chose it over school, I guess.”

  “It’s an interesting design. Where did you get it?”

  “I got it from my first love, Leo, Zoe’s father. He bought it with a ridiculous amount of money from some musician. It’s antique, really. It was made in 1965, I was told. Leo got it for me when I got into a band myself.”

  “What did you play?”

  “Our music was not very different from Zoe’s. We were a punk band. I had spiky hair.” Ana and Mai both laughed. “Except,” said Ana, “Zoe’s all about blood and death, and I was all about throwing over the government.”

  “So what happened to Zoe’s father?” said Mai.

  Ana took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. It was still too agonizing to talk about Leo.

  “He died when Zoe was four,” said Ana.

  “I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about it.”

  “It’s okay. We were all very young and foolish back then. People were all of a sudden free to do a lot of things after the fall of Soviet Union in 1991. Leo got into heroine, not that it was legal, but a lot of it was coming in because no one was guarding the borders. Leo owned a tattoo parlor, and all kinds of people were getting tattoos, not just prisoners and gangsters. He did these snake tattoos for me.” Ana showed Mai her forearms. “You can’t see very well because I put concealer over them. Anyway, he made a lot of money, and we just partied with heroine.”

  “You did heroine, too?” said Mai, her eyes enlarged.

  “I tried it,” said Ana. “I was stupid. Luckily I didn’t get hooked on it. Leo did, and he died from an overdose. He was the life of the party one night, and the next morning, he was gone.”

  “I can’t believe it. I have never known anyone who did drugs.”

  “I hope you don’t hold that against me.”

  “It’s in the past. I only look at the present. You seem like an upright person now,” said Mai.

  Ana appreciated Mai’s kind words. Finally, here was someone who validated Ana’s effort in rectifying her life.

  “Hi,” said Zoe when she appeared with her band members in front of Ana.

  Ana stood up and gave Zoe a hug and a kiss. Zoe did not resist it, but Ana could tell that Zoe did not welcome it, either.

  “Mai, this is Zoe,” said Ana. “Zoe, this is Mai, the head chef at my restaurant.”

  Mai smiled at Zoe, who waved her hand awkwardly at Mai.

  “So, this i
s your band.” Ana, with a smile, glanced at Zoe’s friends.

  Zoe quickly introduced everyone. The other guitarist was Nelly, also from Russia. The bass guitarist was Aiko from Japan. Tam took the keyboard; she was born and raised in Nha Trang. Everyone participated in vocals.

  “We’re still looking for someone to play the drums,” said Nelly. “It’s hard being a metal band without a drummer. Tam uses the synchronizer on her keyboard to do percussions.”

  “Which is quite a waste of her talents,” said Aiko. “She’s been learning classical piano since she was four, and she went to the Steinway piano competition last year.”

  “But I didn’t win,” said Tam. “Anyway I like pop music better.”

  “Your parents let you play here in a nightclub?” said Mai. She was looking at Tam.

  “I don’t need them to let me,” said Tam.

  All right, it seemed that Zoe had found a kindred spirit in Tam, thought Ana.

  The break was up, and the Cardinal’s Choir returned to the stage, causing another wave of feverish clapping and screaming from the audience before they all fell into a frenzy when the band started to play “Bring Me to Life” by Evanescence.

  “Well, Ana,” said Mai. “It’s been fun, but I have to go now. My husband will give me an earful if I don’t get home soon.” She got up to leave.

  “I’ll stay a little longer to watch Zoe. This is a side of her I’ve never seen before.” Ana felt a sense of pride, even though Zoe’s work environment was less than ideal.

  “Enjoy your day off tomorrow. See you Tuesday.” Mai started walking toward the exit, but she stopped and turned around. “Speaking of work, Mr. Tran wanted me to tell you something. He saw you give leftovers to the people that came to beg at the backdoor. He wants you to stop doing that.”

  “Why, no one is going to eat it. I don’t want to waste it,” said Ana.

  “Well, he doesn’t want to give free food to anyone. Some people may be pretending, faking illness to get your sympathy. Just do what Mr. Tran says. He’s the boss.” Mai turned and left.

  Ana was still defending her actions in her mind when a man came to talk to Ana.