Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia

Author:Helen Zia
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2019-01-21T16:00:00+00:00

As the Communist armies made their way south toward Shanghai in 1949, boats large and small were overloaded with people and cargo on the Huangpu River along the Bund, trying to get out of the city.

As the family’s departure date approached, the Red Army captured several nearby cities including Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. Elder Sister and Kristian anxiously awaited their May 4 sailing date, as the Communists now seemed poised to encircle Shanghai.

* * *

—

BING PREPARED HERSELF TO be left behind again. She didn’t care, she told herself. Still, she was aware that Elder Sister continued searching for another ticket even as she prepared to leave, asking everyone she knew if they had a single ticket on the General Gordon. Bing never expected Elder Sister to find one.

Then just a day before the ship was due to depart, the telephone rang. One of Elder Sister’s contacts had a relative who had changed his mind about leaving and was having trouble finding someone with a passport and visa to buy his ticket. Elder Sister snatched it up for three hundred U.S. dollars. When she returned with it in hand, she was ebullient. “I got you a ticket—you’re coming to America with us; start packing!” she shouted.

Bing couldn’t trust herself to respond to Elder Sister’s announcement. Incredulous, she could only ask, “But what about Ma?”

Elder Sister had a ready answer. “Everything is set. Ma has her sisters here. She thinks it’s a good idea for you to come along with me, to help me with the boys.”

It was true. When they went to Ma’s place that afternoon, she was waiting for Bing. “You should go with Elder Sister. You can help take care of each other.” Then she reached under her bed and pulled out a small weathered valise. “I carried this when I first came to Shanghai. Now I give it to you.”

After so many harsh words from Ma, Bing was unprepared for this kindness. In the ten years that Bing had lived with her, there had been only a few moments of softness when she had shown that she cared. Then again, the mother who had given birth to Bing in Changzhou had abandoned her. And so had Mama Hsu. Ma was the one who had not only kept her but also taken her back after she ran away. Bing felt a twinge of sadness at leaving, but at least Ma wouldn’t be alone.

Then there was Ah Mei. Saying goodbye to her one and only friend would be the hardest. Bing would not only miss the birth of her best friend’s child, but the two might never see each other again, since Ah Mei and her Iranian Jewish husband were planning to go with other Jews to Israel after the baby came. But Ah Mei was happy for Bing’s good fortune, chiding her friend, “Don’t be sad—we’re both starting our new lives.”

Bing had few regrets about leaving Shanghai and China. She knew that once she was on the ship she would never see her baba again.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.