Snow in Vietnam: A Novel by Amy M. Le

Author:Amy M. Le [Le, Amy M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quill Hawk Publishing
Published: 2019-05-24T00:00:00+00:00

19 Fish and Snake (September 1978)

I sense Hải’s presence behind me as I brush my hair. His arms wrap around my waist so I put the brush down. Neither of us speaks for a while. I see my father step out of the outhouse from behind the banyan tree.

“Is he…?” I ask.

“He sure is!” confirms Hải.

We both run outside. Hải grabs a towel on the way out.

“Father!” I call out to him. “You forgot your underwear.”

Father notices his nakedness and places his hands on his butt cheeks. “So, I did!”

Hải wraps the towel around my father’s waist. “Come, Uncle, let me help you find something to wear.”

The two of them disappear into the house. I walk over to my favorite hammock and lay down, swinging it with my left leg. It makes me sad to see my father’s memory deteriorating and his health declining. This man who used to be so vibrant and strong, who used to spank his children when we did something bad, can now hardly take care of himself.

“What is making you frown?” Hải returns with some peanuts to share. My brother accompanies him.

“Father.” I crack open the shell and pop a peanut in my mouth. “Most parents beat their children with a belt or bamboo or rattan, but not Father. His favorite weapon was a dried, bull’s penis.”

Brother Seven chuckles. “That thing was a half meter long and flexible despite how hard it was. You girls were lucky, though. He never used it on you, just the boys.”

“True,” I acknowledge. “Mother used a wooden spoon.”

“Remember that time you slipped a frying pan down your pants, hoping she would not notice? You thought you were being so clever, kneeling there straight as a pool cue, anticipating the punishment that was to be ramrodded down your backside.”

I laugh. “How old was I, do you remember?”

“You were around Tuấn’s age, seven or eight,” answers Brother Seven.

“So what happened?” asks Hải.

“She was a little bit of a tomboy when she was younger,” says Brother Seven, “and she loved tagging along with me and my friends after school. One day, I was going to fight one of my crickets but when I opened the matchbox, he jumped out and escaped. We forfeited and returned home. On the way home, there was a crowd of people yelling and getting all excited about something. She convinced me to take her over to check it out. There was a fish fight going on, so I placed a bet, and she was right beside me, placing a bet herself! It took over three hours for the fish to kill the other.”

“We lost track of time and were late getting home to do our chores.” I continue Brother Seven’s story. “Mother yelled at me for betting and acting unladylike. I lost all of my money from the Lunar New Year on that stupid fish. And because I was not home to do my chores, my punishment was to kneel on my knees and face the corner of the wall for an hour, before accepting my spankings.

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