The Eaves of Heaven by Andrew X. Pham

Author:Andrew X. Pham
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780307409348
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2008-06-03T04:00:00+00:00

THAT night, people buried Mr. Nhi with his father. Monks blessed their graves under a pale crescent moon. In the wee hours, more than twenty young men, single women, and boys our age left the village. Tan and I ached to slip into the darkness with them and join the Resistance.

It was as much a desperate act of salvage as redemption. It was a matter of honor.

THE NORTH

1948

22. THE RESISTANCE FIGHTER

One night right after the New Year celebration, Vi, the orphan, came back wearing brown pajamas and sandals. We barely recognized him. Gardener Cam’s adopted son—our famine project—had grown into a tall, lean young man. His boyish round face had squared into an almost chiseled look. He had shaved off his unruly tangles, leaving only monk’s fuzz on his head. Vi used to be as dark as a buffalo boy. Now he was as pale as an office clerk. His voice had broken into a man’s baritone. His eyes, however, were the same—small, narrow, and serious. The huge mole in the middle of his forehead was as ominous as ever.

His visit came as a big surprise. We had assumed Vi had died in battle because we hadn’t heard from him since he disappeared almost three years ago. Everyone in the estate gathered in the dining hall to welcome him. The women complimented him on how mature he looked and swamped him with questions. Everyone was very nice to him. It was the most attention he’d ever received. Vi was gregarious, joking and tousling the heads of the little ones. He sipped his tea and answered questions patiently like a real adult. He exuded power and authority.

One of my little cousins chirped, “Vi! Vi! You remember when we used to call you Dumpling-Face-Boy?”

The women gasped, mortified, but Vi just chuckled and patted the boy’s head. Aunt Thao told the kid to be quiet.

Old Cam asked the one question that had bothered him since Vi left. “Why didn’t you write? We were so worried.”

“Oh, Uncle, it’s against the rules. And besides, we were so busy moving from one assignment to the next, we never had time to write.”

“Brother Vi, why don’t you have a gun?” asked Chau, the perennial buffalo boy.

Vi laughed easily. “I had several guns before, but I don’t need them for my new work now.”

Tan said, “Is it communication or intelligence?”

Vi just smiled and wouldn’t say anything. The kids clamored for him to tell, but he replied, “I wouldn’t be a good Resistance fighter if I disobeyed my orders and revealed my assignment to you, would I?”

Aunt Thuan hushed the kids and turned to Vi. “Well, son, now that you’re back home again, we’ll prepare a private room for you—in the old guards’ wing, because you’re a fighting man now.”

Vi said he would like that. He was still active in his unit, so he would only come and spend the night when it was safe. He said his group was stationed nearby and that he would be back regularly to gather information on the French.

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