The Last Lover by Can Xue

Author:Can Xue
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2014-12-11T05:00:00+00:00

9

IDA’S LIFE IN EXILE

Ida thought she had finally escaped Mr. Reagan’s clutches. She sat at the bar counter, ordered a glass of red wine, lit a cigarette, and inhaled two puffs, feeling dizzy and elated.

The owner of the bar was her fellow townsman, a man a little over forty who looked like an old ape, with small eyes always staring straight ahead. The bar was a family business. The owner’s wife and daughter both worked in the restaurant. On holidays Ida came here to help out. Ida’s movements were nimble, her mind agile, and she attracted customers. The owner’s wife wanted her to stay, to become a member of their household.

The bar was in an out-of-the-way spot. A green neon light, which flickered like ghostly eyes, was set on a grapevine trellis out in front of the restaurant. It was by chance that Ida had come here. Once she arrived she fell in love with the place, then, unexpectedly, discovered that the owner was from her hometown and the bar’s customers were all to her liking. For the most part, customers arrived one after another around midnight. Almost everyone walked, very few of them drove. Without anyone realizing it, the seats at the counter and in the large dining room filled. People kept straight faces, spoke in lowered voices, and discussed serious issues in groups of two and three. The owner, Alvin, told Ida that the tone of the bar came about naturally, and only people who spent all day in illusions liked to come here. When they arrived, they poured out to each other the nightmares pent up in their hearts. Alvin called this “woe telling.” Ida didn’t come to the bar for woe telling; she had been attracted by the bar’s name. From a distance she saw the neon lights on the dome spell out two words, Green Jade. She still remembered how things had been that night. She’d walked a long road, roaming nearly all the large streets and small alleys of the city, until at last she reached this corner. At that point she had already made up her mind. If this bar were still not what she was looking for, she would go instead to a certain storefront and sleep there, leaning against a marble wall. But her luck had found her.

Now, in the dim lamplight, with the sound of many whispering voices in her ears, the times she had made love with Reagan often floated up in her mind. The place was sometimes in the thick grass next to the lake, sometimes among the rubber trees, and once, to her surprise, in the middle of the main road. The time, however, was always the middle of the night, without exception. She was unwilling to go to Mr. Reagan’s bedroom because she worried she might faint in a place like that. More than once she thought of how funny it was. What if people on the plantation knew that their boss turned into a beast at night? What would they think? A young woman, nearly drunk, greeted her.

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.