Last Kiss in Tiananmen Square (30 page)

So Baiyun could do it again. As they were walking forward, it was obvious that Yumei and she would encounter Meiling and Lao Zheng because they were actually talking to Xia Nan.

Baiyun saw Xia Nan nodding his big head with shoulder length hair and shaking hands with Meiling. Lao Zheng, who now had grown a mustache, was standing next to his shiny new motorcycle under the streetlight next to a red bus.

“That’s Xia Nan! That’s Xia Nan!” Yumei exclaimed. Of course, Baiyun didn’t remind her that her mother Meiling and her new boyfriend were standing next to Xia Nan.

“Let’s go, Baiyun,” commanded Yumei as bossy as ever.

Baiyun couldn’t understand why Yumei got so excited to see Xia Nan. Baiyun obediently followed Yumei like a dog following her master.

“Ok, I will tell headquarters about your information. Don’t worry. We will find the way to deal with it,” Xia Nan was still nodding.

“Hey, Baiyun. Do you know who Xia Nan is talking to?” Yumei turned around, pulling Baiyun’s sleeves. “That old lady and the young man look like people who belong to the ‘Flying Tiger Brigade’, some of whom were just common workers. I could not imagine our comrade Xia Nan could deal with people like that.”

“I don’t know.” Baiyun cast her eyes down and kept walking forward. She wished to disappear.

“Hi, Baiyun!” Through her tinted glasses, Meiling was the first one to notice her.

“Mother. It is nice to see you,” said Baiyun quietly, her fingers crossing and her face burning. She didn’t want to admit that she was proud to see her mother here.

“Hi,” she also nodded to Lao Zheng, who smiled at her. Leaning against the motorcycle, dressed in leather jacket and gloves, Lao Zheng looked quite handsome. With a white headband on his slightly baldhead, he looked like a perfect member of the “Flying Tiger Brigade”.

Yumei, of course, was stunned to see this. Having heard a lot about Baiyun’s mother, this was actually the first time she had ever met her. Staring at them, she didn’t even notice Xia Nan’s stretching out hand.

“Hi, you crazy girls, still here?” Xia Nan sounded like an old man.

Stamping her foot and tilting her head toward one side, “So what?” said Yumei firmly.

“Longfe has been looking for you.” Behind his big thick glasses sitting on top of his hollow cheeks, Xia Nan looked sympathetic.

“Tell him that I can take care of myself,” said Yumei. She was determined to sound tough.

“Ok, I don’t care what is going on between you two? But do you know how serious the situation is?” Xia Nan moved closer to Yumei, mouth wide open.

“Who says that we don’t know?” murmured Baiyun.

“Do you think you girls can be running around like this forever?” Xia Nan continued.

“We are not just running around. We are working!” Yumei’s voice was still firm. Yet the sense of doubt started showing on her faced. She looked concerned.

“Okay, Okay, Okay. You girls are iron women. No missiles or tanks can stop you. But at some point, I have to give the order for everyone to leave. The situation is just getting too dangerous.”

“Yes. It’s very dangerous. Why don’t you order everyone else to leave?” Yumei yelled. Her face was red and eyes moist. “Do you know that soldiers are coming tonight to the square through the subway? I just heard that from a plainclothes policeman.”

“Really, an honest soldier. I’m surprised. But don’t worry. Baiyun’s mother Meiling just told us that our Beijing citizens have already disconnected the electricity in the subway so the soldiers are stuck there now. But the situation is getting tense. The government will figure a way to send the troops over. You really should seriously consider leaving here soon.”

“No, as long as we are here, the victory will be ours.” Yumei said firmly.

“Hi, Yumei. I have been looking for you.” Longfe rushed over and quickly nodded to everyone.

“Longfe!” Yumei ran toward him and held his tall frame. His hair had grown longer than last time she saw him. In the front, the hair covered his eyebrows and ears while in the back it covered his neck, which made his small face even smaller. Like many people on the square, he wore a white headband

“Ok, I will let you to take care of these ladies.” Xia Nan seized an opportunity to get out of this torment.

“Mother, aren’t you afraid?” said Baiyun. She was still in Meiling’s embrace. She felt very close to Meiling.

“No. This is exciting. I have never had so much fun in my life. I feel young! I feel proud!” Meiling’s face was radiant. She did look young for her age.

“How about death?” asked Baiyun. Then she regretted. She was afraid that talking about it might be a bad omen.

Under the light, Lao Zheng, tall with his newly oiled leather jacket and gloves, even looked heroic.

“Baiyun, your mother is not afraid of death.” Patting Baiyun’s shoulder, Meiling made death sound like a trip to Shanghai.

Sure, Baiyun remembered the countless times Meiling talked about death so frankly. That was during the 1984 earthquake when Meiling chose to stay inside of their fragile home instead of following the orders to move out. That was when her father raised the cleaver and threatened to kill Meiling during one of her parents’ many fights. Meiling faced the cleaver and her eyes didn’t even flinch. Baiyun knew her mother and she knew her well. But the situation was different back then. Meiling acted out of desperation. Now Meiling finally found her role in society and found her way to make a contribution to her country. Why would she want to die, of course, if the death itself was a contribution to society?

“Longfe, let’s forget about your mother’s offer for us to hide in your home,” Looking at Longfe’s pale face and fragile body, Yumei regretted telling him that. But under such an urgent moment, who could care more?

Longfe nodded and didn’t say a word.

“How about join the hunger strikers? Maybe this is our last chance,” asked Yumei. She buried her head in Longfe’s chest and let herself shed a few tears. Then she turned to Baiyun, “Baiyun, does it sound like a good idea to join the final hunger strike?”

“Yes.” Without hesitation, Baiyun agreed. “I’ll join you.” Then she ran toward Meiling and gave her another hug. She could see tears prickling around Meiling’s eyes.

“Take care!”

“Take care!”

Baiyun joined Longfe and Yumei and departed. The idea of losing her mother after this brief reconciliation reunion bothered Baiyun for a while. She wished that she had got on Lao Zheng’s motorcycle and joined them.

“The Goddess of Democracy and Freedom has arrived!” Someone yelled in the crowd.

“The Goddess of Democracy and Freedom? Where?” someone in the crowd questioned.

The square was stirred up by the new excitement. People formed groups and started flowing toward that direction.

The square was completely lit up. The Goddess, 33 feet high white statue, made of foam and papier-mâché was been taken by the students passing the monument toward the direction of the Forbidden City. It stopped in front of the hunger striker’s buses. Students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts were still putting on the last bit of touch-up to it.

“Long Live Democracy!”

“Long Live the Chinese People!”

“Premier Li Peng, step down!”

The slogans were deafening, especially when everyone on the square was shouting at once. Then someone started ‘The Internationale’.

“Arise, the damned of the earth,

Arise, prisoners of hunger,

Reason thunders in its crater,

It is the eruption of the end!

Let's make a blank slate of the past,

Crowds, slaves, arise, arise!

The world is going to change from its base,

We are nothing, let's be everything!

 This is the final struggle

 Let us gather, and tomorrow

 The Internationale

  Will be mankind!”

Baiyun stood on her tiptoes and could only see the top section of the Goddess through the space between people’s heads. The Goddess had a Chinese woman’s figure with straight hair blown toward one side by the wind. She had broad shoulders and strong almost male like body. She was holding the torch with both of her arms. Pointing the torch toward the sky, she was facing the Forbidden City and staring at the Chinese people’s formal God, the portrait of Chairman Mao.

The slogan shouting came in waves and rhythms like those you could only hear in sports events or during the Cultural Revolution rallies. Along with the rhythm, Baiyun held Yumei’s shoulders and jumped up and down so she could see what was going on. Suddenly someone held her waist behind and lifted her up. She became a head taller than everyone else around her. She turned around and shouted, “Dagong, you rascal!” They hugged for a long time and Baiyun’s face was full of tears.

“How about sitting on my shoulders?” asked Dagong.

“Is that alright?” She looked at Dagong’s newly shaved face and was still trying to get used to this new look.

“Of course. Don’t you want to be a Goddess for a change?” Dagong teased her.

“Can I?”

“Sure, I know you would like it.”

Dagong squatted and Baiyun climbed onto his shoulders. Dagong stood up slowly so Baiyun wouldn’t fall.

“You are my Goddess! You are my Goddess!” The voice was resonating in her head but she couldn’t figure out what song it was and where she had heard before. Then she remembered it was a modified version of an old folk song called “You are My Sunshine”.

Chapter 19

On Saturday nearing noon, Pumpkin got up and found her husband was not next to her, snoring as usual. It struck her as a bad omen. Something must have happened, she thought. She looked around the room. Little Pea and her boyfriend Yu Gang and Potatofeet were still in bed, sleeping. Broomstick, of course, was not there. He had not come back since he joined the “Flying Tiger Brigade”, riding motorcycles around the city. So she stepped outside. Besides the noise coming from Square, the yard was peaceful. But it looked a bit unusual. Mrs. Wang replaced her husband Mr. Wang sitting in front of their apartment, knitting. Lao Liu’s wife Wu Zheng was watering the plants instead of Lao Liu.

“Where are the men?” Pumpkin shouted.

“They went out to see the city,” said Mrs. Wang carelessly.

“They are tired of being inside.” Wu Zheng added.

“They must be insane,” said Pumpkin.

“Yes. But Lao Liu has not been outside of the yard for a week. He would like to see what is going on. They sneaked out early. I didn’t even notice. Besides who could stop them?” said Wu Zheng.

“I would,” said Pumpkin. She looked into the sky. The sky was gray and was like a concrete doom where no sunlight could penetrate. The air was hot and moist like in a shower. She felt suffocated and sick. She had never felt so worried before. She heard the warning about the troops moving into Tiananmen Square on the radio yesterday. She had a feeling that the government was serious this time. Gee, how could these men be so irresponsible? Her heart, like a tangled web was messy and confused. Without her husband around, it was like she had lost her backbone. At this moment, she heard Wu Zheng talking to her daughter Lili.

“Lili, where are you going?”

“I’m going to see Xiao Liu. He just got out of the hospital and joined the hunger strike right away. I‘m worried about him. I’ll try to find him and be his moral support,” murmured Lili. She knew her mom would stop her from going out. She lowered her head and started crying. She was in love with Xiao Liu. How could her Mom be so cruel?

“Lili, it is not me who wants to stop your enthusiasm. It’s just too dangerous outside. I heard from the grapevine at work that Chairman of the Central Military Commission Dong Xiaoping is ready to see some blood this time. You are my only daughter. I don’t want to lose you.” She started pulling Lili back.

“Dad is out there, Dad is out there!” Lili shouted and tried to get out of her Mom’s grip.

“Nonsense! Your father is a policeman. He knows how to protect himself,” said Wu Zheng in such an authority that Lili knew that she would be foolish not to listen to her. Lili unwillingly followed her mother into their apartment, sobbing uncontrollably.

Pumpkin listened to this exchange and imagined the overweight Marshmallow falling behind during the escape from tanks. She saw tanks getting closer and closer to him. She began walking out.

“Mom, where are you going?” asked Little Pea, who just got up and was washing her face with the cold water in the wash basin.

“I’m going to find your father and your brother. Make sure to keep Potatofeet at home.”

“Be careful, Mom. Yu Gang and I may go out later to see whether we could help with anything,” said Little Pea.

A loud explosion in the distance could be heard in the yard.

“It doesn’t sound very safe outside. You’d better stay at home. It’s totally out of control there,” said Pumpkin worriedly.

When Pumpkin just stepped out of the door, she saw three motorcycles just arriving at alley. She saw her son Broomstick riding on the first motorcycle. Then she spotted Marshmallow sitting on the back seat and moaning, with his handkerchief covering his eyes. Lao Liu and Mr. Wang were sitting on the other two motorcycles with bandages on their heads.