Mulberry and Peach (7 page)

‘What a good story. Then what happened to her?'

‘When? After the rape incident in Nanking? Or after the bombing in Chungking?'

‘After the bombing.'

‘Her husband and son were looking for her. Just before the bombers hit, her two-year-old son started crying in the shelter. The people in the shelter cursed him and wanted to beat him to death. The father had to take the child outside. The mother was too anxious to stay in the shelter. She went outside to look for her husband and son. Then the bombers hit and bombed the shelter. After the bombing was over, she didn't know how she got into the grave. She didn't remember anything. She thought she was in Nanking and was reliving the past. Her husband had gone with their child to the police station to look at the list of the dead. I took her to the police station. She was still suffering from shell-shock and didn't recognise her husband and child. She said she had just gotten married and didn't have any children. She still believed she was in Nanking and was reliving the slaughter. When I saw that she was reunited with her husband and child, I left.'

‘You? Are you telling us a story, or is that something that really happened to you?'

‘It really happened to me. We've been stranded here so long that it seems like a story from a former life,' says the old man.

Refugee Student is still playing ‘The Great Wall' on his flute.

A big wave passes with a crash. Then it's quiet. Another crash, then it's quiet. Human heads are bobbing in the water, their eyes wide open and staring at the sky. Everything is silent.

A large eagle flies overhead. It circles the heads and flaps its huge black wings. It is beautiful. It is dancing.

Suddenly the old man and Lao-shih are sitting on the eagle's wings,
each sitting on one side, like on a seesaw. The eagle wheels in the air. They wave at me.

Refugee Student suddenly appears, riding on the eagle's back. He begins to play his flute to the rhythm of the eagle's dance.

The eagle carries them off down the river.

The human heads float downstream.

I call to the eagle, begging them to stop. I want to fly away on the eagle, too.

Peach-flower Woman, her breasts exposed, appears, riding the crest of a wave. She waves at me. She wants me to join her on the waves.

The sound of the flute gets louder.

I wake up. The flute is coming from the stern. Lao-shih, the old man, and Peach-flower Woman are all asleep. Peach-flower Woman hugs her child to her bare breasts.

I sit up.

The sound of the flute suddenly stops.

I go out of the cabin and walk around the bales of cotton which are piled in the stern.

Refugee Student, bare-chested, is lying on the deck.

The gorge is black. He reaches up to me. I lie down on top of him. We don't say anything.

My virgin blood trickles down his legs. He wipes it off with spit.

 

The Sixth Day Aground.

There is shouting on the river.

We run out. A ship tilts down over the crest of a wave. It spins around in the whirlpool. The people on the ship scream, women and children cry as it spins faster and faster, like a top.

White foam bubbles around the lip of the whirlpool. The foam churns up into a wall of water, separating us from the spinning ship. Then the wall collapses with a roar. The ship splits open like a watermelon. Everyone on board is tossed into the water.

Another huge wave rolls by. Everyone in the water has disappeared.

Silence.

The river rushes on. The sun dazzles overhead.

The beating of the drum begins.

Refugee Student, his shirt off, thick black hair bristling in his armpits and above his lip, is pounding on the drum, every muscle straining, teeth clenched. He raises the drumsticks over his head and pounds on the drum with all his strength. He isn't beating the drum. He is beating the mountains, the heavens, the waters.

The mountains, the heavens, the waters explode with each beat.

‘Don't stop, don't stop. A victory song,' shouts the old man.

A crow flies toward our boat.

Refugee Student throws down the drumsticks and glares at the crow.

‘Black crow overhead, that means if disaster doesn't strike misfortune will,' Peach-flower Woman says as she holds her child.

I pick up an empty bottle and throw it at the crow. ‘I'll kill you, you stupid bird.' The bottle shatters on a rock.

Lao-shih picks up a bowl and hurls it at the crow. ‘You bastard. Get out of here!' The bowl shatters on a rock.

The crow circles overhead.

The old man shakes his fist at the crow. His face turns purple. ‘You think you can scare us, don't you? You think I'll just die stranded here, do you? When the warlords were fighting, I didn't die. When the Japanese were fighting, I didn't die. Do you think I'm going to die now, on this pile of rocks? Hah!' He spits at the crow.

‘Goddam motherfucker,' shouts Refugee Student, leaping at the crow. ‘You can't scare me. Just wait and see. I won't die. I'll survive and I'll raise hell, that'll show you. Mountains, waters, animals, crows. Can you destroy the human race? You can destroy a man's body, but you can't destroy his spirit. Ships capsize, people drown, mountains are still mountains and water is still water. Millions of people are being born, millions of people have survived these rapids. The world belongs to the young. Don't you know that, you bastard? People won't die out. Don't you know that? They won't die out.'

The old man claps his hands. ‘Attention, please. Everybody. This is a matter of life and death. I have something to say that I can't hold back any longer. I think the captain has been playing a game with our lives. This gorge is even more dangerous than Hundred Cage Pass. Of course he knows this danger. He's been sailing these gorges all his life. This boat should only carry freight; they shouldn't allow passengers. He certainly shouldn't take our money before we arrive safely at our destination. The ticket for this old wooden boat costs as much as a paddlewheel. But since he has taken passengers and taken our money, he is responsible. First, he ought to ensure our safety; next, he ought to take care of feeding us. When we cracked up on New Landslide Rapids, we were delayed four days in Tai-hsi. We trusted the captain. We didn't ask him to return our money. We got back on the boat. Then the tow-line broke at Yellow Dragon Rapids. We've been stranded here since then. The Yangtze River, several thousand miles long, is the greatest river in Asia, and we have to ration drinking water. What a
joke. From that day on, he took no emergency measures. Not only that, but when we were screaming for help at the top of our lungs, he made sarcastic remarks. The captain and the crew know how to handle boats. In case anything happens, they'll know what to do and how to escape. We don't know what to do. The passengers and the crew make thirteen people, but there are only six of us, and we are all either too old or women and children. We're outnumbered and we can't fight them. And so, I want to stand up and be counted and speak out for justice. I represent the six passengers, including the baby, and I demand that the captain do something.'

The oarsmen and the passengers are silent.

The captain, squatting on deck, blank expression, sucks the empty pipe in his mouth. ‘You people just don't understand the difficulties in sailing these Gorges. We boatmen make our living by relying on the water and the sky. If it doesn't rain, the water won't rise and there's nothing we can do about it. Whether it's sailing the river or riding a horse, there's always danger involved. There's a slippery stone slab in front of everyone's door. No one can guarantee you won't slip on it and crack your skull. For human beings there is life and death, for things there is damage and destruction. It all depends on the will of Heaven. If you want someone to die, the person won't die. But if Heaven commands it, he will die. All I can do now is ask that you passengers calm down and wait patiently a while longer.'

‘God, wait for how long?'

‘If we have to wait, we at least ought to have food to eat and water to drink!'

‘There's plenty of water in the river, and plenty of fish.' says the captain. ‘If there's no more firewood, then eat raw fish. If there's no more alum, then drink muddy water. We boatmen can live like that. Can't you?' He sucks hard on his pipe. ‘When our tobacco is gone, we smoke the dregs; when that's gone, we smoke the residue.' He reaches down and strikes the drum. ‘Those who can't eat raw fish can chew the leather on this drum.'

Refugee Student spits at the captain. ‘I'll chew on you.'

The captain throws his head back and laughs. ‘Go ahead and chew. Go ahead and slice me up. Kill me. What good will that do? When the water rises and the ship floats up, you will need someone at the rudder.'

 

‘Dice!' I yell as I cross the aisle into the ‘Boys' Dormitory'. The old man is sitting on his bunk, rolling three cubes of dice around in his
hand. I snatch them away and cast them on the bunk. ‘Come on, let's gamble. Everybody, come here.'

‘Just what I was thinking!' As soon as the old man gets excited, he starts coughing. ‘You should live each day as it comes. I still have four bottles of liquor in my suitcase. I was going to give it to friends in Chungking. To hell with them, let's drink now.' He opens a bottle, gulps down a few swallows and strips off his coarse cotton jacket. He bares his chest. A few hairs stick out of his armpits.

The five of us crowd together in a circle. Lao-shih has ignored me all day. I want to sit next to her on the bunk, but I also want to sit beside Refugee Student. In the end I squeeze in between them. We pass the bottle around the circle. I've never drunk liquor before. I gulp down several swallows in one breath. My face burns. My heart pounds. My left hand rests on Lao-shih's shoulder and my right on Refugee Student's shoulder.

We put the dice in a porcelain bowl in the middle of the circle.

I raise my hand and shout, ‘I'll be the dealer!'

‘I'll be the dealer.'

‘I'll be the dealer.'

‘I'll be the dealer.'

‘I'll be the dealer.'

‘Let's decide by the finger-guessing game. Two people play; the winner gets a drink; then plays the next person. The last one to win gets to be dealer!'

‘Let's begin. Two sweethearts!'

‘Four season's wealth!'

‘Six in a row!'

‘Lucky seven!'

‘Pair of treasures!'

‘Four season's wealth!'

‘Three sworn brothers.'

‘Pair of treasures!'

‘Eight immortals!'

‘Six in a row!'

‘One tall peak!'

‘Four season's wealth!'

‘Lucky seven!'

‘All accounted for!'

‘Three sworn brothers!'

‘Six in a row!'

‘Pair of treasures!'

‘Eight immortals!'

‘Lucky seven!'

‘I win, I win,' yells Peach-flower Woman. ‘I'm the dealer. Place your bets.'

‘OK. Fifty dollars!'

‘Sixty!'

‘Seventy!'

‘Eighty!'

‘Another seventy!'

‘Another eighty!'

Peach-flower Woman laughs. ‘You just bet more and more. I haven't got that kind of money. If I win, I get to be the dealer again. If I lose, I'll give up. I get first crack at this!' She grabs the dice and throws them into the bowl with a flourish.

They spin in the bowl.

I take a drink. I see several dice spinning crazily in the bowl.

‘Five points! The dealer has got five points!'

‘I only want six points, not a single point more!' The old man cups the dice in his hands, blows on them, and then his hands open slowly like a mussel shell opening.

The dice spin in the bowl.

He bends over, glaring at the dice and yelling, ‘Six points, six points! Six points! Six points . . . oh, three points.' He lifts Peach-flower Woman's hand and sticks the bottle in it. She takes a drink. She's still holding the bottle and he lifts her hand and puts the bottle in his mouth. He pulls her toward him with his free arm and presses her face against his naked chest. He strokes her face. He finishes off the liquor with one gulp and sucks on the empty bottle like a baby.

‘Sir, men and women should not mix. The booze is all gone. I don't have anything for you either. You are supposed to be respectable. You shouldn't touch a woman's body like this,' laughs Peach-flower Woman as she struggles out of his embrace and straightens up. Her chignon comes undone and hair straggles across her chest. The buttons of her blouse pop open, exposing most of her breasts.

The dice click as they spin.

‘Six points! Six points! Six points! I only want six points!' Lao-shih yells, rolling on the bunk.

I roll next to her, turn over and climb on her back, as if riding a horse, bumping up and down as if keeping time. I yell with her: ‘Six points! Six points! Six points! Six points! Six points! If you keep on ignoring me, I won't let you go. Six points! Six points!'

She suddenly stops yelling, yanks me off and rolls over on the bunk and grabs me. Our faces press together, legs curl round each other, rolling this way and that. She mumbles. ‘If you ignore me, I won't let you go. If you ignore me, I won't let you go.'

‘Four points,' yells Peach-flower Woman. ‘You got four points, Lao-shih! OK, Mulberry, it's your turn.'