LITMIR.BIZ

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bald ape grabbed Hng’s hand and held it up to show the vulture her extra thumb. Hng felt her face flush with embarrassment. The vulture spoke harshly to the bald ape in his own language and the ape dropped her hand. Hng felt his eyes upon her for a moment before they moved on.

      When the men finished dividing the women into two groups, the bald ape walked back to one young woman and poked her in the ribs with his finger and turned to his Vietnamese colleague and said, “This one is too fat. Nobody will want her.”

      The Vietnamese colleague said, “She is fat now, but she will be much thinner in six weeks when she arrives.”

      The bald ape blurted out a laugh.

      H

ng had been warned that the voyage on the ship would be cramped, with little time on deck. It would be a tough journey, but one they were told they would forget completely once they arrived in America. Still, his cruel laugh—he is like the rats who live in the sewer. The sewer I must cross to America.

      She risked glancing at the vulture. His face was cold, without expression. A slit under his beak cracked open and he said, “They are all okay. Get them to the ship.”

      Moments later, H

ng found herself crammed into the back of a large cube van. There was standing room only and she was glad that Ngc Bích had remained by her side.

      It was three hours later when they hurried up a wooden gangplank in the dark to the deck of a ship. The women were told to remain in the two groups they had been divided in. Each group was directed to a separate cargo hold.

      They were told to climb down a ladder leading below deck and a man stood at the top of each ladder to help. H

ng stooped to get on the ladder and felt the man grab the cheek of her buttock and squeeze tight while emitting a laugh.

      H

ng gasped but before she could respond, Ngc Bích slapped the man hard across his face. He released his grip immediately and pulled back a fist to punch Ngc Bích in the face. At the same time, another man’s voice uttered a command from the darkness for them to be quiet.

      The man who had grabbed H

ng scowled and lowered his fist. He grabbed Hng by the arm and made her go with the second group of women. She quickly made her way down the ladder into the cargo hold and, along with the others, stood waiting for further instructions.

      An hour passed and, following the shouts and commands from above, the diesel engines coughed and rumbled to life, causing the ship to shake before it slipped away from its moorage.

      A crew member eventually came down the ladder and told them the cargo space they were in was their home for the next six weeks. He pointed to a plastic pail that they could use for a toilet and pieces of cardboard on the floor for them to lie on. Nobody would be allowed up on deck for two weeks, after which they may be allowed up on deck at night only. The passengers looked at each other in shock as the crew member climbed back up the ladder and closed the cargo doors behind him.

      Three of the young women started crying. H

ng stared at them blankly for a moment before picking up a piece of cardboard and selecting a spot near the hull of the ship to lay it down. She was cold, even with her new coat, and brought her knees up close to her chest. She lay with her back to the hull, but felt the vibration of the ship’s engines and readjusted the cardboard.

      When she was settled once more, she stared at a black cord with a yellow light bulb that hung from above, swinging with the movement of the ship. The dim light did not hide the fear she saw in some of the faces around her. She wished Ng

c Bích had not slapped the crew member. She felt exhausted. Maybe later they would be allowed to be together ...

      H

ng suddenly awakened to the sound of someone vomiting beside her. She felt nauseous, too, and moaned, grabbing her head as a piercing pain reduced her vision to flashes of light. The smell of diesel was overwhelming and water had leaked in, turning much of the cardboard mattresses into soggy masses.

      The woman who vomited faced a string of obscenities from another neighbour, which only brought more angry voices and commotion from others. Another woman climbed to the top of the ladder and yelled and pounded on the cargo door. From somewhere in the ship, H

ng heard Ngc Bích yelling and the pounding clang of metal being struck with a pipe.

      The cargo doors were opened and the women rushed to stand beneath as fresh air and rain came in from above. The crew member took only the first few steps down the ladder before cursing and going back up. He returned a few minutes later and tossed down a mop while ordering another woman to bring up the plastic pail so that it could be dumped overboard.

      Three weeks passed and, despite the promise to be allowed on deck at night, had that luxury rescinded because of severe storms. The ship rocked and creaked as it was blasted by the wind and heavy waves. During this time, the cargo doors were closed again to prevent flooding. It was also the time when most people were sick.

      On this night, the storm was worse than usual and H

ng was one of the few who had managed to keep her food down. She waited until most of the others were asleep before deciding to take the opportunity to squat over the plastic pail.

      She balanced her steps on the rollicking floor of the ship as she headed for the pail, only to see that it was overflowing. She wondered what to do just as the ship gave another violent heave, sending the pail sliding across the floor and tipping over. She decided to wait.

      On the following night, the storms abated. It was January 29^th, this year’s official beginning of the celebration of T

t Nguyê;n án, or “TET,” as it is commonly called, marking the lunar New Year. This year was the Year of the Dog. Today, their daily rations of rice, noodles, and fish soup was replaced with ample quantities of chicken, pork, and vegetables.

      As soon as darkness came, everyone was allowed on deck. It didn’t take H

ng and Ngc Bích long to find each other. They decided to speak Vietnamese to each other. Tonight would be a night to relax. Even if they couldn’t be together on the ship, they promised each other they would remain friends when they got off. Then there would be plenty of time to practise English.

      They watched as a couple of the crew members waved bottles of wine and invited some of the

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