Read Online Out of the Dragon's Mouth by Joyce Burns Zeiss - Free Book Online Page B

about her. The joy she had felt turned to lead as she thought of Small Auntie’s anger. She would not let Small Auntie take away her hope.
    â€œBut we have a sponsor. It won’t take that long.”
    Hiep smiled and tucked the letter in his pocket. “I hope you’re right.” He turned to walk toward the well site. “I’ll see you this evening. We’ll write them a letter.”
    Mai smiled at Kien, who had been pretending not to overhear their conversation. “It’s all right. Did you hear? We got a letter from my uncle.”
    â€œThat’s great.” Kien tried to sound enthusiastic, but his voice fell flat.
    The two of them walked toward the Red Cross tent where streams of children milled around, some shouting as they kicked a string ball, others making little trails through the sand with pull toys made of tin cans and string as they waited for the food ship to come. A blond American girl wearing a white T-shirt with a red cross in the middle of it was teaching English to a small group of children seated at her feet.
    â€œDo you know English, Kien?” Mai asked, for now that she was going to America she had to learn English so that she could study hard and go to law school.
    â€œA little. The people in our camp are mostly students. They studied English at the university in Saigon. Sometimes they teach me words. They all want to go to America.”
    â€œI want to learn English. Is it hard?” Mai stopped where the young woman was teaching and listened. The teacher was holding up cards with letters and pictures on them, and the children were repeating them after her, in unison.
    â€œA for apple, B for bear, C for cat … ”
    â€œI don’t think so.” Kien answered, squinting at the cards.
    Mai and Kien listened until it was time to line up for food. Mai tried to find the English teacher after they’d picked up their rations, but she was passing out food at one of the other tables. Maybe she could talk to her later, but after the distribution, the young woman left on the ship with the other American and European workers to go back to the mainland. Mai had heard someone saying they lived in air-conditioned buildings there. She hoped the young woman would return in the morning, and then Mai would begin to learn English.
    That evening, when the dishes had been washed and everyone was sitting around talking, Kien surprised her. Darkness surrounded them as the sun disappeared in the western sky, and Mai was thinking about crawling into her hammock and going to sleep when Kien appeared before the group carrying a guitar. Music. How Mai loved music! Lan, with several young men and women that Mai didn’t know, got up to walk down to the beach.
    â€œCome on, Mai and Hiep,” Lan urged. “We’re going to have some fun.”
    The full moon created a shimmering path across the ocean, making the water and the white sand as light as day. Mai sat down on the cool sand, looking at the others and thinking of her family. Was the same moon shining down on them?
    Several others joined them, and then Kien picked up his guitar and started to strum some chords. His slim fingers plucked the strings and he started to sing in a soft alto voice. The strains of a popular Vietnamese song flowed from his guitar. The words were familiar to Mai, who joined in the chorus, singing, “ You asked me how much I love you, the brightness of the moon is a symbol of my love for you .”
    Other voices joined him and turned the beach into a magical world for Mai, a world where there was no war, no death, and no hunger. For a short time she could forget about Small Auntie. For a short time she was able to forget that she had no home. The young people around her were her family. The tent she lived in was her home. She belonged. And despite all the hardships, she felt a grain of hope.
    She glanced at Kien, who was smiling at her, and she turned away, blushing.