Calls Across the Pacific

by Zoë S. Roy

  In cuffs? Nina shuddered. An image of herself in chains crossed her mind.

  They trudged along the path with heavy footsteps because they were against the wind. When the wind shook the trees, the gate beyond the branches of the wild jujube trees came into view. Nina yearned to go home.

  On Sunday evening, an excited Roger waited at the exit gate of the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. He watched every female passenger coming out of the gate but did not see Nina. After the final passenger reunited with her family, he realized that something was terribly wrong. At a service window, the staff worker checked with the crew and told him that Nina Huang was not on the flight. In shock, Roger drove back to Yarmouth. The headlights of his lone car lightened the highway, but his entire heart sank in darkness. What’s happened to her? The question haunted him.

  He got home at midnight. The first thing he did was to find the phone number of Guangzhou Children’s Hospital where Nina’s mother worked. He dialled the number many times until he heard a woman’s voice in the distance. “May I speak to Dr. Liao?” He spoke Chinese slowly, trying to make himself understood.

  The voice hesitated. Before she answered, Roger had said it was emergency call from a friend of Liao’s daughter.

  Finally, the receiver asked him to hold on. A few minutes later, Nina’s mother answered the phone. When she realized it was Roger, she tried to speak English. “I thought Nina had told you she could not return to Canada on time.”

  Roger held the phone receiver tight, like a drowning swimmer clutching a life preserver. “Where is she now?” he said slowly, word by word.

  “Rei said Nina will take a plane to Canada in Beijing.” Dr. Liao paused and spoke slowly. “Rei took her ticket and her suitcase.”

  “When?” Roger asked as he suspected something had gone wrong.

  “Last Friday she was supposed to go to Beijing.” Dr. Liao’s voice quavered. “I hope Nina has not encountered any problems.”

  “Don’t worry.” Roger comforted her. “I’ll work out something for her. You take care.” In fact, his mind had gone blank. When he tried to figure out what on earth had occurred, many thoughts crossed his mind.

  After the phone call, he uncovered the letter he had received the previous day and reread it. It had come from Beijing and was dated June 27. Nina mentioned she would send a postcard from Hohhot once she got there. Her mother said she was in Beijing, so why hasn’t she called me? A scary thought then ran through his mind: She isn’t free to do so! She must be in trouble. Roger paced the wooden floor, thinking about what he should do. His footsteps in the silent night pounded like a bass played a moody tune.

  The next morning, he called the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa and got information about applying for an emergency visa. He was glad he had made a photocopy of the visa application before Nina had filled it out. After filling in the application, he immediately sent it along with his passport to the embassy by courier. Hopefully, he would get the visa in four days. Then, he pulled himself together to map out what to do once he was in Beijing. He would first locate Rei at Peking University or find Sandra’s Chips in order to gather clues about Nina’s whereabouts.

  For the rest of the day, he got to work. He contacted his father and borrowed the money for the trip. Then, after calling a few travel agencies, he found the earliest flight and booked a round-trip flight to Beijing. After he had everything arranged and sat down to sip a glass of water, his vision suddenly became blurry and he felt himself shiver. Is Nina safe? With that question on his mind, he leaned back and fell into a fitful sleep on the couch.

  27.

  CICADAS

  ON MONDAY AFTERNOON, having finished making the list for the gulag workers who had arrived between 1957 and 1960, Nina was relaxing in the dorm room, reading a few magazines borrowed from the guardroom. Liya was still working with Luo on her grammar.

  Suddenly, the door pushed open, and Liya rushed in, her face beaming. “They got the letter. We can leave now.” She could hardly contain her excitement.

  “Let’s go!” Nina jumped up from the chair and gripped her satchel from the back of the chair. We are free! She breathed a long sigh of relief. In the back of her mind, she could hear Roger singing his favourite song, “My Sweetheart.”

  Before they left the camp, Luo demanded Nina and Liya tell nobody about what they had done there. Then she asked Liya to write down her mailing address in case she needed to contact her.

  Like birds freed from a cage, Nina and Liya flew out of the gate and walked as fast as they could to the closest bus stop in the village of Nantaishi. They did not look back once.

  Finally, they alighted from the bus at Hohhot’s bus terminal, where two familiar faces greeted them. Nina gasped in pleasure. “Rei, how come you are here with Weimin?”

  “How did you guys know we’d be coming back now?” Liya asked in joy.

  “We tried our luck,” Rei said.

  “This was the first step in our plan to help you out,” Weimin grinned.

  Excited about their meeting, the four friends went straight to the hospital to see Jing.

  In Rei’s opinion, it was better for Nina to leave Hohhot as quickly as possible. But the first thing Nina wanted to do was to call Roger. The post office was closed in the evening, so no telephone service was available. Nina tried to quell her anxiety about getting in touch with Roger, and told herself she would try again the next morning.

  Soon Nina, Liya, and Rei boarded the train to Beijing after saying an emotional goodbye to Jing and Weimin. When they arrived in the city early the next morning, Rei went straight to his dorm room to sleep, and Liya and Nina went to Jing’s room, which was not being used over the summer holiday as Jing was still in Hohhot. They both slept soundly after the fitful nights they had in the camp. Nina woke at eight a.m. and without disturbing Liya, she left for the post office to make her long-distance call to Roger.

  As Nina waited for the line to be connected, she felt her heart pounding. Finally, Roger answered. “It’s Nina,” she said, almost breathless with relief.

  “Where are you, honey?” Roger’s voice was tense and worried.

  “In Beijing. I’m sorry, Roger, I couldn’t call you earlier.”

  “I’m waiting for a Chinese visa,” said Roger. “I’ve booked a ticket. I was going to fly to Beijing to look for you. I’ve been frantic with worry.”

  “I’m so sorry, Roger. I will explain when I get home. You should cancel your ticket. I’ll be flying home as soon as I get a ticket.”

  “Are you free? Are you sure you can leave?” Roger had many questions, but he knew Nina might be unable to answer all of them over the phone.

  “Yes, I am. I’ll be in touch right after I get my ticket. I promise,” she said. Then, just before ending the call, she added fervently, “I miss you.”

  Nina went to Sandra’s Chips, wondering if Sandra had any information about flights to Hong Kong since most of the supplies for the restaurant came from the island. At the counter, she saw Yueming, who was working at the cash register. Yueming was happy to see her and welcomed her over. Nina asked her if Sandra was in. To her surprise, she heard a man from behind the kitchen window speak Chinese with an American accent: “She’s not in. You can speak to me.” The voice sounded familiar. Nina scanned the kitchen for the face of the man speaking. He was staring at her from the window.

  “Bob!” she called out, and her face glowed with surprise. Nina was shocked. She had not expected to run into her former lover in Beijing of all places, although Bob had always said he would have liked to open a restaurant in China. And he did! Nina shook her head in amazement.

  “Nina! What are doing here? So nice to see you! How do you know my wife Sandra?” Bob asked as he walked over to the counter, and gave her a hug in greeting.

  “I met her here some time ago.” Nina said, as she pulled herself free from his arms. “Your d
ream has come true — you are running a restaurant in China! I am so happy for you.”

  “What’s brought you to Beijing?” he asked, smiling genially. “I remember you telling me that you came from Guangzhou.”

  “Let me make a long story short,” Nina said, noticing that more customers had come in. In brief, she told Bob about her situation and asked if he had any resources or connections to help her get a ticket out of Mainland China.

  He nodded and without hesitation went to make a few calls. With Bob’s help, Nina had a ticket in her hand the very next day. Two days later, after waving farewell to her friends, Nina caught a flight to Hong Kong.

  After arriving at Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon Bay, Nina checked in at the Maple Leaf Guest House nearby. In a phone call to Air Canada’s office in Hong Kong, she explained the reason for the cancellation of her flight. A rescheduled flight was offered, but the earliest departure was three days later. She would call Roger right away and let him know. Relieved, she went to the lobby and found a map of Hong Kong’s public transportation. While waiting to leave, she planned to see the Gui family with whom she had stayed nine years before.

  The following morning, she got on the subway at Ngau Tau Kok Station. Transferring several times on her way, she finally caught a bus to Luk Keng. When she saw a road sign with the name of Bride’s Pool on Kwun Tong Road, she smiled, imagining herself as a bride left to wonder about her missing bridegroom.

  She got off the bus at the gate of Plover Cove Country Park, which was presently being built. According to the map, there was a path that wound along the Starling Inlet. It was scorching hot, but the breeze over the water cooled the sweat on Nina’s face. The fragrance of wild flowers mixed with the odour of salty fish from the bay filled the air. The place refreshed her memory. It was the very place where she had landed on that stormy night after fleeing the black hole of the red terror. She suddenly felt deeply appreciative of her freedom, both then and now, and everything around her, the trees, bushes, grass, rocks, birds, and even the hares, looked sharply beautiful.

  She walked for some time before noticing several newly built tea houses, restaurants, and stores. She was sure it was the area where Gui’s home and a few other houses had been located. Not far away, behind the buildings, she could see the gigantic boulder the locals called Fish Stone. The stone had earned its name because it was shaped like a fish. The new buildings suggested that the Gui family might no longer be in the area. She went into one of the teahouses and stepped up to the counter. As she paid for a glass of iced tea, she spoke to the store clerk. “I remember there were some houses here years ago. What happened to them and the people who used to live here?”

  “They must’ve been offered apartments somewhere else before their houses were demolished. They must have moved away,” the clerk said.

  “Do you know how to find them?”

  “Don’t know. Maybe somebody in the local administration office would know.”

  “Thanks,” said Nina, disappointed. The tin of Oolong tea and the package of waffle rolls she had bought for the family felt heavy to her now. She perched on a bench under a tree to rest briefly. The droning sound of cicadas surged up from the tree — high at one moment and low at another, but always relentless. She sipped the iced tea. Her stomach growled, so she took out the package of waffles from her satchel and ate some. A group of young visitors were picnicking at a nearby table. An elderly man was napping on a bamboo lounging chair bed near the side door of the building. Not far was the clear blue water of Starling Inlet, glistening in the afternoon sun. Gazing at the surface of the bay, Nina recalled what she had felt on that dark night so long ago. That terrifying experience made the freedom she had on this sunny day even more enjoyable.

  The following day was Saturday, so she got up very early. The subway took her to Shau Kei Wan. From the bus terminal there, she boarded a double-decker bus, which eventually climbed along the mountain road, leaving the skyscrapers behind and beneath her. Seated on the upper level, she admired the beautiful scenery through the window. If Roger were here with me, he would really enjoy this. She sighed. Passengers dismounted at different stops: Deep Water Bay, then Repulse Bay, and Tai Tam Bay — she remembered the names from a novel she had read. Her destination was the last stop: Shek O, the farthest south-eastern point of Hong Kong Island.

  Nina wanted to try her luck at finding Wang, Dahai’s companion when they ran away from the Number Five Military Farm in 1969. She had read Dahai’s last letter, which Wang had delivered to Dahai’s family after his untimely death. But she longed to meet him in person and to learn more about their escape. Based on information from Dongfang and Huguo’s letter, Wang was supposed to be in Shek O, this pretty beach town on the peninsula.

  When the bus finally stopped at Shek O Bus Terminus, passengers dismounted and most of them sauntered along a path toward the beach. Following the throng of visitors, Nina located the Town Planning Board Office where she asked for information about any business related to foreign trade in the town. The worker searched through his files and showed Nina a list of companies. She copied down the phone numbers of all nine companies and thanked him.

  She went into a public phone booth where she dialled each number and asked for the name of the owner or manager or assistant manager. Two of them were named Wang, but nobody’s first name was Jianzhong.

  Jianzhong Wang was a needle in a haystack. It was sweltering, and Nina wiped the sweat off her face with a tissue while she dragged herself to Shek O Beach. Since she was there, she thought she should take the opportunity to see the beautiful beach. The fine sandy beach stretched languidly into the clear water. Umbrellas were scattered everywhere like colourful mushrooms. People in bathing suits looked like small, brightly coloured dots moving over the beach or dropping into the water. Nina breathed out deeply, as if she were blowing away all her disappointments.

  She trudged through the crowds of people who were either lying on towels on the sand or perched on beach chairs. In the water, some people waded while others played or swam. The aroma of barbecue drew her attention. She spotted an unoccupied firepit on the ground. Its owner was a young woman, who told Nina that renting a barbecue brazier for two hours cost twenty yuan. With her hand pointing to the left, the renter said, “You can get meat and vegetables as well as sauce and spice from a store on the street over there.”

  Nina waded past the barbecue rings over to the alley, and among a few food stands and stores along the street, she found a small grocery store. A skinny, black dog sniffed near the entrance. She stretched out her hand to pet the dog but pulled it back right away when she noticed the dog’s toothy mouth half-open and its alert eyes. Mangy mutt, she thought.

  She entered the store and noticed the owner was bent over a chest freezer selecting items for another customer. Various boxes and packets as well as jars lined the shelves along the wall facing the door, and beneath the shelves were another two chest freezers. Several large window freezers stood against a side wall.

  Nina reached up to one of the shelves and picked up a small shaker of all-seasoned salt. Then she looked inside one of the freezers. “Do you need any help?” The voice of the owner in accented Cantonese sounded behind her. The voice rang a bell.

  When Nina turned her head, she blinked rapidly and cried out, “Jianzhong!” Miracles do exist!

  “You!” the owner shook his head, blowing his breath slowly. “Nina! Where am I now?” he muttered, a confused and odd look on his face.

  “In your store!” Nina laughed, shaking hands with him. “I have been looking for you.

  “How come you’re here? I heard that you…” he hesitated. “You died.”

  “It’s a long story,” Nina said laughing. Another shopper entered the shop, so Nina nudged Jianzhong gently and said, “Serve your customer first.”

  After helping the buyer, Jianzhong said to Nina, “I’ll call it a day now.” He grabbed
a few packages from the freezers. “You must be hungry. Let’s go have barbeque on the beach.”

  “What about your store?”

  “I’m my own boss. I can close without asking for permission.” He scribbled a note on a sheet of paper indicating he was closed for the day and stuck it on the door.

  He led the way to the beach as he told Nina about his wife and his two-year-old daughter.

  “Where are they?” Nina asked.

  “On the beach.”

  They approached a roofed stand. “Mya!” Jianzhong called out to a pretty woman sitting underneath the shelter.

  The woman raised her head and eyed Nina with surprise. “You went over there to bring my husband here?” She was the woman who was renting the braziers and who had directed Nina to the store.

  “Nice to meet you again,” Nina greeted her.

  “She’s my old pal, Nina, from Yunnan, from the Number Five Military Farm before I went to Burma.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” Mya smiled.

  Jianzhong tiptoed over to a reclining chair made of bamboo. “My kid’s napping,” he whispered, gently moving the hair of his daughter off her forehead. Then he asked his wife, “Can you make a fire over there?”

  Nina moved over to the child and cooed, congratulating both Jianzhong and his wife for their beautiful daughter.

  Mya nodded happily. She grabbed a metal rack hanging on the side of the stand with one hand and lifted a pack of charcoal with the other. Nina took the plastic bags Jianzhong had brought from the store and followed Mya to the firepit. Mya lit the charcoal and set the grill rack over it. She gestured to a small square table near the brazier indicating to Nina that she should lay the packages there.

  Jianzhong in the meantime set three chairs around the table under the shelter. “You can join us,” he said to his wife.

  Mya waved her hand. “I’m not hungry. So, please help yourselves.”

  Jianzhong opened up the different packages and laid out pork ribs, lamb chops, beefsteaks, and fish fillets on the grill. Nina added the all-seasoned salt. The delicious scent soon rose up their nostrils. Jianzhong filled two glasses with beer and passed one to Nina. “Cheers to being alive!”