by Julia Legian
Grandma overheard my prayers. “Loan, what were you thinking? You’re a bad girl; how many times do I have to tell you not to ask God for petty things. Say you are sorry otherwise He will not allow you to go to Heaven when you die,” Grandma said.
“But Grandma! I don’t care about Heaven, all I want is some chocolate,” I cried.
“Shush you foolish child. I promise to get you some when I have the money. In the meantime please apologise to God and go to sleep.”
Sleeping against the wall next to Grandma was my favourite thing as it meant I stayed away from spooky Hanh. The curse was gone but her spooky stare was still there. God knew what she might do to me during the night. Sleeping next to the wall also meant I didn’t have to cope with being kicked and punched by my other sisters during the night; they were all restless during their sleep. Every night in bed Grandma told us her favourite Gautama Buddha story and then made us chant to Buddha until we fell asleep.
Before I fell asleep that night I heard Grandma pray to God for a boat.
“Grandma, that’s not fair! You told me off because I asked for a pack of chocolate; how come you ask Him for a boat?”
“I’m willing to accept any punishment God sees fit as long as my grandchildren have a better life and grow up with dignity. I believe God will send us some logs to build a boat for our family. I’ve been dreaming about it. It is His precious gift to us,” she said.
Grandma told my parents about her dream several days later and they laughed till they cried. “You mark my words, it will not be too long now and we will get everything we need to build a boat.” In her normal determined fashion, Grandma set about making a point of reminding the family about her request to God.
“You’re insane; stop talking nonsense you, old fool,” Dad told her.
Grandma kept her faith. “Just wait and see.”
‘Crazy old woman’ officially became her nickname. We all laughed at her so much we had pains in our stomach and tears in our eyes.
Some time later a powerful storm came up. It lasted for days. A few times the hut almost gave way. Grandma and we girls were down on our knees begging the typhoon to spare our shed.
“Here, take one pot and a chopstick each. Now do exactly what I do.”
We walked around the shack for hours and hours with Grandma, chanting incessantly, begging the wind to spare our hut as we hit the chopsticks against the pots and got soaking wet.
The storm flattened half the village, including our neighbour’s house next door, but for some weird reason our shoddy shack was left standing. Hallelujah!
On the final day of the storm heavy grey clouds loomed over the coast. A strong wind caught the rain-laden clouds and raced them across the sky. Day became a gloomy night and an eerie stillness gripped our hovel.
Grandma’s soft words cut across the silence. “Get ready to run down to the sea to collect the logs, they’re coming. We will get five big ones, just enough for a boat. I saw them in my dream.”
Dad gave her a contemptuous look. “Oh, Tien, for Christ’s sake, stop this nonsense. What logs? What the hell are you talking about? We don’t have any timber logs in this town or anywhere that I know of. You’re a mad old woman. Why can’t you be normal like everyone else?”
Grandma kept watch on the weather.
The deluge started with a heavy downpour, so dense it was hard to see through the curtain of water. The sea level rose higher and furious waves lashed the shore as if trying to suck our little shack into the water. Grandma sat at the front door getting soaking wet but without budging, watching for her logs.
Dad lost his patience. “Tien, go and sit somewhere else. You’re going to be washed away if you don’t move.”
He tried to pull her away but she would not move. Hours went by and she still sat there, not moving.
Finally she gave a cry and pointed to the bay. “Look, look.” She got up and began to run down to the water.
Aunty Cuc, who was visiting us from My Tho panicked as Grandma continued her mad dash. “Mum! What the hell are you doing? Stop! You can’t swim!”
Her words didn’t deter Grandma and Aunty Cuc ran after her. We all ran after Grandma and Aunty Cuc. Grandma’s voice drifted back to us.
“The logs! The logs! Can’t you see?”
Along with Aunty Cuc we drew closer and, as we did, we heard Aunty Cuc’s cry of disbelief.
“Oh my God, she’s right; there are logs out there.”
Aunty Cuc waded in and grabbed the one closest. Mum, Dad and I all dived to grab some more. There were so many of them. As only the three of us could swim, we had to steer the logs to the shore.
“Hurry up, go back to get some more,” Mum said.
The strain it took to pull them from the water took its toll. We couldn’t make another trip, and by the time we finished the first retrieval, the villagers and neighbours had taken the rest of them. We ended up with four massive logs about 1 metre wide and at least 15 metres long.
Wet and exhausted, we huddled by the logs to protect our prize. Grandma wasn’t satisfied.
“Four is not enough to build a boat. We will need one more.”
Dad shook his head. “Where do you expect us to find one more? Can’t you see they are gone? We can build a small boat with four.”
“No, we need a larger boat; a small boat won’t survive in the open sea,” Grandma said.
Although Dad had been startled by Grandma’s prediction coming true, he couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “What open sea? We just need a small fishing boat. There is more than enough for that. Stop asking for more than we need, crazy woman.”
Again Grandma ignored him, turning to us and urging the ones who could swim to listen to her. “We have to get one more.” She turned back to Inh. “I don’t want you to start building anything unless you have the fifth log, do you hear me?”
Dad waved his hands in frustration. “Stupid old witch. Why do you have to be so difficult? I’m sick and tired of you.”
Our yard was too small so we asked our neighbour to let us store our logs in his yard. The timber lay there untouched for days. Meanwhile Grandma was constantly pleading with the neighbour to give us his log, but despite her promise to pay him back, she had no success.
Dad ranted at Grandma, accusing her of being a difficult old woman.
Grandma didn’t take any notice of him. She kept insisting that we needed five logs to build a bigger boat; those were her instructions from above. Despite Dad pressuring her to go ahead with a smaller boat, she would not budge. “These logs are mine. They were a gift from God and I have the right to do as I please with them. Don’t be disrespectful to me.”
Dad walked away swearing.
One morning Grandma asked Dad to take her to Tu Do’s house. Although Tu Do had become Dad’s Godbrother, Dad scorned the suggestion.
“What for? You’re not going to get him to do his voodoo rubbish again, are you?”
“Tu Do has the fifth log and I’m going to ask him to give it to me.”
“What makes you think he has the log and why would he give it to you? You don’t have enough money to buy it from him. If he had one, wouldn’t he sell it to feed his family?”
“Please just take me there. He agreed to give it to me. He told me in my dream.”
We all rolled around with laughter.
“You are nuts, old woman,” Dad said.
Grandma prevailed and Dad borrowed Chu Thang’s boat and took Grandma to Tu Do. Later that day we watched in disbelief as the boat came back with a huge log tied to it. Tu Do got it from the ocean the same day we got ours and he agreed to give it to Grandma who promised to pay him back later. My crazy Grandma was right again.
With the help of neighbours and friends Dad started work on his boat. It took six months of hard work to finish it. My sisters and I helped with the easier tasks, like sealing the sides. Dad almost lost his life in the process. While using the axe to chop the timber, the blade flew off the handle and lan
ded right in the middle of his head and split his head open. He was rushed to Soch Trang hospital and one week later Dad came home with many stitches in his scalp.
My parents’ attitude had changed dramatically since we got the boat. It was a pattern. Whenever good fortune came our way they became nicer and were generous to everyone around them.
“Daddy, we have one of the biggest boats in this village,” I said.
”It’s not as big as the one those rich people across the bridge have, but it looks more beautiful than theirs,” Dad said. “Your daddy is a genius; come, I will show you why. See this square stern and the curved bow? I deliberately built them that way so the boat could cut through the water and it would not capsize when it encountered rough seas. Come with me. I want you to see the space under the deck.”
I could not believe my eyes as he led me down to the bottom of the boat. “Oh, wow it’s huge Daddy. What do you keep under here?”
“Fish, seafood; Daddy will catch lots for you and your sisters to eat!”
He took me to the back of the boat.
“Do you like this cabin?”
“Wow, it’s as big as our house! Is this where you sleep?” I asked.
“Aha. Come to the front with me. I want to show you the eyes. I painted them blue for good luck. Smart daddy, eh?” Dad grinned.
All of the money for the other material for the boat had come from Aunty Cuc’s business, at the same time she had returned Tien and Ngoc to us.
Dad used the boat to become a very successful fisherman, making a lot of money. We no longer went to bed hungry. We had what seemed an infinite supply of fresh seafood.
Dad even took us for a fun ride. He took us fishing on his newfound toy and sang to us. He had an amazing voice and I thought he sounded exactly like Che Linh, the legendary singer. Dad also gave me a ride to my two favourite mangrove trees. At that time, my Dad was the world’s best father. He taught us the names of the stars and taught us how to use pointers to navigate the ocean.
“Phuong, can you take control of the steering wheel? I need to lower the fishing net,” Dad said.
Phuong shook her head. “I can’t do it, Daddy. I don’t know how to control it,” she replied.
“It doesn’t look that hard. I’ll do it for you Daddy,” I said.
“I knew you would. You’re gutsy and fearless, just like your old man, that’s why you’re my number one favourite. I love you the most and I’m so proud of you.”
Dad gently patted me on the head and I smiled from ear to ear. At that moment I absolutely loved and adored my Dad. Every wrongdoing he’d done to our family was forgiven and his cruel words and taunts vanished from my mind. From that day forth he was my favourite Daddy in the whole wide world and my super hero.
A short while later erosion finally claimed the hut. Dad found a large house, abandoned by one of the villagers and we moved there. My parents rarely fought now and we were one big happy family.
Dad became popular again. Half the village befriended my parents. I detested the on-and-off again friends, who had been cruel and nasty and treated us like lepers when we were poor. I still have not forgotten those heartless people who threatened to break my legs when I was begging for rice. These people were no more our friends than they had been when we were poor. They were opportunistic and were taking my parents for a ride.
Xinh heard of our good fortune and she came to visit with my Uncle Pheo and his best friend Tam. It was the first time I had met them. Mum refused to see Xinh.
“Grandma, that old woman looks just like Dad. I don’t like her, Grandma. Why is she here?” I whispered.
“She’s your Dad’s mother - don’t be disrespectful, my love.”
“But Mum said she’s a mean witch.”
“Don’t listen to your mother, she talks rubbish.”
As Xinh started chatting away with Grandma, from her bedroom Mum screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Tell your witch mother to go to hell. She isn’t taking our new boat’s motor. It belongs to me and my mother. She has a lot of nerve to come here demanding things. Tell her to leave or I’ll butcher her with our meat cleaver and feed her to the wild dogs. Go and tell her, you coward.”
Mum burned with rage. I panicked and grabbed Xinh’s handbag. “Please get out of the house, hurry.” I pushed her out the door.
Before she left, Xinh managed to grab our cleaver and take it with her.
“Old woman, give me back the cleaver, it’s mine!” Tien, my sister ran after Xinh and snatched the cleaver from her and ran back with it into the house.
“Why are you talking about your mother-in-law like that in front of your children?” Grandma asked Mum.
“She deserves it. She wants Inh to give our motor to his eldest brother. As if he needs it. His boat is twice as big and they are loaded. They can buy the entire country and still have money left to burn.”
Mum turned and walked away.
Uncle Pheo was my Dad’s second youngest brother. He and his friend Tam decided to stay with us for a few days. Those days were some of the best days of my life.
My wonderful Uncle Pheo, who dressed like a superstar and looked like Keanu Reeves with Robin Williams’ sense of humour, was an angel sent from above to shower us with treats. He bought candies and ice cream and freshly baked bread from the Chinese man who carried the bread in a giant paper bag on his bike, selling it around the village every morning and late evening.
My favourite moment with Uncle Pheo came when we were eating bread. Tam finished his roll very quickly as always. He then insisted that I share my bread with him. He always did this to me.
I refused as usual, but Tam wouldn’t leave me alone. I told him I needed a moment alone to think about it and then I left the house, taking the bread with me. I came back not too long after and gladly handed the bread to Tam; he took a giant bite into the roll and frantically spat out a mouthful of bread. He was furious and charged at me like an angry bull wanting to headbutt me to death.
“What’s the matter with you, you idiot?” Pheo asked.
Tam showed Uncle Pheo the filling I’d put in the bread and sped off with lightning speed to the backyard to wash his mouth out. Pheo cracked up laughing. He picked me up, spinning me around and around, and kissed me from head to toe.
“That’s my darling girl! You’re a genius and I love your handiwork!” Pheo laughed.
“I know, Uncle Pheo, I know,” I giggled.
Phuong took a look at the bread filling and her jaw dropped. She got the rest of my sisters curious so they all took a look at it and they rolled on the floor laughing.
“How did you come up with such an ingenious idea and where did you get the pig poo from?” Uncle Pheo asked.
“Well, I’m so sick of Tam asking for my bread, I wanted to teach him a lesson. So I decided to finish half of my bread and fill the other half full of pig poo and let him eat it.”
We laughed till we cried. Poor Tam refused to look at me, or have anything to do with me after that and it didn’t bother me one bit.
A few days later Uncle Pheo and Tam left. Mum’s anger and hatred for Xinh was still burning in her and her desire to kill Xinh grew stronger than ever. She couldn’t stop herself from shouting at Dad because of his mother’s surprise visit, although it had nothing to do with Dad. Mum took her anger out on him. Then Dad couldn’t take her poisonous words any longer. He went into a rage and smashed everything in our house - not that we had too many things for him to break.
Mum wanted to show Dad that she could do even better, so she went outside and destroyed our three water containers with the axe we used to split the wood. They both became locked into a destroying battle and frantically searched around our house, trying to find whatever they could lay their hands on to break into pieces.
Grandma wanted to protect us from the two maniacs so she gathered us girls and took us for a walk along the bay. For the millionth time she told us her favourite story of “The Buddha”.
; “Grandma, can you please tell us why Mum hates Dad’s mother so much? And if Xinh is really as rich as Mum said, how come she didn’t help us when we were hungry?” I asked. “Please, Grandma, please tell me,” I begged.
“You’re too young to understand my darling.”
“But Grandma, I want to know. Please, please tell me Grandma!” I begged.
“Tomorrow,” Grandma said with a gentle smile, “I will tell you tomorrow, I promise.”
“Not again, Grandma,” I sighed and pulled a long face.
Chapter 10
“Loan, the new water containers have arrived. Can you please go and collect some fresh water from the well for us?” Grandma asked.
“Can’t you ask Phuong to do it? She’s bigger than me,” I replied.
“She doesn’t know how to swim and we don’t want your sister to drown, do we?”
“Okay, Grandma. But I will only do it if you keep the promise you made yesterday.”
“I promise. Now go before the water gets too high.”
Because of the erosion the closest well was surrounded by water. During low tide you could walk through the mud to get to it, but as the tide came in you had to swim to get there and eventually the water covered the tap. People were no longer using it unless they were desperate.
It took a long time for me to collect the water because I could only carry a small bucketful each time. By the time I’d filled up the first container the tide had risen over the tap and I had to wait for the water to go down before I could fill up the rest. I went for a swim with Tien and Hanh. Once the tide receded I started again. I hated doing so much physical work but I couldn’t wait to hear Grandma’s story so I worked and worked until all the containers were filled. Phuong gave me a hand as it was now safe for her to walk through the mud.