The Long March Home

by Zoë S. Roy

  “Help yourselves.” Angela placed several cans of Pepsi and a bowl of potato chips on the coffee table in front of the chesterfield. “My parents won’t be back before 9:00 p.m., so we can do whatever we feel like!”

  “Remember? We’re here to watch your sister’s engagement.” Yezi tapped her fingers the chair’s arm again.

  “Oops, I almost forget.” Angela replaced her pop on the table. “Helen, can you find the remote control and turn on the VCR?”

  Helen got up and walked over to a small wooden cabinet in a corner. Pulling out a drawer, she rummaged through videotapes.

  Yezi glanced at the shiny dinnerware in the cabinet and the paintings on the wall. They were all abstract art, so she wasn’t entirely sure what they intended to depict, but they were colourful and interesting. She couldn’t help but wonder what her mother might have thought about them.

  Angela inserted the tape in the VCR, and then, on the screen, grand hall appeared, where men in tuxedoes and women in beautiful dresses walked around, chatting with one another, holding drinks in their hands.

  A teenaged girl in a short pink dress, its sleeves and hem trimmed with lace, ran into the hall. Her waist-length dark hair shone under the bright lights; two long, pink silky ribbons decorated with beads decorated her hair. “Mom! I’m sorry I’m late, but I’ve found my necklace.” When she turned her head toward the camera, a pendant sparkled against her skin.

  “It’s you, Angela!” Yezi gasped at the pretty face on the screen.

  Angela giggled. “I always forget things. Mom says it’s because I always have my head in the clouds.”

  “Hey! Can you put your dress on?” Helen stared at Angela. She sipped from a Pepsi can. “I love it.”

  “Really?” Angela’s eyes flashed with joy. “I like that party dress, too. But you know my Dad….”

  “What about him?” asked Helen.

  “He doesn’t like me wearing something that short.”

  “Why?”

  “He says I’ll get arthritis when I get older. He wants me to wear skirts or dresses that cover my knees.”

  “He seems to have a good excuse,” Yezi said. Helen and Angela burst out laughing.

  “Look, Angela. Is that your sister?” Yezi grabbed her friend’s arm while her eyes lingered on the screen. A young woman wearing a long white satin dress with a ruffled collar was being given a sparkling diamond ring. It had a yellow gold band and in the centre, around the diamond, were four baguette sapphires. Her fiancé was dressed in a black tuxedo with a red bow under his collar, and his arm was draped casually around her shoulder.

  “Yeah. It’s a real diamond and costs a grand.” Angela’s gaze switched from the screen to Yezi. “Do you like the ring?”

  “It costs so much!” Yezi exclaimed.

  “Wow,” Helen pointed to the screen. “What is that pendant made of?”

  “My mom’s? It’s a gold cross with diamonds all around it. It’s probably worth a couple of grand.” Angela jumped off the couch. “Do you want to watch the party or look at my dress?”

  Both Yezi and Helen answered, “Your dress, now!”

  Angela climbed upstairs, and, in a few minutes, returned wearing the pink dress and her mother’s necklace. “What do you think?”

  Yezi clapped her hands. “So fresh! You look exactly like you did in the video.”

  “Ooooh, can I look at your necklace?” Helen touched the sparkling pendant with awe.

  “Hey, how about this?” Angela spun around. “Come to my bedroom. I have a bunch of dresses. You can try them on.”

  The three girls giggled and raced to Angela’s bedroom. In five minutes, clothes of various colours and styles cluttered the bed. Yezi examined her reflection in the full-length mirror on the closet door: she wore a black dress with a square silver neckline and black spaghetti straps. Her dark brown hair, pulled back with a blue headband, reached her shoulders.

  Helen said, “Yezi looks like a college student.”

  “I wore it only once. I don’t think I will wear it again,” said Angela.

  “Why?” asked Yezi.

  “It’s so plain and old-fashioned,” Angela said matter-of-factly. “If you like it, you can take it home with you.”

  “It’s great. Thank you,” Yezi said.

  “You have so many fancy clothes and so much jewellery. I don’t think I could ever afford to live like this,” Helen said as she placed a pearl necklace back into the jewellery box on the dresser.

  “Don’t worry.” Angela winked. “Your fiancé or husband will pay for it.”

  “I don’t even know if I’ll get engaged or married for that matter.” Helen swirled around and watched Angela’s pink-hemmed black skirt flutter around her ankles.

  “Why?” Yezi and Angela exclaimed in unison.

  “Haven’t you ever heard of the women’s movement? Women should be independent. I don’t want to rely on a husband.”

  “You may run across a rich, cool guy who really loves you.” Angela grinned.

  “If you don’t get married, what are you going to do?” Yezi gazed at Helen with curiosity.

  “I have no idea.” Helen closed her eyes and imagined a young man on his knees, a glistening ring in his hand. She opened eyes and chuckled. “I’ll go to university first.”

  “Me, too.” Yezi nodded.

  “Really?” Angela asked. “Are you guys serious? I may go to college. That’s enough for me.”

  “My mom graduated from Harvard,” said Helen.

  “That’s an important university.” Angela seemed familiar with all kinds of costs. “The tuition is double that of other universities.”

  “I can save money. I’ll look for a summer job.” Helen said. “What about you, Yezi?”

  “I can work in the summer, too.” Yezi’s eyes glowed. “If I get three dollars an hour and work forty hours a week, I can make almost one thousand dollars in a summer. That’ll be tuition for half a term.” Yezi was excited by the thought.

  “Do you think you’ll work through the whole summer?” asked Angela.

  “Why not?” Helen clasped her hands. “Why don’t you think about a summer job?”

  “Maybe.” Angela’s eyebrows raised. She was disappointed to see her friends take an interest in something like going to university. It was not something she herself was interested in. As Yezi began to change out of the dress, Angela shook her head. “Yezi, you can keep the dress. Helen, are we going to have a party this weekend?”

  “Maybe.” Helen changed back into her white blouse and red-and-black plaid skirt.

  “Thanks,” Yezi said, folding the dress neatly and putting it on the table for her to take later.

  “How about a slice of pizza before Helen’s mom picks you girls up?” Angela led the way to the kitchen downstairs.

  Yezi began scanning job ads in the classified sections of local papers in the library after school. Many of the jobs excited her, but she wasn’t sure what to say if she called any of the potential employers. After her grandmother suggested she get more information at school, she located a workshop that helped students with job hunting.

  Since then, she had busied herself with learning about writing a résumé and cover letter as well as developing interview skills. She thought she would be tired out before she even began working. It seemed to her that finding a job was more work than actually working.

  One afternoon, she arrived home and picked up a letter in the mailbox. It was from her father. Excited, she tore the envelope open immediately and skimmed the page. Grandpa? When she saw the word, her heart pounded. Then she read the sentence again.

  Lon wrote: “Your grandpa, Mei, is still alive! He is a retired doctor in Hong Kong. The lady Mei in Chongqing is his sister.” Yezi’s eyes widened at the news. I have to tell Gr
andma! She pushed opened the door and called out, but saw nobody and got no response. Yezi remembered that she was going to one of her meetings that afternoon, so she ran up to her room to read the letter again, this time more carefully. .

  Plumping herself on the bed, she placed the letter next to her and smoothed out the creases. Besides that exciting news, Lon also mentioned that Sang had just started to work as an intern at Spring City General Hospital and would graduate in half a year. Yao was trying to learn from Lon how to read, as she wanted to read Yezi’s letters instead of asking others to read for her.

  Things were going well! Yezi was happy to hear that her family had moved on and were living their lives contentedly. But she was puzzled about Mei, and couldn’t understand how he could have disappeared for over fifty years. After all this time, could this really be him? After reading her father’s words over a third time, she jumped off the bed and paced the floor. Then she had an idea of what to do.

  That evening, Yezi sat beside her grandmother on the couch. “Do you mind if I ask you some personal questions?”

  Agnes closed the book in her hand and removed her reading-glasses. “I’m all ears, and willing to answer any of your questions.”

  “Do you love my grandfather?”

  “What a question!” Agnes gasped. “Well, I certainly did at one time. And I do still care for him.”

  “Why haven’t you looked for him all these years?”

  “Well, I wrote him a couple of letters, but I never got a response. In fact, many years later, I learned that he had written to me, too. But my parents never told me, nor gave me his letters.”

  “Why? Because they disliked him?”

  Agnes lost herself in remembering her father’s funeral in 1947. It was during the funeral that her mother asked her to forgive them for disposing of several letters from China after Agnes had moved to Boston and they had become aware of her pregnancy.

  “At that time, my parents couldn’t accept me as a single mother or my child. So your mother never actually met them.The first time your mother met my mother, it was at my father’s funeral.” Agnes looked into Yezi’s puzzled eyes and upset face. “Don’t blame them. Everybody learns from their mistakes. When your mother made the decision to search for her birth father in China, her grandmother supported her financially.”

  “Do you think Grandpa got your letters?”

  “Maybe not. Otherwise he would have known I lived in Boston. He wouldn’t have sent mail to Wolfville.”

  “I remember Mama said she flew to Halifax, not Wolfville, for my great-grandfather’s funeral.”

  “That’s right. My parents had moved to Halifax before the war. So your mother met her grandmother in Halifax.”

  “If Grandpa is still alive, would you like to see him again?” Yezi looked up at Agnes, a smile lighting up her face.

  “That’s a good question. What would I tell him if I saw him again? He doesn’t even know he had a daughter, your mother….” Agnes’s heart pounded. “You know, your mother went to Chongqing. She discovered that Mei’s parents’ home had been bombed, and she wasn’t able to find any trace of Mei. During the war, anything could have happened to him. I doubt he’s still alive.” Agnes’s hand joined Yezi’s. “Don’t let something like this get you down. Let’s talk about your prospects for work this summer instead. What’s up with your job hunting? ”

  “My workshop teacher has arranged a tour of the YMCA for tomorrow. I am going to drop off an application for a job as an Early Child Education assistant.”

  “Oh, that sounds great. I’ll cross my fingers for you.”

  A few days later, on Sunday morning, after Agnes went to church, Yezi copied a phone number from her father’s letter and made an overseas call.

  “May I speak to Mei?” Yezi heard her own voice tremble.

  A sturdy voice answered, “Speaking!”

  “I’m Yezi.” Suddenly questions flew out of her mouth. “Do you remember Agnes McMillan?You don’t know me, but you are my grandfather. Why have you never searched for us?”

  After a moment of awkward silence, the man replied hesitantly, “Well, Yezi, I didn’t know your mother or you existed.”

  Yezi also hesitated before uttering the question she had been longing to ask. “Did you ever get my grandmother’s letters?”

  “Letters? No. I never got any letters. But I sent her some.”

  Yezi knew what had happened to those letters. “Your parents must have kept them away from you, just like my Grandma’s parents kept your letters from her. But did you ever try to look for her?”

  “Yes. Many years ago, I went to Wolfville to try and find her…”

  Yezi finished his sentence. “But you didn’t find anybody there?”

  “I only found her parent’s old house. Your grandmother’s parents had already moved to Halifax. So, I went to Halifax.”

  “Did you meet them?” Yezi asked, excited.

  “No. That was in 1955. All I found were their headstones in the cemetery. Someone who saw me there and knew them told me that your grandmother was married and had two children. Because I never received any letters from her, I thought she had probably forgotten me. I thought it best not to disturb her.” The old man sucked in a deep breath. He seemed to know what Yezi’s next question would be. “Your father told me that your mother tried to find me in China, in 1948, but I had already moved to Hong Kong and there I remained.”

  “I am glad we found you! Now, would you like to see my Grandma again?”

  “Yes, of course. But I don’t know if your grandmother will want to see me. I could fly to Boston if you think she would welcome a visit.”

  “Oh, yes! Yes! I’m sure she would like that very much,” Yezi replied, ecstatic. “After you get a ticket, would you please let me know when to expect you?”

  “I will try to come in the next couple of weeks. I can phone you from my hotel after I arrive in Boston. I will explain everything in person. So please don’t tell her everything. Let’s surprise her, okay?”

  “Oh yes!”

  After the phone call, Yezi wrote to her father about her phone call to Mei. She wished her father had a phone so she could talk to him right away, but telephone services were not readily available to most people in China.

  Yezi had phoned Mei a second time, to find out if he had booked his ticket. Since then, she had been checking the calendar every day. July 2nd was not too far away. Yezi had lied to her grandmother and told her that her father was coming to Boston for a visit, and they would have to pick him up at the airport. The day finally arrived. Yezi hopped into the passenger seat as her grandmother started the car. They were going to the airport at last.

  “Your father will notice you’re taller now.”

  “He has wonderful news for you.” Yezi hinted at the surprise, not wanting to shock her grandmother too much.

  “Oh? Well, that’s nice. But why didn’t your father tell me he was coming?” Agnes was a little puzzled, suspecting that something was going on, but didn’t have any idea what it could be. Yezi remained silent. “Well, we will see him very soon! By the way, do you remember Susan, your mother’s close friend that I told you about?”

  “Yes?”

  “Well, talking to you about her motivated me and I managed to track her down. She lives in Pittsburgh now. She’s is planning to come over on Sunday. She wants to meet you so much.”

  So many things are happening this weekend, Yezi thought, rubbing her eyes. It was all a little overwhelming.

  Their car came to a stop in the tunnel to the airport. “Why is the traffic slowing down?” Yezi asked.

  A police car passed by, its siren blaring. “I hope it’s just a fender-bender,” said Agnes.

  Yezi was chewing her fingers anxiously. “We’ll be late.”

  “Don’t worr
y. I don’t see an ambulance.” Agnes sat back. “Your father will wait for us.”

  “No, he won’t. He doesn’t even know we’re coming to the airport,” said Yezi, making a face. “I wanted to surprise him.”

  Half an hour later, they were at the arrivals. The plane from Hong Kong had landed. Yezi’s eyes scanned the crowd, looking for an elderly man, while Agnes searched for Lon.

  Almost simultaneously, Yezi and Agnes turned to a crowd of people walking in the direction of the cab stand. Yezi darted toward a tall, elderly, gray-haired man in a white shirt and black slacks standing by a pole.

  “Your father is there!” Agnes shouted behind her.

  Another man in a crisp white shirt was standing next to the gray-haired man. The both turned their heads.

  Yezi gasped and called out, “Baba!” She had not expected him! She couldn’t believe he was here, at the airport!

  At that moment, Agnes walked toward them, a broad smile on her face. The gray-haired man next to Lon stepped forward, his arms outstretched. “Agnes?”

  Agnes’s gaze fell on the man’s wrinkled face. His eyes, under glasses, resembled deep wells with ripples, as if a stone had just been dropped into them moments before. Agnes moved forward slowly, as if in a dream. She felt as though her mind and body had been transported in time, and she was back in 1925, the first time she had looked deeply into those dark eyes. “Mei! I can’t believe it’s you.” Her hands joined his.

  Agnes and Mei were still, their eyes fixed on each other. At last, Mei wrapped his arms around Agnes, and she smiled at him with a warmth that even Lon and Yezi, standing next to them, could feel.

  “I have a photo to show you, Yezi.” Mei took out a pocket-sized frame and passed it to her. It was the photograph of Mei and Agnes that had been taken fifty-five years ago, the same one her mother had copied and brought to China, the same one that Agnes had taped to the last page of her second journal.

  Lon walked over to Yezi then and put his arm around her shoulder. He was smiling and crying at the same time. He had made her mother’s wish come true. Yezi hugged him tightly.Then she wrapped her arms around her grandparents, holding them in a big bear hug. No words were necessary.