by Meris Lee
One night, an all-girl band started playing live music to draw more customers to the nightclub. Irisa couldn’t understand the lyrics, but the music gave a feeling of doom and despair. Ironically the mournful melody was uplifting for Irisa, as for the first time in so long there was an indirect channel for her own dark emotions to be expressed, via the songs of these teenagers. Even more surprising was that the band leader spoke Russian, and seemed genuinely interested in Irisa’s condition. Hers was the first friendly face that Irisa had encountered since she left Russia.
Irisa didn’t know if she could trust the band leader, who called herself Zoe. Irisa wondered whether Dmitry would keep his words and release her at the end of three years, if she did everything he told her to do. But one night, she missed her son so much that she decided to take the risk of communicating with Zoe. Zoe would bring her pen and paper, and she would slowly write out her story. It might take several nights, or weeks, but Zoe would know her story. Maybe Zoe could help her. Zoe may look like a rebellious teenager, but she gave Irisa a sense of kindness and trustworthiness. If Irisa was caught, she calculated, she might be killed, but that may not be so bad compared to this living hell anyway. She had to do it. She had to give one last fight.
Chapter 24
“Zoe, are you in here?” said Tam as she walked into the restroom and found Zoe lost in deep thoughts. Irisa was here earlier for a brief written conversation. Zoe tucked a piece of paper into a pocket inside her corset dress.
“Hi, Tam, is it time to go?”
Tam studied Zoe for a little bit and said, “Zoe, you are looking awful secretive lately. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Yurik is being a jerk, that’s all,” said Zoe. That was not a lie.
“Speaking of Yurik, your mother is having a chat with him at the bar right now,” said Tam.
“What do you mean?”
“Your mother is having a drink at the bar, and Yurik is just cracking jokes left and right. You know what he does when there is a pretty woman in front of him.”
Zoe felt a little angry, but it was not because Yurik was flirting with her mother. She went out of the restroom and found her mother laughing with abandon. A few empty shot glasses were scattered on the counter in front of her. Yurik was talking to her while drying a glass with a towel.
Zoe walked over to Ana and said very loudly so that Yurik could hear, “Ma!”
Ana was startled, and turned to look at Zoe. “Oh, Zoe,” said Ana with a broad smile. She tried to give Zoe a hug, but Zoe backed away.
“This is your ma?” said Yurik, eyes widened. “Oh, I see the resemblance. You two could be sisters. Ana, I see where Zoe got her pretty face from.”
“What are you doing here?” Zoe said angrily to Ana.
“What does it look like? I am having a good time,” said Ana, who appeared more than a little tipsy.
“Your drinks are on the house. Zoe is my girlfriend,” said Yurik.
Ana looked back and forth at Zoe and Yurik, and then said, “Really? Is that legal? Zoe is quite young, and you look old enough to be her pa.”
Zoe grabbed Ana’s elbow and said, “You need to go home now. You are drunk.”
“Oh, I am not quite there yet. Yurik is offering me free vodka. It doesn’t happen every day, you know,” said Ana.
“Let’s go!” Zoe pulled Ana off the barstool with such force that Ana fell on the floor.
“I’m all right. Don’t help me,” said Ana. Zoe helped her get up anyway. Ana saw a bruise on Zoe’s arm, and then she lifted up Zoe’s dress to inspect Zoe’s torso before Zoe could protest.
“What are you doing?” Zoe shook her mother off and covered herself up in a hurry.
“Just as I thought,” said Ana. She reached across the bar and grabbed Yurik’s shirt. “Are you beating her?”
Yurik appeared astonished by the abrupt change in Ana’s attitude. He took Ana’s hand off his shirt and said, “Watch it, old lady.”
Ana held up an arm and was about to punch Yurik in the face when a man came up and put both of his hands on Ana’s arms to hold her back. Zoe was surprised when she saw that it was McKenzie. An Eastern Asian woman, dressed like Irisa, was standing next to him; she smiled and left the scene after McKenzie whispered something in her ear.
“Ana, are you all right?” said McKenzie
“Who are you?” said Ana before she realized that the man was McKenzie. “Oh, Mr. Sydney, Australia. How wonderful to see you. I was about to teach this bastard a lesson. How dare he lay his hand on my daughter!” Ana gave Yurik a menacing stare.
“Ana, you can teach him a lesson later,” said McKenzie. “Revenge is best served cold, remember? Let’s not do it tonight. Will you let me take you home?”
“Not a chance,” said Zoe. “You are not taking her anywhere.” She pushed McKenzie away from Ana, who took a few steps back and almost fell again. Zoe caught her this time.
McKenzie looked a little confused, but said calmly, “I could take you both home.”
“No way, you stay away from us,” said Zoe. She shoved Ana toward the exit.
“I’m not finished.” Ana was still struggling to free herself from Zoe.
“Where are you going Zoe?” said Yurik loudly. “Are you coming home tonight?”
“Go to hell!” Zoe yelled as she dragged Ana out of the nightclub.
Zoe got Ana home in a taxi. Ana was almost asleep when they got to the apartment building. Zoe managed to keep Ana steady as they walked up the stairs to their fourth-story home. Zoe rammed on the door, and Ivan came to let them in. Their Vietnamese neighbor across the hall poked her head out of her door to see what was going on just before they disappeared behind theirs.
Ivan and Zoe helped Ana walk to the bench in the living room and lie down on it. Ana mumbled a few words before she closed her eyes and fell into slumber. Ivan and Zoe both sat down on nearby chairs to catch their breaths.
“Is she drunk?” said Ivan.
“She’s an idiot,” said Zoe with some anger in her voice.
“What are we going to do? She’s drinking again. What’s going to happen now? Who’s going to take care of us?”
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me,” said Zoe. She looked at her brother, and felt a little sorry for him. “We’ve got to get you some help, though.”
“How? Prababushka is dead. She can’t help us,” said Ivan.
“Of course not. Who’s talking about Prababushka?”
“What then? It’s going to take her months if not years to get sober again. We are stuck in Vietnam. You might be okay, but I can’t go anywhere without her.”
“Don’t be so upset yet,” said Zoe. “Maybe she won’t get so bad this time. As long as she can keep working at the restaurant you know you are fine. Worry about it when she gets fired.”
“She promised she was not ever going to touch another drop of alcohol before we left Russia,” said Ivan, starting to sound a little choked up.
Zoe went to her brother and held him in her arms. “You know how she is. She won’t change. I’ll take care of you.”
Ivan wiped his tears and said, “Well, I’ll just get a job, too. I’m old enough to be my own man.”
Zoe gave a slight chuckle and said, “Who told you that?”
“Mr. Nguyen. He’s the counselor at the summer camp. I told him about Ma, how she totally ignores me, and can barely take care of herself. He said I should be strong, and be my own man.”
“He’s right. You should take charge of your life.”
“Where can I work though?” Ivan rubbed his head.
Zoe sat down in her chair again and said, “Ivan, I’m in the middle of something. When it’s finished, I’ll come back to be with you. You are too young to work.”
“I thought you don’t want to be with us.”
“I don’t want to be with Ma. She’s beyond hope. But I can’t leave you when she’s like this,” said Zoe. “God, she can be so irresponsible! She got us down here, far away from
our home, and then she just screwed us over again and left us stranded here with nothing.” Zoe buried her face in her hands.
“I guess she tried,” said Ivan.
“Not hard enough,” said Zoe.
After a few minutes, Zoe went to the phone and called Tuan. When she hung up, she said, “I’ve got to go. I will check on you tomorrow.” She got up and walked toward the door.
“I’ve missed you, Sestra,” said Ivan.
“I’ve missed you, too.” Zoe left the apartment.
She ran down the stairs, and out of the building. She had no clue how to help take care of Ivan. She wasn’t going to bother helping her mother get sober again; it never worked. Ana would get sober on her own when she put her mind to it.. For now, Zoe’s problem was how to help her brother get through this bout. She briefly entertained the idea of just leaving Ivan to his own devices, but she loved him too much to abandon him. She had to think of something.
Tuan stopped his motorcycle in front of Zoe. When he turned off his motorcycle engine and removed his helmet, Zoe flew into his arms and cried. Tuan stood there with his arms open for a few seconds before he wrapped them around Zoe.
Zoe went on for a few minutes, her body seized in a spasm whenever she took in a breath. Finally her crying became a quiet sob and she told Tuan what happened at the club tonight. She took the piece of paper from the pocket inside her dress and handed it to Tuan. Tuan wiped her tears with his shirt sleeves.
“Zoe,” said Tuan, looking at the bruises on her arm, “you should leave Yurik now. It’s not safe for you there.”
Zoe broke away from Tuan and said, “I don’t know if my band can still play in the club if I leave him.”
“Your friends will appreciate it if you remove them from harm’s way, too. That club is no place for young girls like you.”
“You need to warn your neighbor Billie. I saw her talking to these Asian women in the restroom, too. They all look like Irisa. I am worried that Billie would get kidnapped and forced into prostitution. I don’t know what they were saying, but if these women also have tracking devices in their arms, Boris could hear them. Billie can be in danger right now.”
“You are worried about Billie with all this stuff going on in your life?” said Tuan.
“Anyway, our band needs to stay there. It’s the only way I can get access to Irisa. I can’t help her if I stay on the outside.”
“How do you think you are going to help her?”
“With you, of course. You are the cop. You should do something.”
Tuan looked away for a moment, and then said, “It’s not as easy as you think.”
“Why not? Arrest Boris and his men. Grab Irisa and the other women and they will tell you everything.”
“Does Irisa know which island they are kept on?”
Zoe didn’t answer.
“If we were to snatch up the thugs at Rocking Waves now, it would only serve as a signal for their bosses to round up everyone and disappear. We won’t be able to save the rest of the women still on that island.”
“Boris can tell you who his bosses are and where they are hiding,” said Zoe. “You can kidnap him without anyone knowing.”
“That might work, but chances are with an international scheme like this, he doesn’t know the real names of his bosses and he doesn’t know which island the women are kept on, either,” said Tuan. “Boris is just a pawn in this game, taking orders from superiors who are hiding in the dark.”
“How about searching all the buildings on all the islands? There are not that many islands around here. I looked at a satellite map of this area.”
“It’s true there aren’t many islands, and I can probably guess which island they are on,” said Tuan.
“Well?”
“Remember what you said about police corruption before? I am afraid that’s our biggest obstacle here.”
“You are kidding,” said Zoe.
“No. I can’t tell you too much, but do you really think Rocking Waves can exist without some officials here being involved?”
Zoe thought about it, and suddenly realized the magnitude of the problem. Still, she persisted. “Is there nothing you can do?” said Zoe.
“I am on the bottom of the ranks here. I have no clout. I will probably get fired, or worse, killed, if I stick my neck out.”
“Ugh! Why is everything so complicated?”
Tuan hesitated, and then placed his hands on Zoe’s arms. “Just have some faith. The problems will work themselves out—Irisa’s, and your mother’s.”
“I don’t see how in either case,” said Zoe, feeling pessimistic. “Well, there’s one thing you can do now. Give me a ride back to the club.”
“Zoe, I really wish you would leave Yurik.”
“Why? To be your girlfriend?”
Tuan seemed surprised to hear that. He let go of Zoe’s arms and said, “Who wants to be your boyfriend? I just don’t want to visit you in the hospital when Yurik puts you in a coma.”
“If that were to happen I am sure you would be happy that the world is rid of one more troublemaker,” said Zoe. “I hope you don’t give me a ticket for being in a coma underage.”
Tuan didn’t say anything back.
Zoe took the extra helmet out of the storage box of the motorcycle and put it on her head. She got on the backseat and said, “Come on. I need to get my guitar back.”
Tuan, frowning, put on his helmet and sat in front of Zoe. He started the engine, and they took off into the night, headed for the lion’s den again. Her mother was a lost cause, Zoe thought, but Irisa was not.
Chapter 25
Ana woke up when she heard someone knocking on the door of her apartment. She sat up in her bed, immediately overwhelmed by a throbbing headache. She felt queasy and weak, but still managed to come out of her bedroom and say, “Who is it?”
“It’s me, Vo.”
Ana was not expecting any visitors, especially not Vo at this moment, when she was having a hangover.
“Give me a minute,” said Ana after she let Vo in and asked him to sit down in the living room. She hurried into the bathroom, and quickly combed her hair, washed her face, and brushed her teeth. She inspected what she was wearing, and thought that it was suitable for now. She went to the kitchen and made some hot tea, and then brought two cups of tea out with a plate of biscuits.
“I’m sorry to disturb you this early in the morning,” said Vo. “I should have called, but I was out walking, and decided to stop by and check on you. You didn’t look very well the other night at the restaurant.”
“I’m fine. Thanks,” said Ana. “Speaking of the other night at the restaurant, I should congratulate you on your engagement.”
“You shouldn’t. I didn’t go through with it,” said Vo. He took a sip of his tea.
Ana couldn’t believe what she heard. “You didn’t go through with it?” said Ana.
“I didn’t. I couldn’t. I can’t.”
Ana bit her lower lip. Her heart was pounding. She sipped her tea, not knowing how to respond.
Vo went on to say, “You didn’t come back, or you would’ve seen the disastrous ending to that occasion. I just came right out and said it to everyone that I opposed the engagement. I told everyone that Kim was not the one for me.”
Ana swallowed hard and said, “That must have been really difficult for Kim. She must have felt so humiliated. You should have done it in a more private setting.”
“So you are fine with me canceling the whole thing?” said Vo.
“It’s not my place to be fine or not fine with it. I just feel bad for poor Kim,” said Ana.
“Kim actually looked relieved. I thought I saw a smile on her face before I left. My mother was the one who was humiliated. She hasn’t said a nice word to me since. I should’ve just told them from the very beginning that it wasn’t going to work. My feeling for Kim has always been friendly, at most brotherly. It was never remotely romantic. I was just going along with my mother’s plan be
cause I was at a point where I thought it didn’t make a difference whom I married.” Vo paused, looked Ana in the eyes, and then said, “But over the last few months, things have changed, and I have to be honest with everyone or I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
“Good. I think you did a brave thing, and it was the right thing to do, being honest,” said Ana, sipping her tea.
“My heart is with someone else,” said Vo.
“Yes, I know. Colette. That was her name, right?”
“That’s not what I meant,” said Vo, gazing at Ana intensely.
Too nervous to find out what Vo actually meant, Ana said, “Excuse me a minute.” She stood up, and went to the kitchen.
She opened the refrigerator and reached for the vodka, but decided against it. She closed the refrigerator, and stood in front of the stove for a minute. She took a few deep breaths, and then returned to the living room with the tea kettle. She poured more hot tea for Vo and herself, then took a seat across from Vo’s. The interruption caused an awkward pause in Vo’s impassioned discourse. He stood up, and started to pace the room.
“Are you all right?” said Ana, who was starting to relax with the warmth of the hot liquid.
“I don’t know,” said Vo. “There’s so much I want to tell you. I don’t know where to start. I don’t know how to start.”
“You seem really tense. Would you like to look at my portfolio?” Ana presented Vo an over-sized album of photographs. Vo sat down again to browse them.
Ana saw that Vo’s face softened, and she said, “I bet you’ve seen all of these places. I took all of the pictures in Nha Trang.”
“I have seen these places, but not the way you saw them,” said Tuan. “They all looked so different the way you captured them with your camera. Look at this photo of Hon Chong Rock. I’ve never seen it from this aerial angle before. How did you do it?”
“I asked the owner of the seafood restaurant across the street to let me stand on their roof,” said Ana with a smile. “I promised to buy some snails. I speak passable Vietnamese, you know.” She moved to the seat next to Vo’s, and started to narrate the photographs.