Hi, go home by yourself this afternoon, I’m a little busy.
He put the phone down even before she could reply. He had a free afternoon. It was four o’clock. He pushed his motorcycle to the gate, rearranged his shirt collar and started the engine. Being a government employee was not bad, really. The salary was a bit low, but he could be a millionaire in time. Every afternoon, he and his friends gathered at a restaurant or pub to drink draught beer. Today, one of his friends seemed to have made some gains, the whole gang was invited to the Sichuan restaurant.
"Right. Here is an exemplary husband. Let’s go in. Use the time we have to quench our thirst before I go fetch my wife...."
"No problem, you can drink like a fish today, I don’t care."
He took a glass of beer and sipped it. It was cold and satisfying.
"We should know how to relax sometimes. If we just went roaming about with our wives, we would become dull men."
"Let’s bottom up! Please, one more dish of sach bo (cow’s entrails) and more beer....".
"How long has it been raining! It’s spring now and it’s been pouring the whole day...."
"It’s great to drink beer in the rain."
She put the phone down and looked out of the window. Actually it was not a window. It was only a transparent glass wall from top to bottom. Rain splattered all over it. House-tops went up and down in all forms, blurred by the blanket of rain. When things were nearly finished, she rubbed her eyes and switched off the computer, relaxing for a moment. She wished she could sit down in some small dusty cafe with a close friend over a cup of steaming coffee, looking out on to the street.... Her world was now a room on the 10th floor of an office building with bamboo curtains barring her view. People walked to and fro in silence like small ants. A white wedding car bedecked with a huge pink tie darted by, a reluctant hue that did not match the panorama. She smiled. Oh yes, two years had passed, but the fashion for wedding cars the year before last was floral decorations. Then, it seems such a long time ago, he always waited for her in front of the foreign languages centre "You look a little bit tired. Can I take you to have some Hue pudding? Or some steamed snails, my teacher? Oh, how I wish for the day when I can drive you and our child around the town." His smile was so sweet and protective... .
After marriage, he’d said: "I don’t want you to go teaching in the afternoons like this. Once you finish work, I want you to return home and cook dinner." So she took up this job, this representative office of a foreign company. The floor was carpeted, desks were imported, and air-con made the room so cool. The chief was a European. It was spotlessly clean, and the cleanest of all was the toilet. The working day began at eight in the morning. 30 minutes were reserved for reading newspapers. Then it was time to examine documents, prepare letters for exchange and translate some documents. This morning at a meeting with the ministry on the proposed technology transfer project with training courses, the chief had been livid. "If the procedures cannot be cleared over the next two months, I’ll withdraw the money," he’d fumed. As they stood up to leave, she heard the muttered comment from the other side of the table; "Please withdraw, others will give us the money if you won’t. Much ado about nothing." When the chief asked her, she said: "They are saying that the project is under the management of many agencies. This ministry wishes to implement the project immediately, but other ministries are still considering it." The chief shrugged his shoulders. "You people have a long way to go." There had been so many official letters and telephone calls exchanged to urge the officials. But the project only benefited the trainees, there would be no change in the salary of those managing the project, and it was not easy at all to get some money for themselves from this project. So there was no point in hurrying.
It was 12 sharp. The Vietnamese staff entered the dining room. She was cooking instant noodle in the microwave. The chief put his head in: "Such a strong smell! What are you cooking?" Then he slammed the door hard. "And when he spoke to me this morning, his mouth smelt of raw onions," someone commented. Another sighed: "What if I could eat steamed snails or some bun dau phu (soft rice noodles with shrimp paste and fried beancurd." "I wish I could lie down for a few minutes after lunch..." "Stop dreaming... ."
Five minutes to five, she got up and prepared the documents. The chief said with a serious voice: "We pay you to work from 8 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon." Yesterday and the day before, she’d stayed back and worked until 6 or 7 o’clock in the evening to finish the work. She sat still and waited until 5 o’clock. The lift was filled to capacity with staff members. Skirts, ties, shining shoes, perfume and tiring faces. It was still raining, and cold. Gone were the days when she rode the bicycle fast in the rain, turning her face up to let the fresh tiny drops fall on her cheeks and forehead...
The bill recorded the number of glasses with plus signs. His friends were still laughing and speaking with hardened necks, none of them giving in.
"What an exemplary husband! Why do you look so silly? Are you missing your wife?"
"Look, let’s go into some karaoke parlour."
"Right. It will be warmer and we can drink some more. This is not enough... ."
"Will there be girls to help while away the time?"
"No, shouldn’t we join the anti-social evils campaign?"
"What an idea! We should create jobs for the surplus labour force."
The xe om (motorbike taxi) stopped at the foot of the stairs. "Please give me VND10,000." "What? It is only four kilometres!" "Well, you’re well paid there, how can you spend all your money?" She intended to say something, but decided to refrain. She shook the raincoat and walked upstairs. The staircase was dark. She tried to avoid stepping on the rubbish scattered everywhere. On the second landing, a dim electric light on the notice: The cleaning schedule - Stairs on Block A -Monday... . Behind the closed windows were brightly lit, newly renovated apartments. These families went to work every morning, and kept the doors closed after they returned home. The doors were closed during the weekends as well. The neighbours never called on each other. She inserted the key, pulled the collapsing gate and opened the wooden door. Then she switched on the electric cooker. A baby’s cry echoed from the next house. She wished she had a child in her lap to cuddle. He’d said: "Better not to have a child now, don’t you think? Let our situation improve. And by the way, you should reduce the time you spend with friends. Now you’re married and should have more time for me." She had obediently acquiesced. The phone was ringing. She lifted the phone. It was her mother-in-law: "Are you there? Have you made dinner?... Are you tired? No tiring work in your office, I think. A life in luxury, no rain on the face, no sunlight on the head, and a high salary... . When your husband comes home, tell him to phone me." "Yes, mother... ". The phone rang again, this time it was her husband: "Please go ahead and have dinner. Don’t wait for me. I’ve got to finish some work."
The dark green velvet blinds fell down heavily. The black settee looked sticky. The smell of beer, brandy, cigarette was pungent. The service girls - 15 to 16 years old, rushed in. White faces, red lips and tanned necks.
"Please let us join!" "Dear, sit closer to me."
"Please drink with us for fun! Do sing a song...." Then they screamed some familiar tune at the top of their voices. "When we sing sending our songs to our far-away lovers..."
The rain continued to fall without let-up. Millions of tiny drops covered the leaves on the tree, dropping down when they became too heavy, mingling in the muddy soil that was getting condensed under passing feet.
Translated by Manh Chuong
