Some homecomings begin with forgiveness...and end in danger.
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 - 17:50
Before leaving Cabbage corridor, Sabriya stopped at a Vietnamese food vendor and ordered a sweet meat kabob and two cups of Cã Phē Trúng, a heavily caffeinated, thickened dark coffee.
It took Sabriya a little over four hours to drive her SEC north from Cabbage Avenue through Meijing and then westward to Miwu Cun. Getting through the city was slow, but once into rural territory, the cycle’s speed calmed her anxiety. However, the plethora of flying night insects splattering on her helmet’s face shield heightened the effect of the coffee with momentary terrors.
Of course, along the way, Landon managed to wedge David inside her helmet. The comm link was full-duplex. Once toggled on, there was no Press-To-Talk and then release to listen like walkie-talkies, which were half-duplex systems. The helmet’s short-link SEC’s comm system allowed for uninterrupted, telephone-like communication.
“Sabriya, you’re going to get killed.”
“You lonely, David?”
“I may be. You don’t know what you’re up against.”
“Actually, I might, as long as the battery on this thing lasts.”
Landon chimed in. “You’re at 95%, Mrs. Kensington.”
“Yes, I see that.”
“Landon’s tracking you west, toward Miwu Cun,” said David, “Is that where you’re going?”
“Good guess, darling. I’m sending you kisses for reading my mind.”
“Landon and Hannah are here.”
“Well, the kisses are for you, darling, not them. Landon, close your eyes.”
“Yes, madam,” said Landon—she could hear his smile.
“What can you possibly do in the dark?”
“Darling, you should know, I’m very good in the dark.”.
“Sabriya.” David chided.
“Landon,” warned Sabriya, “you’re safe as long as the lights are on.”
She heard laughter from Landon and Hannah, but nothing from David. “David dear, I can find my way around in the dark.”
“Sabriya!” She could hear David turn away from the microphone to Landon, “Are we public, or is this…”
“Encrypted. At both ends. Very private,” said Landon. “Want me to leave?”
“David,” said Sabriya, “if nothing else, Busaba could use my company. Now, listen, unless you’re sending a blimp to lower supplies, this love chat is doing nothing for my concentration. Although I miss your loving arms…right now, I want to feel Jia Kun's arms around me. Is that okay for one night?”
There was a long pause, and then a reluctant but accepting diplomatic response, “We will await your next report, my dear.”
Sabriya wondered if her next report would include the full truth of her journey to Miwu Cun, that the Suzuki man was following her all the way from Cabbage Avenue. Of course, David would again voice his doubts and disapproval with those fateful words, Sabriya, I don’t like this. But then, Busaba had said the same thing.
Flashback - May 2013
Miwu Cun, Pangina Mountains
“Sabriya, I don’t like this.”
It was night in Busaba’s stilt dwelling. Lanterns illuminated the mat where she and Sabriya sat cross-legged, sipping on tea while Jia Kun slept a few paces away in a bundle of old but clean blankets.
“I don’t either, but I’ve got to get away, far away. And if I take Jia Kun with me, her life will be in danger. If she stays with you, and I go on alone, they will come after me and forget about her.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I have what they want.”
“What’s that?”
Sabriya paused to take inventory of what he had taken—the amulet, a pistol, and money. “Actually, you’ll have part of what he wants.” Sabriya produced a wad of cash and spread it out on the floor between them. “This! You’ll need it to take care of Jia Kun. When I get settled, I’ll send you more.”
Busaba was astonished at the wealth laid out before her; she had never seen so much money. But she was distracted. “That’s just what Huy said when he left.”
“What?”
“That he’d send more.”
“Well, did he send you more?”
“Not as much as I wanted.”
“If he continues to send you some, and I do, too, will you have enough?”
“Maybe.”
“Busie, you always wanted children. Here’s your chance…with Jia Kun.”
Busaba glanced at Jia Kun, still asleep. “Sure. MY children. But Jia Kun's not mine.”
Sabriya was at an impasse. But she tried one more time. “Busie, Jia Kun needs a mother, but she also needs an auntie. I’m not asking you to be her mother because you are already her Auntie. An Auntie is like a mother and just as important. She will learn many things from you, including our family’s way of life here in the legendary mountains and this beautiful house that her uncle and aunt built, perhaps just for her. She needs both of us, Busie.”
Busaba stared longingly at Jia Kun, soundly asleep as if in her own bed. The mountain air and the soft jungle noises had soothed Jia Kun to sleep after her feeding. She had taken to the alien environment as if she were finally home after a long journey. “Sister, how can I feed her? I have no milk in me.”
“I thought of that. We can begin weaning her in the morning with the food you have. We can crush the nuts, berries, bananas, durian, mangosteen, and all the other foods the jungle provides. And for milk, I will use my money to buy you a goat.”
That did it. Slowly, Busaba began to realize she might be able to fulfill a long-held dream of being a mother. She tried to suppress a creeping smile. “I didn’t think I would ever be a mother. You think I can?”
“You sure can, little sister. You’ll be a wonderful mother to your niece, and she’ll love growing up with you.”
Busaba softly pressed her lips together, trying to suppress a creeping joy that a long-sought wish was about to be fulfilled. She crept over to where Jia Kun slept, gently picked up the little girl, cradled her in her arms, and swayed side to side as if to soothe and comfort her. In response, Jia Kun stirred in her sleep, buried her face in her auntie’s bosom, and, as if in a sweet dream, flung a little arm up and began to caress Busaba’s neck with her tiny fingers. Busaba could hardly take her eyes off the sleeping cherub, as tears filled Auntie’s eyes.
At that moment, Sabriya realized three dreams were coming true. She would be able to flee to safety without endangering Jia Kun's life; Busaba would become a mother, something he had desired since childhood; and Jia Kun would grow up in a peaceful home, unlike what they had both experienced over the past year. Sabriya took in a long, satisfying breath. “Busie, can I tell you more of what has happened to Jia Kun and me this past year?”
Clinging to Jia Kun as if the child had always been hers, Busaba lost her smile and gazed at her sister with compassion. “Yes, Sabriya, please do.”
Once Sabriya told her story, the estrangement between the sisters fully lifted. Sabriya stayed with her sister for several weeks and weaned Jia Kun. Yet, why Busaba believed Sabriya’s wild story of the past years was a mystery.
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 - 9:00 PM
It was dark when Sabriya arrived at the foot of the trail that led to the village. The SEC’s headlights had three settings: low, high, and wide. Flipping to wide, she was able to easily scan the trail head. There were two cars parked, one that she recognized from before, possibly the Chief’s. The other looked like a government vehicle, but she couldn’t place it. There were three bollards between the end of the road and the beginning of the path to the village. The bollards were close enough together to prevent a small car or even a motorized rickshaw from entering the path, but not a motorcycle. Indeed, it was then that she remembered seeing multiple motorbikes parked alongside nearly every dwelling in the village. So, she drove her SEC carefully along the path with the cycle’s wide beams illuminating the mountain path that was smooth without the obstruction of roots, although she now noticed that many roots along the path had been cut away.
Halfway along the path to the village, she stopped and pulled off the path into a covert clearing to watch and listen for her Suzuki follower. But after five minutes, all was quiet; he didn’t seem to have followed her, at least not on his motorized cycle. But she had her doubts.
The SEC was so quiet that she could park under Busaba’s dwelling without disturbing anyone. She climbed the stairs and, near the top, quietly called out, “Busaba? It’s me, Sabriya.”
A doleful voice returned from inside, and the faint glow of a single lantern. “Sabriya? Sabriya! Is that you?” And momentarily, a teary-eyed Busaba and an older woman quickly came from inside to the entrance, opened the door wide, and Busaba flew into Sabriya’s arms, crying with full force. Sabriya looked up at the older woman, who smiled, knowing that Busaba would not be alone this night. She handed the lantern to Sabriya and quietly left with a teary smile on her face.
“Sabriya, Sabriya,” Busaba cried in her sister’s arms, “I am so sorry for saying to you what I did when you left. I feel like the gods have punished me for my wicked words to you. Oh, thank you for coming back. Please forgive me.” And the tears and cries flowed, quietly, but profoundly, as her body trembled in her older sister’s arms.
They moved inside, closed the door, and sat in the gathering space in the dwelling center.
“Busaba, I forgive you. But I won’t for long unless you offer me some tea. I’m thirsty.”
“How did you come? By yourself?”
“I came on an advanced electric cycle that is very quiet. It’s at the bottom of the stairs. I’m here to find Jia Kun and return her to you, safely, God willing.”
The two sisters made tea and talked for hours before falling asleep together on Busaba’s bed. The morning would have enough trouble of its own.
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