Aperture on the East (17 page)

Ana couldn’t understand Mr. Tran’s
policy when it came to the leftovers, as she was sure that Mr. Tran
must have lived through periods in Vietnam when the economy was
less than ideal and many people had to go hungry. Ana didn’t want
to get in trouble with her boss, but she just could not see all
that food go to waste. Several times a week when Mr. Tran was not
in the restaurant, she gathered the food and handed it to the needy
that came to beg at the backdoor. Only Mai, being in charge of the
kitchen, tried to discourage Ana; the rest of the kitchen staff
helped Ana keep it a secret.

“
Ana, what are you
doing?”

Ana heard her name called as she
handed the bags of leftovers to two scrawny kids in the back alley.
She looked behind her, and there was Mr. Tran!

The two kids quickly ran away with
their loot.

“
Mr. Tran, h-how are you?”
said Ana with a shaky voice. Mr. Tran was not expected at the
restaurant that day.

“
So it’s true. You are
handing out leftovers,” said Mr. Tran harshly.

“
I am sorry, but those
kids are starving. They are skin and bones.”

“
They are skin and bones
because their parents are lazy. Those kids you just gave the
leftovers to, I know their parents,” said Mr. Tran. “They are
drunks.”

Ana was dumbfounded for a
moment.

“
So, you are just making
their problems worse,” said Mr. Tran. “Don’t give them any more
food.”

“
But the children are
innocent. And what about the others? They can’t all be drunks,”
said Ana, defending her position.

“
The children are learning
to be beggars, too, with your help. I have lived here all of my
life, and I know just about everyone in this neighborhood. I tell
you, there is no legitimate reason for anyone to go hungry in this
town,” said Mr. Tran.

Ana didn’t have anything to say back
to Mr. Tran, as she conceded that he probably did know everyone in
this town. She was about to go back into the kitchen when Mr. Tran
stopped her and said, “Were you late today, too?”

Ana wanted to find a hole and
disappear into it right then. Not only was she caught red-handed
violating her boss’s policy, but she was indeed late to work, for
the third time this month.

“
I don’t want any excuses.
I pay you to be here at four o’clock, but you don’t come in until
almost six and you can’t even come up with a good excuse. Two days
ago you didn’t show up and we didn’t hear from you until the night
was almost over. You are almost as bad as those kids’ parents. Is
this an example you are setting for your children?” said Mr. Tran
scathingly.

“
I wanted to call sooner
but I was too sick—”

“
If you are late one more
time,” said Mr. Tran, “you are going to be fired.”

Ana was bracing herself for more
tirades from Mr. Tran when someone called him away.

“
Ana, are you okay?” said
Mai when Ana came into the kitchen.

Ana didn’t answer. She took a drink
out of a bottle in her purse, and sat down at the kitchen counter
to repose herself.

“
I told you not to give
out the leftovers,” said Mai. “Mr. Tran visited a friend and the
family next door was eating leftovers from here. They were sitting
out on the street and Mr. Tran saw them and asked them what they
were eating. They gave you away.”

Ana shook her head in
disbelief.

“
Ana, we need you at the
front. We are getting bombarded,” said Olga, who gave Mai two order
slips.

Ana took a deep breath and followed
Olga out of the kitchen. Mr. Tran spotted them and called them over
to help take orders from a large party, all seated at a round
table. Ana immediately recognized Vo, with Kim seated to his left.
Vidal was at the table as well. Between Vo and Vidal there was a
woman, perhaps in her late sixties, to whom Vo bore a
resemblance.

Ana wasn’t sure if she
should greet Vo. Vo looked up and saw her; he didn’t say a word,
either, but acknowledged her with a nod. He was wearing a suit and
tie. Kim was in a pink
áo
dài
, a traditional Vietnamese dress that
Ana knew was worn for special occasions.

Mr. Tran said, “Ana, Olga, you two
know my investor, Mr. Pham.” He pointed to a portly man with his
face fixed in an ear-to-ear smile. “Mr. Pham’s daughter Kim is
getting engaged tonight. We are honored to help them celebrate. Mr.
Pham also just booked our entire restaurant for an official
engagement banquet later.”

Ana’s heart skipped a beat when she
heard it. She looked at Vo again. Vo’s mouth was half-open, as if
trying to say something.

Mr. Tran helped Mr. Pham select dishes
for the auspicious event. Ana hurried to write down the orders as
Mr. Tran named them off, while Olga took everyone’s drink orders
and other requests. When Ana went back to the kitchen to hand Mai
the orders, she suddenly felt hot and dizzy. She had to sit down
again.

“
Ana, you look really
pale. Is everything all right?” said Mai.

“
I’m fine,” said Ana, her
lips trembling.

“
I know Mr. Pham’s
daughter is getting engaged today. Mr. Tran will make sure we put
in extra hard work for that,” said Mai.

Just now Mr. Tran walked into the
kitchen, and saw Ana sitting at the counter. He frowned and said,
“Ana, there is no time for sitting. There are more customers out
there. You want to work or what?”

“
Mr. Tran,” said Mai,
“can’t you see that Ana is not feeling well? She had to call in
sick two days ago, remember? Do you think she’s completely
recovered already? I don’t think so. Why don’t you let her go home
and rest?”

Mr. Tran’s anger was mitigated
somewhat, after he took a closer look at Ana.

“
What am I going to do
with a sickly waitress?” said Mr. Tran. “Go home, go home. Come
back when you feel better. I guess I have to wait on tables, too.”
With that, Mr. Tran exited the kitchen again.

Mai asked Ana if she could manage to
go home on her own. Ana reassured Mai and thanked her. As if trying
to escape from some abominable calamity, she picked up her purse
and scurried out the backdoor.

Irisa Petrovskaia was nine
years old when her father died during an accident at work in a
shipyard in
Komsomolsk-on-Amur,
Russia.  Her mother raised her and three other siblings alone,
working in the same shipyard as a cook. Irisa could not tell
whether being a cook was safer than being a construction worker,
which was her father’s job description. He died when a concrete
block fell from a crane and hit him in the head. Irisa grew up
worried about whether her mother would die on the job as well, and
she made up her mind that working in a shipyard would definitely
not be a career option when the time came.

Irisa was the first person
in her family to finish university, and completed the certification
to become a school teacher. However, as fate would have it, she met
a shipyard worker while out with friends one night, fell in love
and married him within three months.  The night that she gave
birth to her son, her husband fell to his death from one hundred
feet up while servicing a tower crane. Irisa had a nervous
breakdown, and after months of extended maternity leave she could
not return to teach at the school any longer. Her mother, retired
from the shipyard now, became the main caregiver to her son,
Igor.

When Irisa recovered
mentally and physically, there were no teaching positions
available. After a difficult and futile job search, she decided to
babysit for money. One day, she ran into an old friend, Vladimir,
from her university days. They started to meet for afternoon tea,
and before long they became intimate with each other. Irisa longed
to leave Komsomolsk-on-Amur. She had a feeling that something
tragic would happen to her son if they were to stay. This was often
the topic of conversation when she lay in Vladimir’s
arms.

One afternoon, Vladimir
introduced Irisa to his cousin Vera. Vera was visiting from
Australia, where she was a successful businesswoman, owning a chain
of clothing shops in Sydney. Vera was in need of an assistant
manager to help her oversee the operations. She had come home to
recruit because she wanted to give someone from her hometown an
opportunity at prosperity. Irisa wanted to take the offer, but she
could not leave her son; Vera had said specifically that she could
only pay for the travel expense, room and board for her future
employee, and no one else.

Irisa changed her mind
when the mother of a six-year-old boy rudely cursed at her and
kicked her out without paying for a weekend’s work. Irisa had kept
the boy while his parents went on a trip. When the parents
returned, the boy had an egg-sized bump on his head; he had tripped
and fallen down the stairs. Irisa was unjustly blamed for the
incident and let go at once. Infuriated and frustrated, she called
Vladimir; she would go to Australia with Vera.

Irisa’s mother didn’t want
her to go so far for a job, but Irisa’s mind was made up. Igor, who
was eighteen months at the time, was to stay with Irisa’s mother
until Irisa could bring him to Sydney, hopefully within the year.
Irisa held Igor so tight the night before she was to leave that he
could hardly sleep himself. When morning came, Irisa dried her
tears, kissed her son and her mother goodbye, and went to the hotel
where Vera was staying. Vladimir was there to see her off, and
after he told her that he’d wait for her, they sealed their lips in
a last kiss.

Irisa was surprised to
find that she was not the only one traveling with Vera that day.
Vera had gathered a number of other young women to work in various
positions in her shops in Sydney. Irisa thought that Vera must be
doing extremely well to be hiring so many people at once. Irisa had
assumed that they would fly out of the airport in Khabarovsk, but
Vera explained that, in order to save money, they would drive all
the way down through China to Hanoi, Vietnam, where they would then
board a boat to take them to Sydney.

It took them many days to
reach Hanoi even though they drove both day and night. Irisa was
excited to see the sights from inside the van as they drove through
the eastern parts of China. They didn’t stop to eat in restaurants
or shower in hotels; they used the facilities in gas stations and
rest areas when available. It was a long and arduous journey, but
Irisa and the other women endured it with optimism and
hopefulness.

When they finally arrived
in Hanoi, Vera announced that they would spend a night in a hotel
before boarding the boat to Sydney. Irisa and the other women were
happy to hear it. Vera fed everyone a delicious Vietnamese sandwich
and iced coffee on the way to the hotel. Irisa devoured the food,
and was soon asleep due to exhaustion.

Irisa had strange dreams
that night. She was fishing with her father and he was telling her
jokes, when she remembered that he was dead. As she was wiping the
tears from her eyes, she saw her husband fall from the top of a
tower crane, but when he hit the floor his face turned into that of
her son’s. Irisa felt something painful and screamed, but was soon
calmed when she heard a lullaby. She thought that perhaps her
mother was singing it, but she couldn’t see her face
anywhere.

When Irisa finally woke
up, she had a pounding headache, similar to the ones she had during
a hangover once or twice before in her life. She felt disoriented,
and it took her several minutes to remember her mission. She
panicked for a minute when she thought that she had missed the boat
for Sydney. She tried to stand up, but her legs could hardly bear
any weight.

She looked around her and
saw that she was alone in a small room with no windows. She could
not recall walking into a hotel at all. She was sitting on a simple
bed, and there was hardly any furniture except for a small armoire
and a dresser with a mirror on it. She struggled to stand up and
walked to the door, and found that it was locked from the outside.
There was a device that seemed like an intercom mounted next to the
door frame, and she pushed the button on it.

“Vera?
Anybody?”

She heard footsteps and
someone came to open the door, but it wasn’t Vera. It was a skinny
man in a white suit, accompanied by two burly bodyguards. A plump
woman holding some towels and a dress was standing behind them.
Irisa felt her heart sink.

The skinny man introduced
himself as Dmitry, and informed Irisa that Vera had left her in his
charge. Irisa was to wash up immediately, and get dressed for her
first client. Irisa was to do everything Dmitry said if she wanted
to see her son again. He had possession of all her personal
belongings, valuables, and travel documents. Her family would not
be looking for her because Dmitry’s men would be in touch with them
to give the impression that she was doing all right in Sydney; her
family would even get a small amount of money for a few months to
ease their concerns. After a few months, Dmitry’s people would
contact her family to let them know that she had gone missing,
possibly running off with a new lover. However, if Irisa would
cooperate and even excel at the trade, Dmitry would consider
releasing her back to Russia at the end of three years.