Page 41 - 2021-bfw-aufses-alr-1e

had seen the film once, on a pirated videotape, her graduation from college. It was Vivien’s idea 5
and was seduced immediately by the glamour, to treat the family to dinner at Nam Kha, a way to
beauty, and sadness of Scarlett O’Hara, heroine celebrate the halfway point in her vacation and
and embodiment of a doomed South. Was it too an option Phuong would never have suggested,
much to suppose that the ruined Confederacy, the restaurant’s offerings being far more than Viet Thanh Nguyen
with its tragic sense of itself, bore more than Phuong or her family could ever afford.
a passing similarity to her father’s defeated “But it’s a crime, don’t you think?” Vivien
southern republic and its resentful remnants? In said, glancing over the entrées. Their table was
Phuong’s fertile imagination, Vivien’s imminent by the reflecting pool, across from which two
return to the land of her birth was foreshadowed young women sat on a cushioned dais, wearing
1
by Scarlett’s own return to her desolate silken, ephemeral ao dai and plucking gently at
plantation. the sixteen strings of the zithers braced on their
It was easy, then, in the weeks leading to 5 laps. “You should be able to eat where you work
Vivien’s arrival, for Phuong to pass her days at at least once in your lifetime.”
home and at work constructing scenarios of “The real crime is five dollars for morning
a noble, kindly sister, somewhat solemn and glory fried in garlic,” Mrs. Ly said. She sold silk
sad, but nevertheless gentle and patrician, who at Cho Ben Thanh and possessed the eyes of an
would immediately take to her and become the experienced negotiator, smooth and unreadable
mentor and guide Phuong never had. Her first as the beads of an abacus. “I can buy this for a
glimpse of Vivien at the airport only confirmed dollar at the market.”
the appropriateness of such a movie star’s “Look around,” Mr. Ly said, his tone
name for the young woman who paused at the impatient. All the other guests were white, with
terminal’s glass gates — her eyes hidden behind the exception of an Indian couple in the corner,
enormous sunglasses, her lips slightly parted in the man in a linen suit and the woman in a
a glossy pout — pushing a cart loaded with her salwar kameez. “These are tourist prices.”
own weight in crimson luggage. As she jumped “These are foolish prices.” 10
and waved to get Vivien’s attention, Phuong “I like it here,” Vivien declared. Her voice
was thrilled to see that her sister bore utterly was authoritative, the way she must sound in her
no resemblance to the throngs of local people examination room in Chicago. Not for the first
waiting outside to greet the arrivals, hundreds of time, Phuong imagined herself in her sister’s
ordinary folk wearing drab clothes and fanning place, wearing a white coat in a white room,
themselves under the sun. looking out a wall of windows at a haze of white
Even after a week in Saigon, Vivien would snow. “What do you think?” Vivien nudged her
appear no more of a native than on the day knee. “Too outrageous for you?”
she arrived, at least in outdoor settings. On the “Not at all!” Phuong hoped that she
streets, at outdoor cafés, or hopping into a Mai projected an air of confidence and ease, unlike
Linh taxi, she was easily mistaken for a Korean her brothers. Hanh and Phuc were speechless,
businessman’s frazzled wife or a weary Japanese their silk-bound menus considerably more
tourist, her frosting of makeup melting under
the tropical glare. In certain indoor settings, 1 A traditional Vietnamese long dress dating back to the
however, she was clearly the mistress of her eighteenth century. It notably has two slits on the left and
domain. This was the case at the restaurant Nam right sides extending from the wearer’s waist to the ground.
Traditionally this garment has been worn by both men
Kha, on the street Dong Khoi, where Phuong and women, though it is now commonly worn only by
had worked as a hostess for the two years since women. — Eds.
21
Copyright © 2021 by Bedford, Freeman & Worth High School Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter.
Distributed by by Bedford, Freeman & Worth High School Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.

AufsesALR1e_24889_ch05_002_097.indd 21 5/4/2020 3:57:50 PM