Bimat--A Vietnamese Adventure Read online

  Hern giggled. “Don’t worry,” she said, “we will only be gone for a short while. Father has to work in *Saigon next month, so my mother and I will stay here for a while.” She smirked. “Why? Will you miss me?”

  Ca smiled and nodded. “Sure,” he said, “I need someone to dance with.”

  “That dirt won’t clean itself Ca,” interrupted Diudang who came out and scolded her son.

  Ca smiled and picked up rubbish off the floor.

  Hern chuckled and said. “I’ll see you soon,” and walked away.

  ****

  The days dragged on for Ca over the next month. He couldn’t take his mind off Hern. Even though the meeting was brief, he knew she was the girl he would one day marry.

  Ca was setting his fishing net one day in the shallow waters of the bay when he noticed a figure walking on the sand towards him.

  Hern seeing Ca looking at her, waved.

  Ca smiled, anchored his net, and walked to the shoreline. While trying to appear macho, he tripped on a sharp rock, stubbed his toe, and yelped.

  Looking in pain, he hobbled ashore and limped his way over to a giggling Hern.

  “It hurts you know,” said Ca looking indignant and embarrassed.

  Hern put her hand in front of her mouth. “Sorry,” she said, still giggling.

  Ca looked at her and smiled. “Never mind, welcome home.”

  The next few days were like a dreamy haze for Hern and Ca. While her father worked in Saigon, Hern and her mother, Nga, would stay at their beachside residence in Phan Yar. With the family based in Hanoi, Thran had the property built for the times he went to work in Saigon, which wasn’t too far away for him to commute.

  Nga kept to herself in their large home and although she had house cleaners and auxiliary staff, Nga, liked to keep herself busy tending to their large manicured gardens.

  Hern and Ca became inseparable, spending balmy days on the beach, with Ca teaching her how to fish, although she spent most of the beginning of her lessons belching out seawater when she tried to go out of her depth.

  Hern was well educated and attended the High School for Gifted Students, Hanoi: HNUE. Although intelligent and analytical like her father, she enjoyed the new freedom and social scene that teenagers now enjoyed, especially the western music.

  She’d taught herself English along with her father because state schools never had English language on their curriculum. It was a good bonding experience for them both to learn together, and Thran used his influence in the Vietnamese government to have teaching aids shipped over from all parts of the world.

  Hern and Ca listened to records in her room, with her explaining the meaning of the lyrics of her favourite song, the one she had played at the party.

  Ca thought it made little sense, with no sad story and no happy ending. To him, it sounded a thumping beat of nonsense, but because Hern liked it, so did he.

  Nga had noticed the friendship developing, but trusted them because they were Vietnamese, so knew there would be no hanky panky because that wasn’t allowed until marriage.

  Ten days later, Thran returned from Saigon, and the following day the family left for Hanoi.

  Ca and Hern again said a tearful farewell to each other the night before and the following morning Ca came to their house, stood at the gate, and watched them leave.

  He saw Hern in the back seat as the car drove past him and Thran and Nga smiled at him from the front seat while Herm smiled and waved at him from the back.

  Ca sighed and felt a lump in his throat as Hern carried on waving out of the back window until the car disappeared from view.

  Hern’s father, Thran Tangh, was the deputy minister of public security and an influential communist party member, recently elected to join the national assembly of four-hundred and ninety-three delegates.

  Thran and his brother, Lee, had been Trung Tá, Lieutenant Colonels during the American-South Vietnamese and Cambodian conflicts.

  However, after the Khmer Rouge were ousted from power, his brother remained in Cambodia as a liaison officer, and helped with the reconstruction of the war-torn, ravished land and impoverished, helpless Cambodian people.

  The Tangh family became regular visitors to their beachside retreat over the next few years. Ca and Hern had grown close. Hern taught Ca to read and write Vietnamese and speak English.

  Hern wanted Ca to move to Hanoi to work, so they could spend more time together, but Ca refused. He didn’t want to leave his mother, which exasperated Hern. She knew he could better himself and find a well-paying job, but he felt happy being a fisherman. The only other thing he wanted in life was a family with Hern.

  They had fallen in love, with them assuming that one day they would marry.

  Hern, now nineteen-years-old, worked in Hanoi with her father in the security department as his personal assistant, and although it was a well-paying job, she loathed it and felt she had wasted her education. The only thing she looked forward to was being with Ca.

  Thran was a kind but strict father and usually let Hern have her own way and, although he never showed emotion, Hern knew he loved her. Besides, she had her uncle Lee and his new wife to supply the pampering on their visits over from Cambodia.

  However, these visits became less frequent, with the Cambodian Royal Family due to return from their years of exile, her new aunt was placed in charge of the reintegration of the Royals as the Cambodian government liaison.

  Ca desperately wanted to marry Hern but she kept asking him to wait. She knew her father wouldn’t approve yet. Even though Thran and Ca got on well, her father had made it clear that Hern would marry someone of the same high status and wealth.

  One day, Ca and Hern sat on the beach watching the twilight as they did most evenings when she visited. Ca took Hern’s hand, gazed into her brown eyes, and said. “We have been together for many years. I love you and want to stay with you forever, so I can wake up next to you every day for the rest of my life. I will ask your father for his permission to marry you. I am sure he likes me.”

  Hern frowned, looked at Ca, and nodded. “Yes, my Father likes you a lot. But I have already told you about the kind of man who he wants me to marry. Wait a few more years. I am sure he will mellow when I refuse to marry any suitor that comes along.” She kissed Ca’s cheek, “I love you so much, but wait...We are happy aren’t we?”

  Ca looked at Hern who smiled but her eyes looked sad. He sighed and said, “Yes, we are happy. Okay, I’ll wait a while longer.”

  He smiled, and they hugged. However, Ca had already decided that he had waited long enough and would not wait any longer. ‘The worst they can say is wait,’ he thought. ‘They are like my second parents and I always give them the largest and freshest fish daily when they visit, so I am sure they’ll approve. Besides, I am a landowner. They leave tomorrow so I will ask tonight. Hern will be overjoyed when her parents say yes.’ He smirked as Hern released her hug and sat back. She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand and said. “I love you and I want to stay with you, but I must go home soon.”

  Ca nodded, and they watched as the sun went down over the horizon like a bright red and orange curtain, followed by a fiery mauve and then dark royal blue as the night set in.

  With the moon’s glow bathing the small beach, and carrying small torches, they walked hand in hand towards the Tangh’s home.

  Thran smiled as he watched the couple from the window strolling up the driveway to the house. Thran knew Ca and Hern were close, but he assumed they were like brother and sister. He trusted Ca like the son they never had.

  Hern and Ca went into the house and up to her room to listen to records, which they usually did until Ca went home around 8:30. However, tonight would be different. Ca got up to leave at 8pm.

  “I will walk you to the door,” said Hern smiling.

  Ca smiled and said. “No, that’s okay, you are up early, and I know you like your sleep.” He chuckled and left the room.

  Hern furrowed her brow. ‘
Hmm, that’s strange, he usually likes me to see him to the door and say a long goodbye.’

  Thran stood at the living room window, admiring his new S.U.V. parked in the forecourt when Ca came into the living room.

  Thran looked at him and smiled. “What is it Ca? You look like you have got the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

  Ca, although rehearsing what he was going to say many times over in his head, now didn’t know what to say as his mouth felt dry and his palms sweated. He took a deep breath and with his voice quaking said, “Thran; Hern and I are very much in love and I would like yours and Nga’s permission to marry her.”

  Thran looked surprised and frowned at Ca.

  Ca looked worried when Thran then looked angry and sounding abrasive asked. “Where is Hern now?”

  “She’s in her room playing records. She thought I was going home,” said Ca as he saw Thran’s face changing from a mild, happy looking man into a raging bull as his nostrils flared. Thran stormed out of the room, went to the foot of the stairs, and hollered.

  “Hern! Hern, come down here, Now!”

  Hern came out of her room and looked down at her father and Ca, who stood behind him looking worried.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Hern looking confused and scared.

  “Come down here,” bellowed Thran, which woke Nga, who also went downstairs.

  They assembled in the living room and Thran glared at Hern and Ca. He then flew into a rage and fired question after question at the trembling couple, about how long the affair had been going on and how many times they’d had sex, etc. He ranted and raved at the confused, frightened, couple. Hern had never seen her father so angry before, seeing a different face of this Jekyll and Hyde, and she did not like it. She looked at Ca, who cowered, hung his head and looked at the floor.

  Hern felt furious with Ca, ‘why didn’t he listen when I told him to wait,’ she thought.

  The yelling, screaming, and denials went on for twenty minutes, and then Thran wagged his finger at Hern, and shouted. “You know the rules young lady. You will not marry beneath you. Fisher boy here is sole shit. You will not see each other again. Do you understand?”

  Hern looked into her father’s eyes as he glared at her. She nodded, sobbed, and with a quiver in her voice said. “Yes Father, I understand.”

  He then glowered at Ca and with his hands on his hip leaned forward and through grated teeth said. “As for you Ca; if I see you here again, the repercussions will be hard and permanent. Do you understand?”

  Ca looked into Thran’s angry eyes. He knew Thran was rich and powerful, and he did not seem like the same man who he had always regarded as his second father; that feeling disappeared thirty minutes ago.

  Ca nodded and stared back at Thran. “Yes, I understand, but I still, and always will, love Hern,” said Ca sounding defiant.

  Thran glared at him, and breathing heavy through flared nostrils said. “Get out of my house.” He pointed to the door.

  Ca left the house full of fear and confusion; he had never expected that reaction.

  He walked down the driveway with his hands on his cheeks looking fraught and thinking, ‘What have I done?’

  The next morning Ca walked to the Tangh’s house and hid behind a tree. Twenty minutes later the S.U.V. came out and drove past his hidden position. Hern sat in the rear seat as the vehicle sped away. She never looked back.

  Thran only wanted the best for his daughter, somebody rich with high status to make her life easy. A poor fisherman with an uneducated upbringing would certainly not be an ideal candidate. Now his thoughts turned to damage limitation. Although Hern and Ca both denied having sex, it would be hard to find a good husband if the bride wasn’t a virgin, especially in Vietnam. He felt betrayed by Ca, whom he would never forgive. But for now, he would forget and concentrate on creating the best future for Hern.

  Over the next few years, the Tangh’s visits became less frequent. Hern hardly ever came, and when she did, she stayed in the house or within the grounds. Unbeknownst to Thran and Nga, she would occasionally sneak out to meet Ca, but their meetings were brief and planned like a military operation.

  During one of their secret trysts on the beach, Hern looked sullen as she told Ca what her father planned.

  She told him that her father had ordered her to go work in Cambodia. She said that her uncle Lee had procured her a position in the Royal Palace as a maid to Her Majesty, Norodom Monineath Sihanouk.

  Ca felt his world falling apart when Hern said that her father would change her name before she went to Cambodia to make it not sound so Vietnamese. So any prospective husbands would not be able to trace her indiscretions.

  Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai people can change their name by simple deed pole, which is commonplace among the rich younger South East Asians

  Although she was rebellious and ostracised her father, Hern could not disobey him.

  Hern, knowing their time together was short as she had to get home before Nga and Thran realised she had snuck out, and speaking rapidly to lighten the sombre moment, said. “My new surname will be *Doung. Father named me out of respect of the country’s war hero, General Doung Van Mihn, ( or ‘Big Mihn’ as he was better known)

  She held Ca’s hands and smiled. “Father let me choose my first name. So to remind me of you, I chose the name of the singer of our special song, Kids in America.”

  Ca smiled and seeing tears welling up in Hern’s eyes kissed her and held her close. Ca could feel her heart beating, as they stood entwined in a lover’s embrace for several minutes.

  “When do you leave?” asked Ca, his voice sounding hoarse.

  Hern gazed into his eyes and said. “We leave here early morning, and I fly to Cambodia the following evening from Hanoi.”

  Ca felt like he had been hit with a sledgehammer and stared at Hern, and not knowing what to say or do, he just chuckled nervously.

  “Maybe it won’t be so bad. I will write to you all the time, and you can write to me, and when they put a phone line in the village, we can call each other,” said Hern smiling.

  Ca nodded and smiled. “I love Hern Tangh,” he said. “But now I also love Kim Doung.”

  “And I will always love Gio-a Tho,” said Hern, her eyes filling with tears as she stroked Ca’s tear soaked face.

  Ca didn’t want this moment to end, but as Hern sniffed back her tears, she said, “I have to go now.” She released her embrace and smiled.

  Ca watched her walking away into the darkness with her flashlight. They both knew this could be the last time they would see each other. Hern never looked back.

  Over the next few weeks, Ca received several letters from her saying how much she enjoyed her job and how the royals had been good to her, but she missed him so much. However, the letters became more formal as time went on. Ca wrote back several times, but was unsure whether she received his mail as she never mentioned them in her letters, and after several months, her letters stopped.

  ****

  Over the next few years, Phan Tar village grew into a prosperous community with many of the new wealthy Vietnamese buying cheap plots of land and having properties built.

  There seemed to be continuous development, modernisation, and construction work going on in and around the village.

  Ca sold the family’s hectare of land to a developer for a tidy profit, using some of the money to renovate and extend the family home. He bought several small long tail boats and set up a fishing tour company for the new tourist invasion.

  Thran and Nga no longer came, which suited Ca as he now loathed Thran who he felt had ruined his and Hern’s life. He dreamt of revenge, became a nasty, vindictive man, who could not get Hern out of his thoughts.

  It had been many years since Hern went to Cambodia and Ca had heard nothing from her, although thought about her often.

  One afternoon, Ca was in the village, drunk as usual in one of the dingy karaoke bars. He sang Di Prolap Chim, Blood on the Hands, a sad Vietn
amese love song and one of his favourites. He wobbled and then squinted at a woman stood in the doorway smiling.

  Ca gasped when he focused and exclaimed. “Hern!”

  Hern waved, went over, kissed his cheek, and put her arms around him.

  She replaced the microphone on its stand, led him off the stage, and walked him out of the dark karaoke bar.

  They stood outside and as Ca squinted in the sunlight, Hern took his hands and looking serious but sad said, “Ca, I have not heard from you for so long, and I need to speak with you.”

  Ca’s heart raced and he couldn’t think straight as he tried to fathom out whether he was dreaming. He stared at her, and apart from dressing finer and speaking more eloquently, it was still his Hern.

  Hern smiled at him. “We need to go somewhere private and talk.”

  They got onto Ca’s moped, drove to his house, and went into his bedroom.

  They sat on Ca’s bed. Hern complimented him on how nice his house now looked.

  She then held his hand and told him about her time in Phnom Penh and her new life.

  Ca asked why she had stopped writing and had not answered his letters.

  Hern looked surprised and said she hadn’t received any letters from him, but said she knew that her father would tell her uncle to block any mail coming from him.

  “I knew you would have tried, so I never gave up hope. Even though we have been apart for many years, you have always been in my thoughts. I've always been loyal and had no interest in other men,” said Hern and then looked pensive. “This is the first time I have been home since I left all those years ago.” Ca’s heart raced as he smiled.

  He then saw Hern biting her bottom lip and looking upset as she gulped and sounding sombre said, “ Ca, my love, I am engaged to be married.”

  Ca gasped and felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest. They had spent what seemed like a lifetime apart, though the bond between them remained strong, and although he had always clung to the hope that they would still be together one day.

  The revelation hit him like a truck as Hern told him how her fiancé and her parents arranged the marriage that she’d had no say in.