Part 4 in the ongoing tales of Mai. Enjoy it. Let others know about it. Spread the love.
Mai
Episode 4
Yun
crawled back into his cot. His feet hung over the edge and pushed a bump into
the curtain. He looked at the ceiling and the venting that ran over his head.
He listened to the air rush through the sheet metal tubing. He listened to the
engines of the cargo hauler rumble. Only one was running, best as Yun could
tell.
“Why
run both?” he said to no one. “There’s not enough cargo on board to require the
extra power. Save fuel.”
That’s
what his uncle would have told him. It’s what his uncle had taught him. Save.
It didn’t matter what it was. Save. Always.
It
was a lesson a much younger Yun had learned over dinner. Mai splurged. A big
sale to a man looking for the big guns left a little extra money in his pocket.
He called to his nephew as he climbed the hill when the sale was complete.
“Yes,
uncle,” Yun shouted down to his uncle after Yun had scampered from the tent
he’d been playing in.
He
started to run down the hill. He was a 5-year-old tangle of under-coordinated
arms and legs at the time. A soiled white t-shirt covered his top. A pair of
tan shorts covered his bottom. Nothing covered his feet.
Mai
smiled as the boy stumbled toward him and he stopped walking. He knelt down and
stuck his arms out in front of him to catch his nephew. A wad of bills was
still in his right hand.
Yun
fell into his uncle’s arms and Mai scooped him up and hugged him to his chest.
“Tonight,”
Mai said through a smile, “we eat chicken.” Yun copied his uncle’s happy face
and cheered. He banged his hands together and Mai put Yun back on the
ground. Yun ran ahead of his uncle and
reached blindly into the tent that they shared. He pulled out a pair of worn shoes.
He sat on the damp ground, slipped them on his feet, and was back standing by
the time Mai made it to the tent.
“Ready,”
the eager little boy said.
“What
about this?” Mai asked and touched the dirt stains that were across the front
of his nephew’s shirt.
Yun
pulled the shirt off, its neck hanging up on his ears.
“Ready,”
he said, his shirt in his hand and hanging at his side.
“No,”
Mai said. “Not yet. You do have to wear a shirt.” Mai was changing his own
clothes.
Yun
scampered under the canvas side of the tent and dug in a crate where he kept
the few changes of clothes he had. He came back out a moment later in a
wrinkled blue tank top. Mai smiled.
“Still
not great, but it’ll do,” he said.
Yun
banged his hands together and asked, “Can I go to the boat?”
“You
can go down to it,” Mai said, “but don’t get in it. You know you wait for me
before you get in.”
“Yes,
uncle,” Yun said as he ran off down the hill.
Mai
reached into the tent and grabbed a pair of sandals he kept by his bed roll.
His good sandals. He put them on his feet, shoved his large roll of cash into
the pocket on his best robe, and ran off after his enthusiastic nephew.
After
getting Yun and himself settled into the small boat he kept roped to the rocks
near shore, Mai yanked hard on the cord of the small motor at the back of the
boat. It sputtered to life and the little boat pulled slowly away from the
shore.
Yun
worked his way to the bow and got up on his knees.
“Careful,”
Mai shouted of the motor. “Sit on your bottom, please.”
Yun
dropped to a seated position.
“Thank
you.”
Once
the boat was out of the cove of the island, Mai pointed it toward the lights in
the distance. The City of Lights. He gave the little motor more gas and
listened to it whine its disapproval. Mai didn’t like being out in the open
water with the small boat and this small engine. The boat slowly picked up
speed and the wind that rushed across Mai and Yun was cold. Yun dropped to his
stomach and did his best to get below the sides of the boat and out of the
cold.
Mai
smiled at his nephew, and Yun waved to him.
“A
few more minutes,” Mai shouted over the engine and the wind.
Yun
nodded and smiled.
Minutes
later Mai brought the engine to almost a full stop and Yun got back to a seated
position. The darkening sky was lit by fireworks and the embers were crashing
all around them. The water sizzled. Yun stared up, all of his focus on the
explosions of color above him.
“You’re
missing it,” Mai said to the boy.
“No,
I’m not.” Yun turned back to his uncle.
“Oh,
yes you are.” Mai pointed across the bow of their little boat.
Yun
looked up to see a massive structure right in front of him, dipping and bobbing
on the waves of the harbor.
It
was built out of dark wood with four massive masts. From each of the masts
popped three sails made of a deep red fabric. And on each of the main sails on
each of the masts was sewn a black, coiled snake ready to strike.
Yun
jumped to his feet and clapped and cheered the ship’s passing. He recognized
the symbol of the rebels.
“On
your bottom,” Mai shouted.
Yun
dropped to a seated position and turned to his uncle and asked eagerly, “Do you
think they’re on there? My mom and dad. Are they on that ship?”
“It’s
possible,” Mai said, even though he knew the chances were remote. His sister
would never make it on a boat. There was a better chance she was holed up in
the hills somewhere coordinating an offensive strike. Huddled in a tent, a
blanket wrapped around her, and studying some lines on a map.
Yun
watched and waved at the ship. A few of the men on the deck waved back.
Mai
fed the motor on the back of the boat a little gas and his small craft made its
way into the harbor. He was dwarfed by all the other boats. Even if they
weren’t as big as the massive rebel boat, they still made him small. Their
sails extended and puffed from the breeze. He steered his way to the docks on
the shore and threw his line to one of the men waiting there.
The
man caught it and tied Mai’s boat securely to the dock. The man lifted Yun out
of the boat and offered Mai a hand. Mai gave the man a fresh dollar for his
trouble and the man smiled. He nodded his thanks.
“We’ll
be quick.”
The
man nodded again.
Mai
took Yun’s hand and they walked to the market just up the hill from the dock. It
was an aisle with booths on both sides. Women selling fruits, vegetables, and
fresh meats. Halfway down the aisle was an open space where pots of food were
cooking over open fires. Smoke disappeared into the night sky through a hole
that was cut in the roof.
Large
lights hung over every other booth and bathed the whole place in a bright glow.
The ladies working the booths all smiled and waved at Yun. He waved back. The
woman selling spices held out a stick of candy for Yun to take. He looked up at
Mai before accepting her offer. His uncle nodded, and Yun snatched the candy
from her hand.
“Good
evening , Mai” said the women behind the booth. Carrots, potatoes, and turnips
were displayed in front of her. “Hello, Yun.”
“I
think we need six carrots, two turnips, and three potatoes tonight,” Mai said.
“You think three potatoes is enough, right, Yun?”
The
boy smiled and nodded, still holding on to the end of the candy sticking out of
his mouth.
