A Thread Unbroken (9 page)

Right now he tied it elsewhere because he didn’t want to chance losing his investment in Chai. With the way the fishing village was constructed, their only chance at escape was if they jumped into the water and swam to the nearest floating walkway of piping, then crossed to a small shop or restaurant and begged for help. The fishing families protected each other, so finding someone to assist them and go against the old man was really not a possibility.

“
Xie xie
, Chai.” The woman wrapped her hands around the teacup and brought it to her lips.

“
Bu ke qi.
No thanks needed.” Chai turned to go back to the kitchen area.

“Chai, can you come sit for a moment?” Mother patted the stool in front of her chair. Chai returned and perched on top of it, ever wary.

“You and Josi have been here for a few months now. I want to know if you are happy.”

Happy? How can I be happy when I’m being held against my will?
Chai hesitated and then answered, “Yes, Mother. We’re happy enough. You treat us well, and we have a roof over our heads.”
Even if it does leak when it rains, and the wind rattles through it.

“Do you think you can make this a home in your heart? Can you see yourself as the wife of a fisherman?”

“Honestly, Mother, I can see this becoming a home in my heart one day. But I cannot see myself marrying one of your
sons. I’m sorry to say this—I wish it weren’t true.” Chai also couldn’t truly see this becoming her home, but she knew how much truth to speak and how much to keep to herself.

Mother laughed softly. “You’re still a young girl. We have plenty of time to change your mind. When you’re sixteen, you will marry. By then you will see what I see in my sons—strong, smart men who will always be able to support a family by reaping the benefits of the sea.”

Chai lowered her head to show quiet—but fake—submission. She also feared Mother might see the fire in her eyes. She would rather die than marry Bo and bear his children. Even though she was only a girl, she knew her heart would never accept him as a husband. She found him unattractive, sarcastic, and downright disgusting. Only yesterday he had once again shown his mean side when he followed Josi outside. She had lifted the tub of bathwater and swung it back to dump it over the side when Bo grabbed the edge of it from behind and caused her to dump it over her own head. Chai had heard her crying and ran out to find Josi soaked through and Bo laughing hysterically. He had her cornered and refused to move, instead continuing to laugh as he leered at her trying to cover her wet shirt. It was simple—he was a bully through and through.

Chai also would have liked to educate the woman on the true compass of her other son’s ambitions. Tao hated being a fisherman and wanted to move far away from the sea. However, he had sworn her and Josi to secrecy about his hatred of the trade, in fear of how his father would react if he found out.

“I’m so tired.” Mother mumbled and set the steaming tea on the table beside her. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

Chai got up and began sweeping the floor to hide her smirk, knowing the woman had done nothing to be tired about, but also
knowing when to hold her tongue. She’d learned a lot over the past few months.

Chai opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out the dustpan. She swept the dirt up into a little pile as she thought about the bitter man who was Mother’s husband. To them, he was still Lao Chan, and they would never call him Baba. He was too cranky and continued to glare at them most of the time when he came in from his workday. Usually Bo followed suit, even stomping and spitting the same way as his father. The difference in the two was that Lao Chan treated the girls like pesky flies, mostly ignoring them, while his eldest son looked for reasons to yell at them or criticize their work. Only the day before he had made a scene before breakfast because he said his laundry wasn’t done the way he liked it. He’d brought the freshly washed laundry into the kitchen and dumped it on the floor, demanding that they wash, dry, and fold it again. Mother had just turned away and let him have his tantrum. It wasn’t going to affect her—she wasn’t the one who had to spend hours doing it. When he had left for the day Chai had simply refolded it and put it away. There hadn’t been a thing wrong with it, and she refused to give in to his ridiculous demands.

Josi was terrified of Bo, and when he was around, she didn’t speak a word and tried to make herself as invisible as possible. Chai wasn’t afraid—or at least she would never show it if she was. A few times she had even almost gotten caught making faces behind his back to entertain Josi.

Chai finished scooping up the debris and put the broom and dustpan back. She went to the basket of clean clothes that had been brought in earlier and began folding them. Her thoughts lingered on Tao and how lucky they were that he was a part of this family. So far he had proved that he was the only one in
the pack to think with his own brain, and he was even kind to them. He frequently snuck treats of fruit and nuts to them, in addition to keeping their book supply current. Chai wondered what his teacher thought about some of the girlie books he had recently borrowed from the schoolroom collection. She and Josi had begun to look forward to Tao’s visits after bedtime and were disappointed on the nights he didn’t come. Josi didn’t say much, but it was obvious when they heard the rattling of the door that she was happy for his arrival each time.

Sometimes Chai read aloud as Tao sketched in his leather-bound book, a treat given to him by his teacher. Josi would sit and watch his creations come alive under the tip of his pencil, her fascination at his talent evident on her face. It frustrated Chai that he had to keep his artistic abilities a secret from his family. She encouraged him to show his mother his sketches of the water village, but he insisted she wouldn’t approve.

Other times Tao talked, and the girls snuggled together and listened to him tell stories of his adventures on the sea with his father, the constant bullying of his older brother, and his distaste for the fishing life.

During their long, quiet talks, they found out a lot from him, even some facts that Chai was cataloging in the back of her mind to use one day. Tao didn’t know it, but she memorized every word he spoke and every detail he unknowingly gave about the area during their visits. Chai almost felt bad for the facts she was gathering from Tao—she knew he and Bo had been warned not to mention any details of the village or the towns surrounding it to the girls. Sometimes he got so engrossed in his tales that he let things slip that they could use to plan for the future.

One day, he told them about losing his balance and falling off one of the walking planks and into the bay. Upon more
questioning, he told her that he was on his way to the post office when he took his unexpected bath. Chai and Josi laughed at the mental picture he painted of him floundering in the water, trying to climb back onto the narrow beam. It was especially funny because he had admitted his fear of sharks. Though the bay was almost completely landlocked, it still felt like they were on the ocean and brought about fears of all sorts of strange creatures lurking under the murky surface.

Ironic for people living on the water, but he told them that hardly anyone in the village could swim, either. It was an intriguing way of life—an entire village floating on water. At first Chai had thought that only the floating houses were a part of the small water town, but Tao explained that they had their own post office, police station, and even a few small shops and restaurants on the water. They only needed to go to the mainland to get the freshest fruits and vegetables and the kerosene for their heaters. So far they hadn’t been allowed off the floating house, but with all the stories from Tao, Chai was starting to feel as if she would easily know her way around.

She held up a tattered pair of women’s underwear and glanced over at Mother. The woman was still dozing, oblivious to the racket her sons made in the next room while Josi bathed them. She wondered if the two little boys would follow in the footsteps of their big brother and be bullies, or if Tao’s quiet ways would rub off on them.

Tao might be kind but he wasn’t stupid. He had seen the gleam in Chai’s eyes when he had mentioned the police station. He told her then that going to them would not help her a bit, that buying brides was common and overlooked by officials in this part of China—that sometimes the officials even participated in the black-market trafficking and became richer for it.

Chai wasn’t dumb, either. She knew the best way to get what she wanted—freedom—was to begin to make Mother trust her. Then she would have more opportunities to find a way back home. She missed her family and couldn’t imagine what they thought had happened to her. Josi had stopped mentioning hers, and Chai didn’t press her to talk about it; she knew that it was too emotional for her friend.

Their evenings locked in were spent reading, usually with Chai telling the stories aloud by the light of their lantern. Sometimes, if they were still too alert to sleep hours later, they read from the light of the moon shining through their so-called window. They were both always careful to conserve as much of the kerosene in their lantern as possible, knowing it was only replaced once a week.

Chai finished matching the last of the socks and tucked everything neatly back in the basket just in time to hear Mother clatter her cup against the saucer.

“Chai, come back over here. I have something—”

Josi interrupted Mother, returning with the two wet-headed boys and leading them to their mother, who looked disappointed at the interruption. By the expression on her face, she appeared to have something important to say to Chai.

“Yifeng cried because Ying poured water over his face. I told them if they couldn’t behave in the bath, I wouldn’t be able to play with them anymore.” Josi winked at Chai, who already knew that she was only faking disappointment in the troublesome two.

The boys quietly sat at their mother’s feet, looking petulantly at Josi.

“Come on, Josi. Let’s eat. I’m so hungry.” Chai nudged her toward the table.

The girls sat down and dug into their bowls of rice. Between them, one plate held a single small fish, cleaned and fried. They took turns stabbing at it to spear pieces of the tender white meat. Several times, they both snagged the same piece, making them smile at each other over their chopsticks.

Behind them Mother cleared her throat. “Girls, I have some news.”

Chai and Josi turned around to give her their attention.

“We’ve found a home for Josi. Tomorrow, she leaves.”

C
hai jumped up from the table, her elbow hitting her bowl and sending it to the floor. Rice scattered everywhere. Josi sat still as a statue, the color draining from her face.

“What are you saying, you crazy woman?” Chai could not stop her tongue—her anger was out of control.

“Chai, before you get into trouble, clean up that food and sit down,” Mother whispered, looking behind her at the door to see if her husband had heard from outside. “Lao Chan is the master of this home, and he has sold Josi to another family. She will not be far away, only across the bay in another floating house. If you behave, you two can still see each other.” Mother crossed her arms across her chest, not moving from her comfortable seat.

“But you promised! You said she could stay!”

“
Aiyo
, I promised no such thing. I did my best. You have had her for three months now. How do you think I feel? Now there will be more work for me. You can’t possibly do everything.”

Josi looked up and softly asked, “What about the boys? What will they think? They’ll miss me.”

“That is what I’m saying! Now I’ll have to go back to caring for them most of the time; Chai can’t do everything. But they will adjust. We all will.”

Chai sat back down, ignoring the command to clean up the scattered rice. She didn’t care what they did to her. Her worst nightmare was coming true: she and Josi were going to be separated. Josi came to sit beside her and put her arms around her shoulders. Both girls wiped at the tears rolling down their faces.

Lao Chan heard the commotion from outside on the smoking deck and barged through the door, with both boys following behind him. Tao looked alarmed, but Bo only sneered at the girls, peeking around his father to try to see what was happening.

“
Zenme le?
” Lao Chan bellowed at his wife, asking her what was wrong as his cigarette smoke wafted to the ceiling of the small room. The stench of fish came in with him, causing Chai even more misery. She was beginning to hate fish and all that it represented.

“I told them, and they’re upset. It is to be expected, Zhongfu. These girls are very close, and they’re barely more than children, after all.” She got up and went to the table, bending down to help gather up the food on the floor before Lao Chan got even angrier.

“I will not have disrespect in my house! You’ll both do what you are told, or I’ll take you out to the sea and feed you to the sharks. Don’t think I won’t. You are nothing but maggots in the rice bag, and if I can’t get peace around here, I’ll be rid of you both.”

Chai and Josi were afraid—so far the man had kept his anger from erupting directly at them, though they always felt it was simmering. This was the first time he looked like he really wanted to do them harm.

“Told them what, Mother?” Tao asked, his cheeks flaming red. Bo stood beside him, a self-righteous smile pasted on his face as he rocked on his heels, his thumbs hooked through his suspenders like an old man.

“Tomorrow Josi will go to live with a new family. Your father has found her a place.”

“What? Why? I thought it was working out fine? She does everything for you, Mother! How could you?”

Lao Chan turned around and struck his son across the face. Tao fell backward against the small sofa. Bo smothered a guffaw, obviously delighted with the turn of events.

“In the house of Chan, you cannot talk to your mother like that.”

“Zhongfu! No! Do not hit my son.” Mother stood up and ran to Tao. She sat down beside him and held his head to her breast while he struggled to free himself from her.