Pearl of China (7 page)

“What is this?” Bumpkin Emperor asked loudly. “Who are you?”

Kicking her feet, Pearl uttered a string of words no one understood.

“Speak! Who are you?” Bumpkin was visibly nervous.

NaiNai turned to Bumpkin Emperor and said, “You must have done something to offend the gods.”

The warlord got down on his knees in front of Pearl. “Can I help you, whoever’s spirit you are?” He tried to steady his shaky voice.

“I must speak to the one who is in charge,” Pearl murmured in a husky voice, her eyes tightly shut. “I must speak to the general himself.”

“I am the general,” Bumpkin Emperor rose.

Pearl began to speak English.

“What, what is she rumbling about?” Bumpkin Emperor became tense. “Which god are you representing? Is she talking to me?”

“Yes.” I told the warlord that I could be his translator.

“What is she saying?” Bumpkin Emperor turned to me.

“She said, ‘The fire is at your door.’”

“Fire at my door? What does that mean?”

“In the name of the Holy Spirit . . .” Pearl continued.

“Holy Spirit?” Bumpkin Emperor was confused. “Mother of a mule, I don’t understand!”

“Would you like me to stop?” I asked.

“Of course not,” he said. “Carry on, dammit!”

“Well, she is not making sense.”

“Do the best you can to make her words into sense!”

I began acting, bending down to get close to Pearl. “Yes, I heard you . . . Went out to him? All the country of Judah? Wait a minute.” I turned to the warlord. “She said, ‘All the people of Jerusalem are going toward the river to confess their sins . . .’”

Confused, Bumpkin Emperor cried, “Which god is this?”

I shook my head.

“A powerful God,” Papa said, raising his arm to point at the sky. “Perhaps the true God.”

“What is his name? Tell me, please!” Bumpkin Emperor begged.

“Angel,” Pearl uttered.

“His name is Angel,” I translated.

“I have never heard of such a god,” Bumpkin Emperor responded. “Is he new?”

“He is ancient,” Pearl continued. “He’s been here since the beginning of time. Only the wise can hear him. He is mad at you.”

“What . . . what does he want from me?” Bumpkin Emperor’s voice grew weak.

Pearl went silent.

“The God no longer wants to speak to you,” I translated. “The God is leaving.”

“Please! Don’t go!” Bumpkin Emperor was scared. “Ask what business he had here! If he is a foreign god, who is his patron in China?”

“I was invited by the Dowager Empress of your country,” Pearl began to speak in Chinese. “I was escorted here by the Imperial Minister-in-Chief Mr. Li Hung chang . . .”

Before Pearl ended her sentence, Bumpkin Emperor fell down and kowtowed, hitting his forehead on the ground. “Your Majesty, I mean no offense! I . . . I deserve to die three thousand times! Please, forgive me!”

Again, Pearl closed her eyes.

“Please don’t leave! Grant me a chance,” Bumpkin Emperor begged. “Your Majesty, I am asking for a last chance!”

“Release Carpenter Chan and his lady,” Pearl spoke with an imperial tone. “And leave Chin-kiang right away.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I shall depart instantly.”

“Well, let us have no doubt that God sent Pearl to save you,” Absalom said to Carpenter Chan and Lilac. “My daughter is no angel, but she is a good Christian.”

Later, Pearl told me that she didn’t like what her father said, although she was happy that the trick worked.

“I am sure your father loves you,” I comforted my friend.

Pearl shook her head. “To tell you the truth, I am jealous of those whom he baptizes. He offers affection to strangers, to you, NaiNai, your papa, Carpenter Chan, Lilac, and almost everyone in the town. He will never spare affection for his own children. He is always cold with me.”

“Absalom loves you, Pearl.”

“I don’t feel it. My mother doesn’t feel his love either. Absalom shuts himself in the study so that he can be with God without any distraction!”

“Your father is proud of you, or he wouldn’t say that you were a good Christian.”

“Absalom cares about Chinese people so much that he’s willing to risk his life for them. In the meantime, he believes that they are heathens and he is their superior. He lives to convert people. He even wants a chance with the warlords.”

“Absalom wants to convert Bumpkin Emperor, General Lobster, and General Crab?” I laughed.

“Yes, and their fish wives, shrimp siblings, and snail concubines.”

“That’s impossible!”

“Oh, yes, God works miracles, hah, hah, hah!”

“Papa will believe whoever saves his ass.”

“My father is a nut and your father is a crook.”

We laughed and put our fathers out of our minds.

We walked to the outskirts of town, where someone was getting married. We joined the children who had been invited to the wedding to help inspire fertility. We were given nuts and seeds to throw at the new couple. The groom was a young peasant who was already drunk. He meant to thank the guests but instead he threw up. The bride was dressed in a bright-red embroidered costume. Her face was covered with a piece of silk. Pearl and I admired the costume and the bride’s glittering hair ornament. When the band started the wedding song, we joined in.

C
HAPTER
7

The Boxer Rebellion hadn’t hit Chin-kiang until the first years of the new century. It had spread like a wildfire. Peasants from inland came wearing red turbans. They believed that foreigners were destroying China. It didn’t occur to me that Pearl and her family were foreigners. Pearl didn’t like Westerners. She had witnessed opium addicts in our town and had criticized the white folks and their opium trade. As far as she was concerned, the Boxers’ fight would have nothing to do with her.

But times had changed. There had been incidents where foreign missionaries had been murdered in the northern provinces. Carie made sure that Pearl dressed like a Chinese girl and wore her black knitted cap at all times.

Pearl came to me one day and told me that Carie had been talking about their departure. “Mother said that a ship will come and it will take us all back to America.”

Pearl’s words devastated me. I didn’t know how to respond.

She looked disturbed and nervous.

“But . . . you don’t know anything about America!” I said.

“Mother said that America is a place where I would belong,” Pearl said matter-of-factly. “At least I will look like everyone else. I am sick of wearing this damn black knitted cap! I’ll burn it the moment I arrive in America.”

“But you said that you don’t know anyone in America,” I insisted.

“I don’t.”

“Will you still go then?”

“I don’t look forward to leaving, however much Mother tries to reassure me.”

“To leave China is Carie’s wish, not yours!” I tried to sound calm, but it was impossible. I felt like crying. “You will not be able to find a friend like me in America!”

“Perhaps not, although Mother promised that I would.”

“She is tricking you.” I gave a cold laugh. “You’d be a fool to believe that.”

“But I can’t stay if Mother decides to go.”

For the next few weeks the departure became the only thing we talked about. But the more we talked about it, the deeper our sense of doom became. We ran up and down the hills and laughed, pretending that it was not going to happen. But time and time again we were reminded. For example, Wang Ah-ma became depressed because Carie told her to prepare to go her own way. The pregnant Lilac and Carpenter Chan came to visit Papa and NaiNai to update them on the murder cases involving foreign missionaries.

Pearl and I learned that more people had joined the Boxers. The swelling numbers began to demand that the Imperial government throw out foreigners and shut down their businesses in China forever. When they didn’t receive the government’s response, they began to mob foreign banks and buildings and destroy the national railways. Our neighboring Christian churches were disrupted. Foreign missionaries were taken from their homes and publicly tortured. When the news reached us, Pearl and I realized that our days together were numbered.

Pearl began to talk more about her “real home” in America, while I became cynical and irritable.

“Real home?” I sneered. “I’ll bet that you won’t even know where your front door is.” I asked Pearl if she knew the feng shui of her American home and was pleased that she had no answer.

“Your house could be facing the wrong direction. Bad luck will stick to you forever!”

“What if I tell you that I don’t give a damn if my American home has the wrong feng shui?” She picked up a rock and threw it into the valley. “It’ll be my mother’s home, not mine!”

“But you will be living in it. You will be alone and miserable because you know better!”

“I will have the company of my cousins!” she countered.

I laughed and said that her cousins might know her name, but they would have no idea who she was and what she liked. “They won’t even care. To them you’ll be a total stranger!”

“Stop, Willow, please,” she begged.

We sat in silence and tried not to weep.

The news regarding the Boxers got worse. They were seen in Soochow, which was less than a hundred miles from Chin-kiang. Carie tried to convince Absalom to temporarily relocate. Absalom wouldn’t consider it.

“I won’t abandon God’s work” was Absalom’s answer.

Carie threatened to leave on her own and said that she would take Pearl and Grace with her.

“Mother told me that I must learn to trust in God and accept my destiny,” Pearl said. We held each other’s hands and sat on top of the hill. We watched the sun set without speaking another word.

It felt like living in a bad dream. I imagined Pearl’s American house. According to Pearl, it was built by her grandfather. Pearl’s description of the house was word for word from Carie. “It is large and white with its pillared double portico set in a beautiful landscape,” she told me. “Behind the house are rich green plains and mountains.”

I also imagined Pearl’s relatives, who all had milk-white faces. I imagined them receiving her warmly. They would hug her as if they knew her. They would say, “How are you, my darling? It’s been so long . . .” Pearl would be surrounded with clean sheets and soft pillows. She would be served plenty of food, but not the kind that she liked. No more Chinese food, of course. No more Chinese faces. No more Mandarin, or stories, or Peking operas. No more “Jasmine, Sweet Jasmine.”

“I suppose I’ll get used to it.” Pearl gave out a long, deep sigh.

She would be forced to adapt. She had no other option. She would forget China and me.

“We might not recognize each other if we meet again,” Pearl teased.

It was not funny, but I played along. “We probably wouldn’t even remember each other’s names.”

“I might lose my Chinese.”

“You will.”

“Perhaps not,” she said. “I’ll try my best not to lose my Chinese.”

“Maybe you’ll want to. What’s the use of Chinese in America? Who would you speak Chinese to? Grace? She’s too young. You two don’t play together. Maybe you will when you get to America. You won’t have a choice.”

She turned her head and stared at me, her blue eyes big and clear. Tears began to well up.

“You’ll be drinking milk and eating cheese.” I tried to cheer her up.

“And I’ll turn into a big fat farmwife,” she responded. “My belly will be the size of a Chinese winter melon, with breasts like round squashes.”

We laughed.

“I could be married, you know,” I said. “NaiNai has already been approached by matchmakers. I could end up marrying an old, greasy rich man and be his concubine. He could be a monster and beat me every night.”

“Wouldn’t that be awful?” She looked at me seriously.

“Awful? What would you care? You will be gone by then.”

Pearl’s hands reached out for me. “I’ll pray for you, Willow.”

I pushed her away. “You know I have a problem with that. You haven’t been able to prove to me that your God exists!”

“Then pretend that he does!” Pearl’s tears fell. “I need you to believe in him.”

We decided to stop talking about the departure. We decided to celebrate our time together instead of wallowing in sadness. We went to see a troupe on wheels called the Great Shadow Art Show. It featured the Drunkard Monkey King and the Female Generals of the Yang Family. We had a wonderful time. Pearl was fascinated by the handmade shadow figures. The figures were created from scraped and sculpted cattle hides. The troupe master was from mid-China. He invited Pearl and me backstage, where he demonstrated how the figures worked. The actors hid under a large curtain, each holding a character with four bamboo sticks. The figures were able to tap their feet, dance to the rhythm, and fight a martial art battle while the owner sang in a high-pitched voice our favorite Wan-Wan tune.

By early fall a children’s game was becoming popular. It was called Boxers and Foreigners. It was played by the rules of traditional hide-and-seek. The boys wouldn’t let Pearl and me join because we were girls. All day long Pearl and I sat on top of the hill sucking milkweeds. We watched the boys with envy. One morning Pearl came to me wearing an outfit of Western clothes she had borrowed from the British ambassador. It was a camel-colored jacket with copper buttons in the front and an open neck. The sleeves were wide at the elbow and tight on the wrists. The pants were made of brown wool. “It is their daughter’s horse-riding pants,” Pearl explained.

When I asked why she had dressed up, Pearl replied, “We shall play our own game of Boxers and Foreigners.” She showed me a red-colored scarf. “This is your costume. Tie it around your forehead. You’ll be the Boxer and I’ll be the foreigner.”

To make herself look more the part, she took off her black knitted hat and let her waist-long hair fall freely.

I became excited. I wrapped the red scarf around my forehead like a turban.

With wood sticks as our swords, we charged down the hill. The boys were stunned by Pearl’s appearance.

“A real foreign devil!” they cried.

Soon children begged to join us. Pearl became the leader of the foreign troops, while I was the chief of the Boxers.

We threw rocks, ran around the hills, and hid in the bushes. In the afternoon, my group climbed onto the roofs of houses while Pearl led a door-to-door search for us. We roamed through the streets until it was dark.

When it was time to round up the Boxers, my group let Pearl’s people tie our hands behind our backs. My group lined up to be executed. Pearl offered each of us an imaginary cup of wine, which we drank before reciting our last wish. When the shots were fired, we fell to the ground. We remained dead until Pearl announced that it was time to round up the foreigners.

My group chased until Pearl and her people were captured. We tied the foreigners together like a string of crabs and paraded them through the streets. People were invited to watch the execution. Pearl had great fun shouting in English. The villagers were shocked at first, then they applauded and laughed with us.