Part 24 (1/2)

Refugees and Chinese citizens alike gathered at the intersection of Muirhead and Wayside Roads to watch the soldiers erecting the wooden post in the middle of the street. Hannah had heard that floggings in the ghetto always drew a substantial crowd. She a.s.sumed that people came out of morbid curiosity, and it disgusted her to see such a gathering for the sole purpose of witnessing her father's whipping. She would have given anything to not have to watch.

Freddy had promised to be there, too, but he was nowhere in sight. Hannah was glad not to see him. She had only told him out of spite. She wanted Freddy to feel guilty, like she did. But it hadn't worked; she saw through his feigned concern. All he cared about was that she had not turned him in and that his own family had been spared the whip.

What a fool I was! She had fallen so hard for Freddy's American-style charm. Only now she could see how he had manipulated her. Even the kiss that had shaken her world had just been an act. She had been his p.a.w.n from the first day. Undoubtedly, Freddy would find a replacement; perhaps even Leah Wa.s.selmann.

Hannah's stomach churned. She worried about vomiting again, especially when her father reappeared.

They had walked together from the hospital to the Bureau of Stateless Refugee Affairs, but Ghoya had whisked Franz into the building as soon as they arrived. She had not seen him since. Hannah had never felt so alone. She wished Sunny was with her. She longed to hold her hand.

On the way over, Hannah had asked her father why he insisted that they keep the flogging from his wife.

”What good would it do to tell her?” Franz asked.

”She would want to be here for you.”

”For what, Hannah?” he snapped. ”So she could suffer, too?”

”I . . . I . . .” she stuttered. ”This is all my fault.”

”What's done is done, Hannah-chen.” He exhaled. ”I wish to G.o.d you didn't have to see this, but they have given us no choice.”

”It should be me, Papa.”

Franz placed an arm around her shoulder and brought his daughter to a halt. His eyes locked onto hers. ”Do you not understand how much worse that would have been for me?”

She shook her head. ”I am responsible.”

”The Herzbergs had no right to involve you.”

”But-”

”Just as I have no right to involve Sunny,” he said. ”You know she would insist on being here, too.”

”She would want to be here,” Hannah repeated.

”Sunny has so many worries right now. Yang's arrest has been so hard on her. She does not need to see this. Neither do you.” He squeezed her shoulder. ”Hannah, promise me that you will look away or cover your eyes.”

”I . . . I have to watch, Papa. That colonel said so.”

”Promise me, Hannah.”

”I will try.”

She was snapped from the memory by the sight of Ghoya leading her father out of the building. Two soldiers were with Franz, but they didn't need to detain him. He walked calmly, with his head held high.

Hannah burned with guilt to see her father, who always dressed so fastidiously, clad only in an unders.h.i.+rt and trousers. As he pa.s.sed her, he nodded once, as though to remind her of her promise, and then gave her a tight rea.s.suring smile.

As soon as the contingent reached the post in the middle of the intersection, Franz stepped forward and leaned against it, holding up his hands so one of the soldiers could bind them with rope to the rusty metal ring that hung above him. Once Franz's wrists were secure, the soldier grabbed her father's unders.h.i.+rt and ripped it apart, exposing his bare back. The other soldier stood back from the post, a thick black whip in his hands. Its tail was so long that it gathered at his feet like a coiled snake.

Hannah smelled aftershave and turned to see Ghoya sidling up to her. ”Do you see, girlie?” he demanded. ”Do you? This is what happens to smugglers.”

”I have learned my lesson, Mr. Ghoya,” she blurted. ”I swear to G.o.d! Please do not punish my father.”

Ghoya grinned widely. Then, without warning, he slapped her across her bruised cheek. The pain stung worse than the first blows the day before, but she bit her lip and stifled her tears, desperate to stay strong for her father.

”Examples must be set,” Ghoya hissed into her ear. ”You should be on that pole, too. If not for Taisa Kubota . . .”

Realizing that it was futile to plead anymore, she looked down at her feet.

Ghoya reached out and pinched her jaw, then forcibly rotated her face in the direction of the post. ”You must watch this, girlie! Every lash, every single lash. They are for you, too.”

The soldier nearest her father hollered in j.a.panese. Hannah only recognized the last word-”ichi”-which she knew meant ”one.” The soldier holding the whip c.o.c.ked back his arm.

Franz squared his shoulders and raised his head higher.

Ghoya maintained his grip on Hannah's face, but Hannah averted her eyes upward. Even so, she saw the whip uncoiling overhead. It cracked through the air. The next thing she heard was a revolting snap.

A gasp escaped Franz's lips.

Hannah couldn't help but look over. She was horrified to see a raw wound coursing the length of her father's exposed back. His knees buckled slightly and he stooped forward against the post, bleeding.

”You see, girlie?” Ghoya asked. ”Do you?”

”I do,” Hannah breathed.

”Yes, yes. Everyone must see.” Ghoya turned to the watching crowd and bellowed, ”This is what happens to smugglers! Tell the others: next time it will be a firing squad. Yes, yes! Tell them that, too!”

The first soldier called out, ”Ni”-”Two.”

Franz straightened his legs and arched his spine.

Hannah glanced skyward again. She tasted bile as the lash sizzled overhead.

CHAPTER 34.

October 11, 1943 Sunny hurried along Thibet Road on her way to Frenchtown. Despite the warmth of the autumn day, she kept her hands tucked in her coat pockets and her chin buried in her collar as she pa.s.sed one j.a.panese soldier after another. She imagined each of them snapping a whip, and her rage simmered.

Half an hour after she'd applied salve and bandages to Franz's back, Sunny could still feel the rough edges of his wounds against her fingertips. She was amazed that infection had not set in over the past week. She had to fight back tears every time she changed the dressing.

For his part, Franz hid his suffering behind smiles and occasional jokes. He had even returned to work to a.s.sist Sunny on an urgent amputation and a perforated colon repair. Still, she knew he was in agony.

Sunny's anger wasn't limited to the j.a.panese. She was furious with Hannah, too, and had yet to forgive Franz for keeping the flogging a secret. Sunny had only learned of it when a Jewish woman burst into the hospital hysterical with the news. Upon sprinting to the site, Sunny found Franz half-naked and curled up at the foot of the whipping post. There was so much blood caked over his back that it appeared painted on. The sight of Hannah was almost as distressing. The girl rocked silently on her knees beside her father, tears streaming down her cheeks. Franz was unable to rise to his feet, and Sunny had to ask a pair of young men to carry him home over their shoulders.

Forcing that day from her mind, Sunny focused on the more hopeful news that Joey had delivered the day before. He was shouting as he burst onto the ward. ”I found her, Soon Yi! I found her!”

Sunny raced over to him. ”Yang? You found Yang?”