Part 11 (1/2)

Sophy shrugs, and though that makes her T-s.h.i.+rt bunch in her armpits and fold up above the shelf of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, she does not tug at her s.h.i.+rt hem to pull it down, the way she usually does. ”I mean, like, even if my mom got her family's house back, she'd probably give all the money to the temple. Or else to, like, her brother. Because she thought her whole family was dead but then found out this one brother was still alive, and that his job was clearing mines. I guess because they still have these mines all over Cambodia that explode if you step on them. So now my mom wants to buy him a car so he can have his own driving business and not do that work anymore. Because I guess he already lost one hand and only has one left, and anyway he's the only brother left of all her brothers and sisters so she doesn't want him, like, blown up. But my dad says we have to think of our family here, too. Because we've been here my whole life and still don't have anything because my dad can't work and if my mom isn't giving money to her brother, she's giving it to the temple. Which my dad doesn't believe will make a difference to our dead relatives or our next life or anything. He says it's just throwing money away.”

”But she thinks it will?”

Sophy nods, though Annie is attacking her hand.

”And is she still doing that?” asks Hattie. ”Giving away money?”

”I guess, because he's always asking her how much lui she made cleaning and she's always hiding it.” Sophy eases Annie off her lap.

”Lui is money?”

Sophy nods again.

”Don't you need the money to live on?”

”Sarun has money.”

”Sarun?”

Annie puts her front paws up on Sophy's knees. ”He's not supposed to be in business anymore, but he has money anyway.”

”In business? What do you mean? What kind of business?”

Sophy shrugs and looks off.

”And who's he in business with?”

”I don't know. With his old gang.” Sophy wipes some crud from the inside corners of Annie's eyes.

Hattie thinks. ”Is that where the TV came from?”

Sophy cleans her fingernail on a napkin. ”Me and Sarun are, like, she makes the money, she can give it away if she wants. But you can't say that to my dad because he would be, like, so ashamed that she makes money and he doesn't. Because he was too tired to work when we came here, and now he's the age to retire already, so all he can do is tell everyone his wisdom. Like how we should be saving for a car or a house. Or, like, college. My dad is crazy about college. Like all day long it's college, college, college. Like it's his mantra.”

Hattie nods encouragingly. ”That's great.”

Sophy flaps Annie's ears up and down.

”I don't know. My mom says college doesn't make people happy. Like she thinks it's more important to be good than smart, and anyway, that it's no use to push children. She says our fate is our fate-like college is our fate or it's not. I don't know. My dad says it's because of her background that she thinks that, I guess it goes with carrying stuff on her head the way she used to. And, like, how even though she's been here forever she still eats with her hands if she's in a hurry, my dad has to tell her she should eat with a spoon and fork every time. Or else with a fork and knife like an American, or chopsticks, like a Chinese. Anything. Unless it's, like, a sandwich. And otherwise off a plate, or from a bowl, you know how the Chinese hold the bowl right up to their mouths? Do you do that?”

”Sometimes.” Hattie nods.

”And do you, like, make noise?” Annie nips Sophy's finger.

”Slurp? Probably.” Hattie smiles.

Sophy makes a face and bops Annie gently on the nose. ”He does that, too, the Chinese way. But I guess my mom forgets because she grew up eating from a bowl in the middle of the table, everyone just helping themselves. Or off banana leaves. And my dad says that isn't even the worst thing about farmers. He says the worst thing about them is the way they never think about the future. They're, like, the opposite of the Chinese. Like even his brother who died was the opposite of the Chinese, and he was Chinese.

”But anyway, she is trying harder, you should see, and my dad is, too. Like my dad used to say that if his real wife were alive, everything would be different. Like if his real wife were alive, we would respect our elders. If his real wife were alive, we would not be wild. But he's trying not to say it anymore.”

”Isn't your mom his real wife now?”

Sophy shakes her head, letting Annie play with a sneaker; she has new, flowered sneakers. ”They're only, what do you call it, common-law married. He calls my mom his camp wife.”

”From the refugee camp.”

”Yeah. And now she's his American wife. His first wife's his real wife-his Cambodian wife.”

Hattie takes this in. ”And is that true, do you think? That if your dad's first wife were still around, everything would be different?”

”Probably,” says Sophy, reclaiming her sneaker before it gets destroyed. ”But anyway, he's stopped saying it now that we're here, because we're trying to be different than we were. Like my mom is trying to learn English now, she really is, she watches this program on TV every day.”

”That's great,” says Hattie.

Sophy rubs Annie's tummy thoughtfully.

”You know, you should really be in school,” Hattie says. ”Your dad might be a little off, but he's right about college.”

Sophy throws Annie's chew toy for Annie to fetch again.

”Aren't you bored hanging around? Don't you want to see other people?”

”I do see other people,” says Sophy. ”Like I take the car to the center and see people there.”

”Ah.” Hattie stops. ”The blue car?”

”I felt sorry for the driver,” Sophy explains. ”Driving all the way out here, and then my mom won't even get in. I mean, she will go to the grocery store, but that's it.”

”Because?”

Sophy shrugs. ”It's just, like, one more backward thing. So sometimes I go. Me and Gift.”

”To the center, you mean?”

She nods, kneading Annie's tummy with her bare feet now; she has long, smooth feet.

”Is that a church center?”

”It's Bible study.”

Bible study-what Hattie's mother's mission school taught, long ago. ”It's not school.”

”No,” says Sophy. ”But I'm going to school in the fall, I think.”

”That's great. Though-what do you mean, you think?”

”You've got to ask my dad.” Hearing something they don't, Annie suddenly p.r.i.c.ks up her ears and runs off. ”I mean, he's been talking about home schooling, but I don't know.”

”For Sarun, too?”

”Sarun?” Sophy looks surprised. ”No, Sarun just wants to make money.”