Goodbye, Vietnam Read Online Free PDF Page A

thought about being on the boat with my family. Then I had added Kim and her mother, thinking I would be glad for Kim’s company if Kim would just look at me or speak to me. Of course, I knew all alongthere would be other people on the boat, but I had never expected this many. “Is it a very large boat?” I asked.
    “The boat is no more than forty feet,” my father answered. “All these people will not fit on such a boat.”
    “But haven’t they paid their passage?” asked our mother. “They cannot be left behind!”
    “If they are, who will they complain to?” said our father. “People are put in jail for trying to leave the country.”
    “But they will have no money left for another boat,” I said.
    “No,” our father replied gravely.
    The little man had disappeared into the cabin of the boat. Now he came in search of our father. “You are to come aboard,” he said to Father. “The boat must leave before it is discovered, but the engine won’t cooperate. If you can’t do something with it in a hurry, there will be no trip.” The people around us heard the man’s words and quickly repeated them. A silence fell over the crowd.
    “My family must be allowed to come with me,” Father said.
    The man nodded. The people knew what my fatherwas wanted for and drew aside to allow us to pass. As I hurried after my parents, I saw the frightened look on Kim’s face. Without thinking of what I was doing, I reached out and grabbed Kim’s hand, pulling her with us. Kim’s mother understood. She picked up their bundles and hurried after our family. A man guarding the entrance to the boat pointed to Kim and Bac si Hong. “Who are they?” he asked me.
    I don’t know where I found the courage, but I said, “My aunt and my cousin.”
    “Well, move quickly,” he said.
    Leading to the boat was a gangplank so narrow there was room for only one person at a time. A lantern illuminated the boat. I thought there must be some mistake—the boat was so small. How, I wondered, would all those people on the wharf fit into it? The boat looked very old, as though it had been floating on the sea for many years.
    The man told us to stay where we were and went off with my father. For the first time Kim’s mother spoke. “They are no better than murderers to send us off in such a boat. The first wave will crush it.” She looked in the direction of the wharf as though she were considering making her way back with Kim. Amoment later the anger disappeared and the look of despair that had been on her face since we had first seen her returned.
    Our grandmother was sobbing. “We will all drown,” she wailed. “The ma da will reach out of the water and pull the boat down to the bottom of the sea. We will drown and our spirits will never rest.”
    My mother tried to comfort her, but the wailing continued. Thant and Anh began to cry. I felt tears in my own eyes and saw that Kim had buried her face against her mother. Bac si Hong looked at us and gently pushed Kim away. “Crying will not help.” Her voice was suddenly businesslike. “We must find a good place for ourselves before the others come.” She looked quickly about the boat. There was a small cabin made of planks that looked as if they did not quite fit together. Inside the cabin was the entrance to the lower part of the boat where my father had been taken to work on the engine.
    “Perhaps we should go down below,” my mother suggested. I knew she wanted to be close to my father. I agreed. I didn’t want to look at all that sea. My grandmother began to move toward the small cabin but Kim’s mother stopped her.
    “No, the air in the hold will be stale and close. There are sure to be rats, perhaps carrying disease. Should anything happen to the boat, we would be trapped. The best place to be is where the food is prepared. That way we will be among the first to be served. Kim, you and Mai see if you can help me find the stove.”
    I followed Kim, not really wanting to