Lucky Child Read Online Free Page A

dark, I sit up and lift the blanket off my body. I take the flashlight out from under my pillow, shine a beam on my ankle, and locate the black X on it. Kim told Chou and me that by marking Xs on our ankles and the soles of our feet, we let the ghosts know that our bodies are taken.It is our mark of ownership. Satisfied that the Xs are still there, I tuck the sheet back under my feet and pray the ghosts will not unloose them. Ghosts are very fond of bothering people by tickling their feet with the purpose of waking them.
    When sleep does not come, my mind drifts off to find Chou. It is eighteen months since the Vietnamese defeated the Khmer Rouge and chased them into the jungle, and nine months since I pulled my hand out of her grasp. Though she is two years older than me, Chou had the luxury to weep openly at our separation, as was expected of her for being the more fragile sister. But I had to stay strong and smile for her.
    In Vermont, alone in my bed, I grind my teeth knowing that I now have to stay strong for myself.

2 chou
    June 1980
    Across the ocean in the tropical land of Cambodia, Chou stirs inside the hut where she has lived with Ma’s brother, Uncle Leang, his wife, Aunt Keang, and their five children since the end of Khmer Rouge. Suddenly, a heavy arm flings across her chest, and Chou grunts and pushes it off. Beside her, in the female net, cousins Cheung and Hoa sleep soundly facing each other, their breath inhaling and exhaling in synch. Under the same mosquito net, on the far side of their wooden plank bed, toddler Kung curls up with her back to them, her tiny arms and legs wrapped around a rounded long body pillow. Next to them under another worn gray-pink net, Aunt Keang lies with her arm above her baby girl, Mouy. Snorting loudly across the room on their own plank bed, Kim, Khouy, Uncle Leang, and the two male cousins lay sprawled out like fallen logs in their nets.
    “Bzzzzz,” the mosquito whispers outside Chou’s net but she does not hear it.
    Under her closed lids, Chou’s eyes follow the faces of Ma, Pa, and Geak. In her dream, they sit together at a teak table in their home in Phnom Penh as Ma serves freshly steamed pork dumplings. As she smiles, Ma’s full lips crack open to expose her teeth and gums. Like large, white square pearls, Ma’s slightly buck teeth line up evenly, as if to present a uniform team. Chou’s stomach churns hungrily, but instead of staring at the food, she is fixated on Ma’s mouth.
    All of a sudden, a deep itch pierces her ankle and wakes her from her dream. In the dark, Ma’s face and teeth slowly fade as a pang of sadness spreads over Chou. Not yet fully conscious, her mind struggles to stay on Ma’s mouth, the only feature Chou believes she has inherited from her. Since the Khmer Rouge soldiers took Ma away two years ago, Chou has tried hard to keep Ma’s face in her heart. But as hard as she tries, with each passing moon Ma’s face slowly darkens until only the brightness of her teeth remains.
    “Chou, do not be so sad,” Aunt Keang told her when she spoke of her worries about this. “Loung may have your mom’s face, but you will always have her mouth.”
    “Yes,” seventeen-year-old cousin Cheung chimed in. “Your top lip points up like two mountains like your ma.”
    “And when you laugh, you can see all your teeth and gum!” eight-year-old Hoa agreed.
    “Your ma,” Aunt Keang added, “she was such a talker! She could talk about anything. Her lips were so big she could never keep them properly closed.”
    “Stop pursing your lips together,” the cousins ordered and broke into laughter. Chou hadn’t even noticed that she was trying to pull her lips over all her teeth.
    Back in her bed, Chou is about to fall asleep again when her ankle begins to burn and itch. At first, she senses invisible ghosts scratching at her feet. Kim has told her that ghosts are very mischievous and like to scare people for fun. Not wanting to see them, she covers her