The Unwanted Read Online Free Page B

as they stared at each other. At last Lam broke the silence.
    “Then give me my damned ticket and my passport. I am sick of listening to you, wretched woman. I am leaving with or without you.”
    My mother did not respond.
    “Now!”
he cried.
    The scream startled my mother. She shook her head as if to clear it, then reached for her purse.
    Lam's eyes followed her hands. “Give me your ticket and passport as well,” he blurted. “I am taking Loan with me.”
    “Why her?” my mother asked.
    Lam focused on something invisible on the floor. “She is having my baby.”
    Loan let out a small cry. My mother ignored her. After exhaling a deep breath, she gazed at Lam calmly.
    “So am I. How do you explain this to me? Can't you see that I am also pregnant with your child?” she asked.
    “So what? You don't need me. You never did,” he said bitterly. “Trust me, you will do just fine.”
    He yanked the purse out of my mother's hand, searching intensely until he found what he was looking for. In addition to the papers, he grabbed a thick bundle of cash. Waving them teasingly in front of my mother, Lam said, “You just consider this payment for my devoted services.”
    Behind my mother, Loan finally spoke up. “I am not leaving with you, Lam. I am staying here with the mistress.”
    He turned to look at her as if she were deranged. Then, his lips pulled back in a distorted smile. “Fine, you stupid servant. Stay. Be my guest.”
    He picked out my mother's passport and ticket and threw them together with her purse back in her lap. Keeping the money and his own passport, Lam rammed them into the front pocket of his pants. Then, the smile returned to his face. He sank back in his seat, adjusting his clothing, before opening the door to let himself out. Oddly, he turned back one last time to look at us.
    “Have a nice life, all of you,” was all he said before he disappeared into the crowd.

CHAPTER FOUR
    April 28, 1975
    A fter Lam left, my mother sat still for several hours. Her facial expression did not change. Loan held us in her arms as we clustered together on the floor of the van. I watched night fall over the city, while the fire, the explosions, and the screaming went on. As I sat on the steel floor with my hands firmly pressed against my ears, everything seemed to fade away. My surroundings were no longer real to me; it was as if I were inside a silent movie, with a black-and-white background. The soundless, colorless, odorless calmness stayed with me until my mother announced that it was time for us to head back home.
    The evening seemed to sedate the nervous city. As we ventured along the dark street, the throbbing frenzy subsided. Most of the streetlights had been broken earlier; and many of them were off due to the lack of electricity. All around us dark shadows were moving through the night. We could not tell if they were looking through the corpses to identify and gather up their departed relatives or if, like hungry wolves, they were simply hunting for treasure. Once in a while, a ray of light splashed across the sky, followed by the rumbling thunder of a bomb, or a grenade, or a rifle, sending a wave of vibration out to the surrounding area.
    It was not very far from the van to our home, but it took us a good two hours to get through the congested streets. Cars and trucks were mounted on top of one another in heaps of wasted steel, blocking one road after another. In the house, my grandparents were still hiding in the basement. They saw us right away through the tiny oval window and hurried up the stairs to let us in. In just a few hours, my grandparents had somehow managed to age ten years—strength seemed to have abandoned them entirely.
    “Where is Lam?” was the first question they asked.
    My mother shrugged. “I'm not sure. We had a fight in the van, and he ran off. He was heading to the airport.”
    “Bastard!” my grandfather muttered.
    “What are you going to do now?” my grandmother