The day she married Ed, she came to understanding that for her to get what she wanted, she had no choice but to marry older man and to pretend happiness. On the other hand, she had to wear only one mask of her two- faced personality. She finally gave in. This marriage was different from the first one in many ways. First they did not have any prenuptial agreement, and secondly they had three children. All those would save her future; but there was one obstacle. Ed was a healthy man, old, but healthy.
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Every one was awed by her story; they were disgusted by what she had done. They all were also amazed by her resilience. But for Ed, to learn these horrible story was like someone had put him in front of the firing squad. He felt so betrayed by the immorality of his wife, that he began crying like a little child that his mother had bought her a wrong toy, not the one she had promised and he wanted. But who was he to talk about morality or honesty? They all had heard what he had done for money. They both were murderers, one young and inexperienced, searching for a better life; and the other, old and experienced, seeking more money. The consequence of their actions were unimportant to them until tonight!
Rosa, closest in age to Thui in that house, was the first to break the silence and said with a consumed disgust in her voice:
"I'm so sick and tired of these foreign girls who cling themselves to our old men for becoming Americans! We don't need these kinds of immigrants!"
Shame had left Thui when she first told Ed that she did not marry him for love. Nothing mattered anymore. They all knew her now, knew her past, her present, her secrets. There was nothing left untold. But the one person she did not want to criticize her was Rosa. She, who was born here, raised here, and had the chance to go to college and become somebody. She wished that there was no bound or limit between the countries of the world; that they all would be just one country, speaking one language, using the same currency, and being under one government. To defend herself, first she got up from her chair, moved her head in a way that her long, thick, black hair flipped to one side, the same hair that attracted men, the same flipping that worked each time, since in reality she truly had beautiful hair; and then walked to the window, her back to everyone and then she said:
"Rosa, you and I are almost the same age. The only difference between us is that you were born here and I, there. You think you're more intelligent than me. I don't think so. It's just that you've had opportunity here, over there, I had none. You sleep with your professors to get good grades, I sleep with old men to have a life."
"Hey, it's not my fault that you're born in Vietnam. I've never had an easy life either." Rosa retorted. "You've heard my story. I am what I am very much on my own. I'm working since I was fifteen years old. I've supported myself ever since. You just can't compare yourself with me! I never killed anyone."
"I don't mind to work; never did." Thui's eyes twitched in pain. "Even now I rather work than... But the best I can do with my background and education is to be a waitress or work in a fast food place or become a house keeper. You're telling me that I killed my baby, yes I did. She was accidental, should not have been. Are you telling me that you never had an abortion?"
Everyone was shocked by what Thui said. Rosa turned pale. Her lips trembling; nonetheless, she manged to say:
"So what if I had an abortion. I didn't kill a born child. I was only three weeks behind. I didn't wait until birth to get rid of it. When it comes to work, I've worked as a waitress, in a fast food restaurant, and any other low paying job you can imagine. It's only after all these years that now I work at the university as an instructor and student assistant. It hasn't been easy for me to be where I am. I don't even live with Tim. I have my own place. If I had an abortion, it was because I was only sixteen years old and I was raped. That is no comparison to what you've done. I didn't kill, the way you described with all the details and even buried a human being to just cling yourself to an old man for your evil reason. Do all girls in your country do what you did?"
It was clear that Tim was shocked by Rosa's last statement. Everyone could see a tremor in his body. It was easier for him to endure his own suffering than other people's. He was shocked to hear about abortion. Rosa had never told him about it. He suffered this pain with Rosa; being sixteen and raped! But on the other hand, he remembered very clearly the first time he saw Rosa, how straight forward she was, and how she told him her reason for that meeting with so much ease and solace, as tough she was talking about what to eat for dinner! "How about you and me together, then you help me with writing my doctorate paper?" He definitely could not let her to get away with it; even though he felt so sorry for her that she had to go through what she did at such young age. He remembered specially her criticizing him earlier in the evening. Naturally he was not a vicious man, but learnedly he had become one because life had treated him so poorly, so terribly cruel.
To Be Continued
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