2024 — Part IV
Slowly the boat rocked back and forth as he lay there, face covered with a hat and sunken lightly onto his chest. Ji was eating a fish he had just caught afore, after having stripped it of all the things inedible. Raw, yes, Ji liked to eat them raw. He nibbled slowly on the fresh fish while Li grumbled. He didn’t like that Ji ate the fish raw, but what was he to do. Their catch was alright today, they ventured a little farther out than usual. They did not expect to catch anything at all, but luck was on their side. So now they could rest a little bit before they had to get back to the village. Both are widowed, their wives lost in a drought 4 years ago, the year before that the harvest was simply not enough. The fish? Yes, they should have fish you would think, but all the fish is taken by the state, shipped away.
While they fished and fished, the army took all they could, little remained but what they could hide themselves. Ever since his wife died, Ji took to eating the fish raw, to avoid it being taken. His sons had joined the army, but he had not heard from them since they left to go to the army. He presumed them dead. All of his family was dead, all long gone. Li was better off, he figured and his daughter still lived, but barely. She had coughing fits and was very weak, he fed her as well as he could, but medicine was a luxury that he could not afford. If she should die, he tells himself, he will jump drunk into the sea. He had the vodka ready, and all he did was count the days, for at times it seemed that there was no hope left for his daughter. But she is everything he has. Li sighed as he put his hat upon his head and looked out to the sea, it was a calm day, barely a cloud in the sky. If he were a more fortunate man, he would have smiled and thanked the leader.
But why would he thank a man who thinks he is a god? Some do, he wondered. Fools. “Ji, shall we try another spot?” Li asked as he looked westward, a muffled answer came, filled with fish “I know, but I think they won’t be looking today” Li answered Ji’s fish-filled response. At times there would be patrol boats, checking to see if people were trying to escape to China. Most of the time, they were captained by cruel men, sometimes they would confiscate the cargo of a poor man like Li or Ji, and take all they had worked for. If they resisted, they took it anyway, after killing the man and sinking the boat. It did not happen often, but it happened. “Ji, I think today will be a good day,” Li said as he turned towards Ji. Ji smirked at him, standing up and throwing the fish remains into the sea. He gulped it down and replied “Yes, only today,” as he look eastward, towards the coast and their village. Once upon a time the village had 708 people, after the drought, the bad harvest and an investigation through the local government branch, there were only 204. No one really went hungry, but the suffering was still there.
Suddenly, there was a light bump against the boat. Perhaps a log or something, Li thought as he went to the stern of the ship to check. It bumped again and again, then he saw it. The back of a dead soldier faced Ji and Li, singed black as night and a little bit of blood came out of him. He must have not been in the water long, as the body was not bloated. This was not the first body they’d seen. Ji looked at Li and they both frowned. Looking to see where it might have come from, they saw another body, and another, slowly floating towards the coast.
They had been out all morning and had not seen a thing, no other ship, no fighting. Soon debris followed the fellowship of bodies and Ji punched Li in the shoulder “Look!” he said as he pointed towards the horizon and Li could see it too. A large, strange grey object, surrounded by a few others barely smaller than the other, and appeared to be coming towards them. “What are those?” Ji asked perplexed, but Li could only assume they were ships of war, not for fishing “Doesn’t matter what they are, let’s get to the coast,” Li answered and tried to turn on the motor, pushing the bodies away lightly. Though dead, they still disgusted him, however many dead he might have seen, or was bound to see. The boat had difficulties getting passed the first few bodies, but eventually it was clear, but smaller boats had come out of the larger, grey warships and were coming towards them. “Li, Li look.” Ji motioned to him, as he sat opposite of Li looking constantly towards the warships, but Li would not move.
He was afraid, afraid those in the warships meant no good to them, he thought of his daughter. What if they…
He did not even dare think the thought, and he sped the boat up even more. The boat hit the sands hard and Ji fell over in the boat and was flat on his back, Li used the momentum and jumped out as quick as he could, racing towards their house. He stopped midway, turned to Ji, cupped his hands and screamed “If they are good, come to me! If they are not, try to die quickly!” he turned around and continued to run before he could hear Ji reply.
Some of the villagers were completely unaware of the warships and continued to walk around, after he had passed a few people he screamed towards them “Hide! Hide!” and continued to run. Why was their house so close to the road? The village itself had no road, only one passed nearby and this was the house his father had, and his father before him. It was the last house of the village. He was out of breath just short of the house, he stopped and panted and looked back, the first smaller boats were landing with soldiers with helmets and guns, Ji seemed to be waving and talking to one, pointing towards Li. Panicking he turned quickly and ran towards his house. Bursting through the door of the 2 room house he screamed “Everyone hide! Quick!” and everyone did as they were told, scattering into the winds. It was a routine procedure. They would all get into the bedroom, then move the bed, pull up a small door to the basement and Li would cover it with a bucket of dirt and move the bed back. He would sacrifice himself, but the family would live.
Everything went as they had usually practiced it, no problems. Li got a knife ready and hid it behind his back. He waited, sweating, and heard people laughing and clapping, some crying. The sounds from outside confused Li. He got on his knees and crawled towards the window to take a peek. He slowly, ever so slowly, moved his head towards the window and took a peak outside.
The people were hugging the soldiers. The flags on their shoulders were unknown to him save for one, the American flag. One of the soldiers was of a very, very dark skin colour and Li could only see the white of his eyes and his teeth, so it seemed. Li was confused. The soldiers seemed to smile and wave as they moved forward. Suddenly, Ji popped up into the window, scaring the shit out of Li, nearly literally. “Li! They are friendly! Some say it is an exercise. Others say it is liberation. I don’t know what they mean, but they brought chock-o-late” he shrugged and took a bite of the rectangle and brown mass in his hands, smiling. Li stood up and left the house. Hundreds of soldiers were landing on the beaches, so it seemed. The shores were filled with boats and helicopters flew overhead. Li smiled and asked Ji for a piece of chocolate. He admired the view for a few minutes before realising that his family was under the bed in the hidden compartment of their house. He quickly unburied them and showed them the soldiers.
While his daughter coughed, his wife fell to her knees and began to cry. Li cried too.
