The Orphan Master's Son_ A Novel - Adam Johnson [130]
Sun Moon stopped suddenly and turned to Ga, as if overcome by an impulse to kiss him. Showing her back to those women, she looked into Ga’s eyes as if looking for her own reflection. “I am a talented actress and you are my husband,” she said. “I am a talented actress and you are my husband.”
Ga looked into her uncertain, unseeing eyes.
“You are a talented actress,” he said. “And I am your husband.”
Then she turned, smiled, and they strode forward.
One man broke from the group to intercept them.
At his approach, Sun Moon stiffened. “Commander Park,” she said. “How have you been?”
“Fine, thank you,” he said to Sun Moon, and with a jackknife bow, he kissed her hand. Rising, he said, “And Commander Ga, how long has it been?”
Park’s face was marked from a naval firefight with an ROK patrol boat.
“Too long, Commander Park, much too long.”
“True,” Park said. “But tell me, have you noticed something different about me?”
Ga looked at Park’s uniform, at his fat rings and tie, but really he couldn’t help being drawn to the striated scars on one side of his face.
“Certainly,” Ga said. “The change is for the better.”
“Really,” Commander Park said. “I thought you would be angry—you are the most competitive person.”
Ga glanced over at Sun Moon.
He thought she might be relishing this moment, but her face was fixed, wary.
Commander Park fingered a medal on his chest. “You will win your own Songun Cross one day,” he said. “True, it’s only given once a year, but don’t let that deter you.”
Ga said, “Perhaps I will be the first to win two in a row, then.”
Commander Park laughed. “That’s a good one, Ga. That is so like you.” He placed a hand on Ga’s shoulder, as if to whisper something humorous in his ear. Instead, he grabbed Ga’s collar, pulling him down to deliver a vicious uppercut to Ga’s midsection, a liver punch that knuckled under the ribs. Then Park strode away.
Sun Moon took hold of Ga and tried to usher him to a seat, but no, he wished to stand.
“Always men must come to that,” she said.
Between shallow breaths, Commander Ga asked, “Who was that?”
Sun Moon said, “That was your best friend.”
People returned to their conversations, standing in clusters near the food.
Ga held his side, then nodded. “I think I will sit,” he said, and they took chairs at an empty table. Sun Moon observed every move the partygoers made, attempting, it seemed, to read their conversations by gestures only.
A woman came their way alone. She wore a cautious look on her face, but she brought Ga a glass of water. She wasn’t much older than Sun Moon, yet she had tremors, so the water kept coming over the rim. In her other hand was a cocktail plate stacked with shrimp.
Ga took the glass and drank, though it hurt when the water went down.
The woman pulled from her pocket a piece of waxed paper and began placing the shrimp in it. “My husband,” she said. “He is my age. He has such a good heart, that man. By heart I mean he would have intervened in that spectacle we just witnessed. No, he couldn’t stand to see someone get hurt without getting involved.”
Ga watched her place the shrimp one at a time on the paper. He stared at their opaque white shells and black bead eyes—these were the blind, deep-water shrimp they’d risked their lives for aboard the Junma.
“I can’t say my husband has any distinguishing features,” she continued. “Like a scar or a birthmark. He is a normal man, about forty-five, with hair going white.”
Ga held his side in pain. Sun Moon, impatient, said, “Please leave us.”
“Yes, yes,” the woman said. She looked at Ga. “Do you think you ever saw him, in that place where you were?”
Ga set the glass down. “In the place where I was?” he asked.
“There are rumors,” the woman said. “People know where you came from.”
“You confuse me with someone else,” he told her. “I’m not a prisoner. I’m Commander Ga. I’m the Minister of Prison Mines.”
“Please,” the woman said. “I must have my husband back, I can’t … there’s no point without him. His name was—”
“Don’t,” Sun Moon said. “Don’t tell us his name.”
She looked from Sun Moon