The Orphan Master's Son_ A Novel - Adam Johnson [214]
Ga began to speak, but Sun Moon cut him off. “A woman, by the love of the right man, can be made more pure than the womb that produced her,” she answered.
The Dear Leader regarded her. “I can always count on you for the thoughtful response,” he said. “But seriously, if the procedures were successful, if she was restored, through and through, would you use the term “modest” to describe her? Could you call her Korean?”
Sun Moon didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely not,” she said. “This woman would be nothing but an imposter. ‘Korean,’ this is a word written in blood on the walls of the heart. No American could ever use it. So she has paddled her little boat, so some sun has beat down on her. Have the people she loved faced death so that she might live? Is sorrow the only thing that connects her to all who came before? Has her nation been occupied by Mongolian, Chinese, and Japanese oppressors for ten thousand years?”
“Spoken as only a true Korean could,” the Dear Leader responded. “But you have such venom for this word ‘imposter.’ It’s so ugly when you say it.” He turned to Ga. “Tell me, Commander, what is your opinion of imposters? Do you think that, over time, a replacement could become the real thing?”
“The substitute becomes genuine,” Ga said, “when you declare it so.”
The Dear Leader raised his eyebrows at the truth of this.
Sun Moon shot her husband a vicious look. “No,” she said, then turned to the Dear Leader. “No one can have feelings for an imposter. An imposter will always be a lesser thing, it will always leave the heart hungry.”
People emerged from the bow of the aircraft. Ga saw the Senator, as well as Tommy and Wanda and a few others, all accompanied by a contingent of security personnel in blue suits. Right away, they were assaulted by flies from the lavatory lagoon.
Petulance crossed the Dear Leader’s face. To Sun Moon, he said, “And yet last night you pleaded for the safety of this man—an orphan, a kidnapper, a tunnel assassin.”
Sun Moon turned and stared at Commander Ga.
The Dear Leader took her attention back with his voice. “Last night, I had a roster of gifts and delights prepared for you, I canceled an opera for you, and you thanked me by begging on his behalf? No, do not pretend a dislike of imposters.”
The Dear Leader looked away from her, and Sun Moon followed his face, desperate to get him to lock eyes with her. “It is you who made him my husband,” she said. “It is because of you that I treat him so.” When he finally looked at her, she said, “And it is you who can unmake it.”
“No, I never gave you away. You were taken from me,” the Dear Leader said. “In my own opera house, Commander Ga refused to bow. Then he named you as his prize. In front of everyone, he called your name.”
“That was years ago,” Sun Moon said.
“He called for you and you answered, you stood and you went with him.”
Sun Moon said, “The man you speak of is dead now. He’s gone.”
“And yet you don’t return to me.”
The Dear Leader stared at Sun Moon to let that sink in.
“Why do we play these games?” she asked. “I’m right here, the only breath-drawing woman on earth worthy of you. You know that. You make my story a happy one. You were there at the start of it. And you are the end of it.”
The Dear Leader turned to her, ready to listen more, doubt still in his eyes.
“And of the Girl Rower?” he asked. “What do you propose for her?”
“Hand me a knife,” Sun Moon said. “And let me prove my loyalty.”
The Dear Leader’s eyes went wide with delight.
“Withdraw your fangs, my mountain tiger!” he declared. He stared into her eyes. More quietly, he said, “My beautiful mountain tiger.” Then he turned to Commander Ga. “That’s quite a wife you have,” he said. “Outside, peaceful as the snows of Mount Paektu. Inside, she’s coiled like a rock mamushi, sensing the imperial heel.”
The Senator with