The Orphan Master's Son_ A Novel - Adam Johnson [67]
They pulled off the road at a cowboy emporium. The parking lot was empty save for the Thunderbird and a black car parked to the side. Inside, several salespersons were waiting to outfit the visitors in Western attire. Dr. Song translated to the Minister that cowboy boots were gifts from the Senator and he could have any pair he wished. The Minister was fascinated by the exotic boots and tried on pairs made from lizard, ostrich, and shark. Finally he decided on snake, and the staff began seeking out pairs in his size.
Dr. Song conferred briefly with the Minister, then announced, “The Minister must make a defecate.”
The Americans clearly wished to laugh, but didn’t dare.
The Minister was gone a long time. Jun Do found a pair of black boots that spoke to him, but in the end he set them aside. He then went through many pairs of women’s boots before he found some he thought would fit the Second Mate’s wife. They were yellow and stiff, with fancy stitching around the toe.
Dr. Song was offered smaller and smaller sizes, until finally a pair of simple black boots fit him in a boy’s size. To help save face, Jun Do turned to Dr. Song. “Is it true,” he said loudly, “that you take the exact shoe size as the Dear Leader Kim Jong Il?”
Everyone watched as Dr. Song took a pleasant stroll in his boots, dress shoes in his hands. He stopped before a mannequin in cowboy clothes. “Observe, Jun Do,” he said. “Instead of their most beautiful women, the Americans employ artificial people to display the clothes.”
“Most ingenious,” Jun Do said.
“Perhaps,” Wanda said, “our most beautiful women are otherwise engaged.”
Dr. Song bowed at the truth of this. “Of course,” he said. “How shortsighted of me.”
On the wall, mounted behind a piece of glass, was an ax. “Look,” Dr. Song said. “The Americans are always prepared for a sudden outbreak of violence.”
The Senator glanced at his watch, and Jun Do could tell he’d had enough of this game.
The Minister returned and was handed a pair of boots. Each scale of the snakeskin seemed to catch the light. Clearly pleased, the Minister took a few steps in them like a gunslinger.
“Have you seen this movie High Noon?” Dr. Song asked them. “It is the Minister’s favorite.”
And suddenly the Senator was smiling again.
Dr. Song spoke to the Minister. “They fit perfectly, no?” he asked.
The Minister looked sadly down at his new boots. He shook his head.
The Senator snapped his fingers. “Let’s get some more boots over here,” he told the sales clerks.
“I’m sorry,” Dr. Song said. He sat to remove his own boots. “But the Minister believes it would be an insult to the Dear Leader to receive the gift of new boots when the Dear Leader himself received none.”
Jun Do returned the boots he’d chosen for the Second Mate’s wife. It was a fantasy idea, anyway, he knew. The Minister, too, sat to pull off his boots.
“This can be easily fixed,” the Senator said. “Of course we can send a pair of boots to Mr. Kim. We know he takes the same size as Dr. Song here. We’ll just get an extra pair.”
Dr. Song laced his dress shoes back on.
“The only insult,” Dr. Song said, “would be for a humble diplomat such as myself to wear shoes fit for the most revered leader of the greatest nation on earth.”
Wanda’s eyes passed back and forth upon this scene. Her gaze landed on Jun Do, and he knew it was him that she was puzzling over.
They left without boots.
The ranch had been prepared to give the Koreans a taste of Texas life. They crossed a cattle grate to enter the property, then switched to pickup trucks. Again the Senator traveled with the Minister, while the rest of the group followed in a four-door work truck. They took a road of sand and shale, and they passed through wind-bent bushes and gnarled trees that looked burned and split, with even their tall branches twisted to the ground. There was a field of spiked plants, their shark claws aglow. Each was alone in the way it groped from the rocky earth, looking to Jun Do like gestures from those buried underneath.
During the ride to the ranch, the Americans seemed