When Broken Glass Floats_ Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge - Chanrithy Him [112]
With our little waffle stand comes a makeshift market. On the shoulders of the road lined by shade trees, people from Sala Krao and other villages join in the trading. They bring papayas, coconuts, squashes, live fish, and woven baskets, anything usable, to trade for processed rice. Several other people set up competing waffle stands, so we turn to making and selling noodles.
The market expands further, spilling out from the shoulders of the road into a large wooden-covered building. In two months, with the influx of travelers, suddenly food, everything, is also traded for small pieces of twenty-four-karat gold cut from necklace chains, bracelets, and ring bands, a lighter currency than processed rice.
I’m surprised to see that people still have fine jewelry. Looking back, I remember the time when the leader from Daakpo told us to give up our jewelry to Angka. He said it was bad for us to possess material connected with the “American imperialists,” and now it helps people to buy meals.
As with the waffles, other people begin to make noodles, competing with us for customers. Soon we feel the effects of this competition and can barely sell our food.
Ra, Than, Ry, and I discuss our future survival, a way to earn our living. After talking to some travelers from Kompong Cham, Ra, Than, and Phally decide to go with them to the border to buy goods from the Thai merchants to bring back and sell in Sala Krao.
One day, after they’ve left, Ry and I decide to take a break, especially since we haven’t sold many noodles in the previous days. Having the burden of trading off my shoulders, I play jump rope under the trees in front of om’s house.
Later a girl my age, thirteen, comes and asks if she can play. Gladly, I say of course. We play rock-paper-scissors. I win, so I get to jump first. As I jump, I can’t stop smiling. It feels as if I’m at recess after a long morning in class. When it’s time for the other girl to jump, I’m excited just to watch her.
The girl’s mother calls her away. While I continue to jump rope by myself, she comes back. Excitedly, she says that she and her mom are going to buy food near Thailand and bring it back here. She asks if I want to go. I wonder how long it will take to get to the market near Thailand.
Her mom says, “Oh, it won’t take that long, and before you know it, you’ll be back here. A kid like you can carry four boxes of instant noodles and you will make a lot of profit. Do you want to go? I’m taking Srey with me.”
“Yes,” I say excitedly. I imagine myself carrying four boxes of noodles on my back. Already my mind travels to this market. In a split second I’m back in Sala Krao. Easy, I imagine, just like the woman said.
I tell Ry that I’ll be back in two days. Sensing my excitement, Ry smiles as she splits half of the gold we’ve earned from selling food. In a hurry, I leave with Srey and her mom, and I don’t get to tell Map where I’m going.
Our journey is much longer than Srey’s mother told me it would be. We walk through villages and fields. Thirst and fatigue overwhelm me. Srey’s mother says we must keep on walking and warns me to hide my gold somewhere on my clothes where it won’t be easy to find in case we meet with robbers.
We come to a large lake filled with tall, grasslike plants called kak that grow three to four feet above the blackish water. I don’t want to go in. Having come this far, Srey’s mother warns me that she’s not going to turn back. If I go back by myself, she says, I’ll get lost. If I go ahead, I can buy the noodles and make a profit.
Srey and her mom are waiting impatiently by the lake. Trying to weigh my options, I watch a group of adults crossing the lake. Among them I spot Phally, heading toward me. Looking distressed and shocked to see me, she places her hand on my shoulder. She tells me how she and the group she was with were attacked and robbed. When the gunfire erupted, everybody ran, and she doesn’t know where Ra and Than are.
I know going ahead to the border is dangerous. But I decide against going back with Phally. At least Srey’s mother has gone on this