Today's post is a lengthy one. And as I warned you earlier, I am throwing a lot of new people at you all at once. If you can't keep them straight, don't worry. Just imagine that you are in Clete's shoes (so to speak...) and are experiencing some of his disorientation. You'll eventually get a full player list, but I'll put a short one of everyone you've met so far at the bottom of this post.
Clete's journal entry and a transcription of a recorded recollection are what comprise this chapter. All this happens on one day.
Love and good luck,
Pops
Personal Journal
Entry
U.S. Time: Monday, July 16, 2012
Island Time: Dragon, Month 5, Day 28, Xingqi 1
Island Time: Dragon, Month 5, Day 28, Xingqi 1
Project Date: Week 4, Day 2
This week I begin my period of working in the domain of
Wood. This is the breadbasket of Dog Island; the top soil is rich and deep. The
Islanders have a long history (probably centuries) of composting in this area.
They have adopted methods of rotating fallow fields. Wish I had equipment to
drill. Salt does not invade the groundwater in this area. Refer to dimensions
in the survey section. The area is not terribly large, but more than adequate
to maintain year-round subsistence crop production for this very small
population.
They have pens in which they keep small pigs, lambs,
rabbits, and some other pudgy mammal, which I cannot identify, all of which are
all kept in this domain. One animal that they have here and do not cultivate,
but rather it roams freely, is the civet—I’ve only seen pictures of them
heretofore. It’s a good luck animal for them. They are like long skinny cats,
abounding in good numbers, basically tame and vegetarian and insectivorous.
Ling tells me practically every life form on this island is foreign here,
including themselves. All here either because traders or settlers brought them,
or because of shipwreck.
Cultivated chickens, geese, ducks, and squabs are kept in
another domain—that one is called the Phoenix domain. They have a complicated
pen-to-field rotation system that was explained to me that they have found cultivates
and fertilizes the land, and makes best use of each animal’s tendency to dig or
graze and minimizes animal stress, disease, and parasites. In fact, they keep
some of the cleanest pigs I’ve ever seen. They almost look like pets. They are
getting set to kill one soon. I have asked if I can record the process from
stun to butcher and hide removal and tanning. Lee seems a bit apprehensive
about it. For all her talk about being the pig sticker, I get the sense that
it’s a sacred process for her and as such should not be photographed. I’m
getting close to convincing her.
One thing I did notice is that even with all livestock that
is maintained, there are no dogs on Dog Island. I plan to ask about that.
They still don’t trust me to give me all their demographic
information, but I think perhaps since my fishing quota is to feed 19, which
includes me, 18 people live here? I have certainly seen the inhabitants around.
I’ve been on the lookout for men other than Rex, but so far they’ve all evaded
my view. So far I have met Lee and Ling, Qin Qin and her mother Lian, and
another mother-daughter pair over dinner the week before last Wednesday, the
Fourth of July, Lum and her daughter Xiaomei. She is called “xiao” or “little”
Mei, because I am told there is an older woman they call Da Mei, “da” meaning
“big.” They told me Da Mei is the largest woman on the Island. Don’t let the
name fool you. I had in my head a big ol’ muumuu-wearing, rotund, solid, Samoan
kind of gal, whom you could not get your arms around, but when she was pointed
out to me, she was certainly dark like a Polynesian, but just as slim, girlish,
and sylph-like as any of the other women I’ve met here. She did seem to be
about an inch taller than the others, but that’s about all that “big” means
here.
Their slim, muscular, but petite physiques are probably due
to an abundance of strenuous activity and a diet rich in organically grown
fruits and vegetables, limited meat intake, fish whenever they can get it, and
starches provided by root crops they cultivate, imported rice, as well as buns
and noodles made various grain flours that they also import. Since I have been
required to eat regularly with Lee and have now subsisted on the same diet, I
notice I am starting to lose weight, but not vitality.
Today I selected a random fallow pen-yards and proceeded to dig
through the top soil and see how far down I could go before encountering
bedrock. I hit the water table within the first eight six feet and proceeded
another eight or nine before I became completely exhausted. Again this land
defies my expectations. For the amount of rain that falls here, the typical
tropical soil is quite nutrient poor and leached of beneficial components for
intense agriculture. It was quite obvious that this land had carefully maintained
and cultivated for a very long time, but this was unexpected. This part of the
Island has a micro-climate of moderate rainfall, but it’s still hotter than
blazes here.
I had gotten up well before dawn to put in the hard labor
before the most ferocious heat of the day. I had several soil samples. I just
needed to rest up and then get back to the lab for testing. As I rested in the shade
of a nearby tree, a teenage girl wearing the black and white uniform
approached. I recognized her as she got close. It was Xiaomei. I had not talked
to her since dinner at Lian’s house. She
got within arm’s length of me and gave me a bow of greeting.
“Good day, Dr. Wong,” she said.
“Would you care for some rice water?” She held out a large thermos.
“That . . . young lady, sounds just fabulous!” I
took it from her and popped the top immediately. I remembered the etiquette Lian
had shown me and said, “would you like capful yourself?”
“No. I am quite good myself. Please
drink it all.” I was so parched, I needed no further prodding.
The word I would use for Xiaomei is intensity. She is a girl
who seems highly focused and highly self-directed. She and another girl, to
whom I have not been introduced yet, are the primary animal keepers, and they
run a tight ship. She barks authoritatively and the animals obey. She
approaches and they flock to her. And she seems to have a genuine affection for
each living creature in her charge, even though she knows they’ll all wind up in
the dinner bowl. Xiaomei’s forehead is high and prominent, and she wears her
hair pulled tightly back off her face, making her appear older than her, what I
would guess to be 18 years. If she were in one of my college classes, I would
expect to see her sitting at the front.
Reporter’s Note:
Inserting transcript of recorded recollection of Dragon 5-28 (16 July 2012) by
Xiaomei, Second Guardian Princess of the Wood Element and Questor as told to
the Guardian Princess of History, Prophecy, and Lore—for the sake of narrative
continuity. Reporter notes that Dr. Wong for his part, has refused to divulge
any of his thoughts or recollections on this incident. Even for the sake
history. How petty.
Qin Qin: OK, I think this button does
it. Testing. [mechanical sounds] It’s working. Mei, go ahead and relate what
happened that day.
Xiaomei: Mother sent me to invite
Professor Wong to lunch. He was quite tired from manual labor—he had been
digging a trench-ramp, I believe—and I offered him some rice water.
“My mother sent me to invite you to share our
midday meal with you? If you are agreeable?”
“I would love to, but with the
work I’ve been doing today, I’m quite sure I stink! Tell her I’ll take a rain check.”
“A rain check?”
“That means let’s do it
another day when I won’t be so offensive.”
“She will be very disappointed.
I believe she wanted to talk to you about something. If you are worried about
smelling, I remind you that our domain is the one that houses the animal pens.
Strong smells do not disturb us.”
“So I compare well to a pig
pen? With a compliment like that, who can resist? All right, you’ve convinced
me Mei. I’ll be there.”
“Why don’t you come a little
early then?”
“Early?”
“She saw that you were doing your
trench digging work very early, so she has made some preparations for a
medicinal bath to refresh you.”
“A medicinal bath?”
“Herbal infusions are her
specialty among the Firsts.”
“So she figured an old man
would be having aches and pains after lifting a shovel then?”
“I do not know what to say to
that, Dr. Wong.”
“Just like Ling. When will she
be ready for me?”
“About an hour.”
“My hour or your hour?”
“Your hour. Come to the
Central Bath Shed. Follow that path.”
“Fine. I’ll see you then. I
going to engage in my favorite pastime here and just sit and sweat. Ain’t that
peachy?”
Qin Qin: “Peachy?”
Xiaomei: I did not know what “peachy”
meant and I did not ask. I think he was being sarcastic. It is hard to tell
with him for me. He was late in coming so Mother sent me after him. He was
standing at the border marker.
I bowed to him and said,
“Please accompany me, Dr. Wong.”
“I don’t read Chinese so well,
but I think that wooden sign says that another domain starts here, so I’m not
going to cross.”
“I’m sorry. Why?”
“Your elders have given me
strict instructions that I am only allowed in one domain per week. I have to
report everything I do to Lee every night and I do NOT want to say that I
violated my research agreement, so tell your mother I’m sorry, but I’m going
back to my lab.”
“But it’s just right there.
It’s placed near the border to be accessible to more than one domain. Paths and
baths are considered neutral territory.”
“Yeah, and if it were right
here on the border I’d buy it. You know, I really need to hear that from Lee.
Get her to come over here and escort me and I’ll do it.”
“But she’s working on the
other side of the Island today. It’s not really possible.”
“She and I have developed a
great relationship of passing silent nights together over dinner. I do not want
to fuck that up for anything.”
“Well, just don’t tell her
that you came to the Central Bath then!” It was Mother. “That girl is so
disagreeable. She doesn’t need to know everything!” She grabbed his arm and
pulled him over the border. She was wearing her gauzy dress that shows you
everything about her body but yet shows you nothing.
“Lum?
Let’s get something straight,” Dr. Wong said, “if a tree falls in the forest,
it makes a sound. Ain’t no debate on that. It might take a while, but they get
heard. Every inch of topsoil I cleared this morning is probably 100 years of
trees falling, and I’m hearing them now.”
“I
have no idea what you are saying. Is that one of those poetic American
sayings?” Mother giggled. “I think we can get it down to a proper four words.
Tree fall make noise.”
“What
I’m saying is these things always have a way of getting out.” Dr. Wong scanned
all over very worriedly, but Mother reassured him.
“Don’t
worry. Most everybody is working in The Grove doing branch trimming and
seedling planting. They won’t return until near sundown. I’ll be keeping the
bath warm for them. You should relax Clete. You get the first dip. And I have a
wonderful meal cooking.”
Xiaomei: That was so demoralizing. I was
a total disregardable entity. But Mother didn’t even have to give him a reason;
she just smiled up sweetly at him. How sickening. Is that really how it is
between men and women? He sighed and followed as she pulled him along. So Dr.
Wong told me later that he finds it nearly impossible to tell Mother anything
approaching a “no.” To do that would be like being cruel to a baby because
she’s so cute. And Mother does affect a babyish voice around him. She never did
anything like that before she met him. It’s annoying. She is in her 50s!
Qin Qin: Mei! Back to the recollection?
Please?
Xiaomei: Right. She showed him the bath shed,
how it has a barrel tub to hold four, six of us girls if we squeeze in. How we
heat the water outside in a separate tank to segregate smoke. The storage
closet. And the little steam-sweating dome chamber adjacent. She handed him a
towel and told him to undress. She then handed me his clothes and sent me off
to wash them out while he bathed and they would talk business over lunch.
I was at the washing
station where the water runs clear over the rocks when I heard someone
approaching. When I saw who it was I ran back to Mother who was arguing with
the Professor.
“I’ll be damned if crawl into
the fuckin’ Island igloo of yours! You can bake bread in that thing. Or steam
baos or whatever. What is it? Over 50 Celsius?”
“It’s not the same if you
don’t remove your toxins by sweating in the steam. You have to do the purge.
Just 20 minutes.”
“Sweating out toxins my bony
ass! Goddamned new-age pseudo-science. That’s always been a specious claim with
no data to back it up. I’ve been sweating like a pig since the minute I got off
the chopper. If I had toxins, they’re long gone! The only thing I’ve been
losing is salt and electrolytes.”
“I think you need to calm
down. I’ll go in with you for a bit. It’s perfectly safe.”
“Look, you guys think 115
Fahrenheit is a goddamned normal day. I’ll be dead of heat stroke in 10 minutes
in there.”
“So tell me then, do all
American men whine as much as you do?”
“Mother!” I shouted.”
“Don’t interrupt dear, it’s
rude.”
“The Security Council is
coming!”
“Shit!” the Professor yelled.
“Where’re my clothes? I gotta get out of here!”
“They’re early! Why?” Mother
exclaimed.
“I DON’T KNOW WHY. BUT THEY’RE
COMING.”
“My clothes, young lady?”
“At the washing station.”
“Point me in the right
direction and I’ll take care of myself.”
“You can’t go that way. The
Security Council is coming from there.”
“I can see them,” said Mother.
“Clete. Into the steam chamber. Now. I’ll put them in the bath and serve them
tea and you can slip away after that.”
The Professor hesitated for a
minute as he got down on his knees to crawl in. “I swear to God Little Lady,
I’m going to nail your ass to wall for this someday. Now I know what Hansel and
Gretel felt like. Shit.”
The First Princesses of the
Four Heavenly Beasts arrived talking and laughing, Mu, Feng, Qi, and Ting Ting.
“Lum!” yelled Mu, “Sorry we’re early, but the trees practically cut themselves,
but we’re still spent. We are so looking forward to that herbal treatment of
yours.”
“I can’t even feel my left
hand anymore,” said Feng. “I can hardly wait for the immersion. I really need
you to work on my shoulder too.”
“Oh!” said Ting Ting, “The
steam is pouring out of the doghouse! It’s ready. I’ll get the ointments!”
And before my mother could say
anything they had all completely undressed and started crawling into the steam
chamber with the Professor. Mother is not good at thinking quickly in crises.
All she could think to say was, “Uh, Na is in there already. She’s upset and
pouting, so don’t talk to her.”
“Na
is always upset,” said Qi. “What else is new? We’ll leave her alone. Ah, this
feels good. Like entering a dragon’s mouth.”
Xiaomei: I asked Auntie Ting Ting what happened in the
steam chamber. This is what she told me.
Ting
Ting: I went in and we arranged ourselves in a circle back to front like usual
and I forced Na to sit in front of me. I poured the oil into everyone’s hands
and we just started to working it into each other’s back and shoulders. But I
noticed that Na was much too broad and she wrapped the towel on her head which
she never does. And the smell from this person was so very different. I had a
suspicion about what Cousin Lum might be up to. I took that person in from of
me by the shoulders and pulled back and whispered in English.
“You’re Clete, aren’t you?”
“I’m sorry, yes. And I’m about
to faint from heat stroke and that would be very bad.”
“I
see, that’s a problem.”
“I
don’t need any more enemies on this Island than I already have. I’ll pay you a
million dollars to get me out of here without drawing attention.” He was so
funny. I was now quite curious about this fellow.
“I
heard you were a professor. You sound more like a pirate.”
“Arrh.”
“Did
you just say ‘two’ for some reason?”
“Never
mind. Please get me out of here.”
“Sit
quietly while I do a background check and verify your identity.”
Ting
Ting: I never get to handle one that close, a man that is, and especially one
my age, and I knew he would not make a sound, so I reached down and around and
grabbed his “little brother” just to make sure that he was indeed a man. I
promise I’ll tell you more about that later dear, and how they work, you will
find it useful. I would have played with him a little more—the temptation to
use leverage in such a situation was unbearable, but Qi started to make
unpleasant remarks.
“Na? I know you’re not happy
right now,” Qi said, as she was right in front of the Professor, “but please
use your whole palm to apply if you’re going to do it at all. Fingertips is
very irritating! Not soothing in the least!”
“Crouch, huddle, and try to make
yourself seem as small as possible,” I said to him, “and then we’ll crawl out,
you first. We don’t want to have them see daylight between your legs. Keep them
close together.” He nodded.
“What are you two whispering
in English over there?” asked Mu.
“Na is not feeling well, I’m
going to assist her out. She has an embarrassing weeping wound. Close eyes
please.”
“Fine, fine,” said Feng. “Just
remember we didn’t ask you to leave. Don’t go blaming me for anything! I’m fine
with your staying here. Go to the Sea Witch for treatment as soon as you can.”
After
we came out, I hurried him out of sight into the bath shed. “Clete, you’re
overheated. You’re really red.”
“Hunh? Oh right . .
.” he was not very responsive.
“Get
into the tub. It will cool you down a bit. They’ll be out in twenty minutes.
Where are your clothes?”
“Xiaomei took them someplace.”
He started to relax and perk up once he got into the water.
“This is Lum’s doing isn’t it?
That silly little birdbrain. You stay there. Lee keeps saying you are nothing
but trouble. Looks like she’s right. I’ll go find something else for you to
wear and get you out of here. You owe me though.”
Xiaomei: That’s the
end of Auntie Ting Ting’s part. She then hurried away to find something for the
Professor to wear. Mother had gone away to prepare tea service to get the
Security Council out, and I had hurried back to the washing station to fetch
the Professor’s clothes. As I was approaching I hid as I saw Ting Ting get him
out of the steam chamber and place him in the bathing shed. She wandered off
and I started to move in when Auntie Mu crawled out of the chamber. I was
holding his dripping clothes so I stayed hidden.
I asked Auntie Mu what
happened next and this is what she told me:
Mu:
I came out thinking I needed to sit and chat with Na. I detest having ill
feelings or animosity linger between the Firsts especially. It’s so
counterproductive to all of our work. I wanted to reassure her and see what the
problem was. I saw that she was sitting alone in the bath with her back to me
and that this would be the perfect time by ourselves. I hurried and climbed
into the tub across from her. It was not Na.
“Ah, you must be the
Scientist?” I said.
“Uh, yes. About this. There is
an explanation,” he insisted.
“I’m sure there is. My
imagination reels. But the basic thing I see here is that you have committed an
unauthorized border crossing.”
“It’s going to cost me, isn’t
it?”
“I’m a big enough person,
Doctor, that I can overlook it just this once, but my colleague Council members
may not be so forgiving. You are still an unpredictable moral quantity. We take
Lee’s reports on you very seriously. That is why the restrictions have been
kept firm.”
“Can I just throw myself on the
mercy of the court?”
“I don’t know the facts here,
but I suspect a Princess who is, shall I say less than clear on your movement
license, invited you here. I think I can manage to obscure your presence and
avoid negative impressions. Get out and towel off. I have an idea.” I must say
he took orders well and dried himself off. “Quickly,” I said opening the
storage closet, “if you crouch you can fit into the upper shelf.”
“It’s kind of high up,” he
said.
“Which makes it a good hiding
place. Step on me,” I said crouching down myself, “use my shoulders.”
“But . . .”
“I assure you, Dr. Wong, I may
be small, but I am sturdy. Heavier things have been borne by these shoulders.
Use momentum if you’re so worried about me.”
Again he did as
told; I don’t know what Lee’s problem is. I barely felt him as he clambered up.
Considerate, I thought. I draped his towel over him so he would be obscured if
anyone opened the closet door. “Stay quiet. I will get you out and across the
border after the bath is done. I will do my best to cut it short. Consider this
a favor owed.”
I then went
wandering about to see if I could find where he had left his clothes or to find
a suitable covering.
Xiaomei: And that’s
where Auntie Mu’s part ends.
She left the shed and I
went in to find the Professor, but he had disappeared. But where could he have
hidden? I couldn’t see him anywhere. Just then Auntie Feng was crawling out of
the chamber. I threw the Professor’s clothes into the large straw hamper and
hurried out to see where he might have escaped to. I heard Auntie Feng say out
loud: “Where is everyone?” She went
to the closet to get one of the dried gourds that we use to break open and
scrub our skin with its rough interior—they were kept in a basket on the lower
shelf. She told me later that she noticed moisture dripping from the upper
shelf. She put her finger to the moisture and tasted it and said it was salty.
She looked up, saw movement, heard breathing, and removed the towel.
“Dr. Wong, I presume?” she
said.
“What a pleasant surprise. Good
afternoon.”
“How unusual to find a naked
man in the closet here.”
“It
is a bath house isn’t it? I rather think I’m appropriately attired. I even
removed my tattoos for you.”
“And
it is the custom in your country to occupy closet spaces then when taking a
bath?”
“Actually
most of the men I’ve met who go to bath houses are out of the closet.”
“So
it’s true that you speak in idioms and riddles. You only succeed in impressing
yourself. You’re grimacing. Tears are in your eyes. And sweating profusely I
might add. Is there a problem?”
“It’s hot and I have a
goddamned fuckin’ cramp in my leg, Lady. May I yell now?”
“Please don’t. And there’s no
need to curse.”
“You have no idea on that
one.”
“This is a blatant contract
violation Dr. Wong. You are outside the Wood Domain.”
“Have your lawyer call my
lawyer.”
“Stealth and evasion are
evidence of guilt.”
“Duly noted. I’m really
sorry.”
“Truly sorry, or sorry you got
caught?”
“What kind of proof do you
require?”
“True contrition’s companion
is humility. You seem to have nothing but sarcasm and contempt.”
“Begging
your pardon, but it’s my main ego-defense mechanism living as a beleaguered minority
person in a hostile culture. It’s a natural response. Don’t take it
personally.”
“But
America is the ‘Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave’ if I recall your
national poetry correctly?”
“Bravery
and freedom are all the more necessary for oppressed people like me then, don’t
you think?”
“An
interesting retort. However, tell you what, I am not a woman without mercy.
Come on out of there and I will get you back to where you belong without
detection. And I will do so without putting you in a posture to cause you a
cramp. But . . .”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I owe you
one. That’s what they all say.”
“Get into the hamper and stay
there until we are done here. There are too many things going on right now.”
“Damn right. Shit! What else
could happen?” he said as he climbed into the basket. “A man has no dignity of
this damn Island.” She set the lid. Ting Ting and Mu both returned.
“What do you have there?”
asked Mu.
“A large smock. Didn’t want to
get back in my dirty clothes. You?” asked Ting Ting.
“The same,” said Mu.
Mother arrived with tea
service. She kicked the steam chamber. “Qi honey, time for your scraping and
infusion. Everybody into the tub, and I’ll serve. Come on.”
Auntie Qi crawled out. “Oh
that was so good. It was a good hot spell, if you know what I mean. Not one of
those unpredictable episodes! Ah, bath time!” said Qi.
“Xiaomei
darling, would you check on … ‘Na’?” asked Mother.
“Na got out a long time ago,”
said Qi. “Sigh. I’m ready for the cool dip.”
“Oh? Where did she go?” asked
Mother.
“MOTHER . . . we need to step aside for a minute and talk.
I have something I need to tell you.” She started to ask me what happened when
we looked down the path and saw Na approaching. She smiled and waved.
“Hey! I smelled the smoke! And
the herbals!” she yelled, “You got bath water going? I’m all in! I really need
a good wash after the compost turning.”
“Serve the tea!” Mother
ordered me as she pushed her tray into my hands moved to intercept Na. “I’m
sorry, you can’t join us.”
“Why not? I see four heads in
there. We’ve gotten six in the Central Tub before.”
“It . . ., it’s the Security
Council,” said Mother.
“What? If they don’t want me
in they can tell me themselves. They can have their top secret meeting on their
own time at the meeting hall. This is common ground,” complained Na.
“Please don’t,” said Mother.
“I promise, I’ll make it up to you.”
At that moment we
heard the sound of the diesel engine of Lee’s jeep pulling up. She nodded.
“Ling’s doing laundry today. Here to pick up,” she said walking right to the hamper. Before I could say anything she popped the lid and looked inside and put the lid back on. She gave a great huff of disgust. As she looked up she saw Ba and Yi passing by carrying full buckets on their shoulder yolks. She called to them “Hey you girls. You got sea water there?”
“Ling’s doing laundry today. Here to pick up,” she said walking right to the hamper. Before I could say anything she popped the lid and looked inside and put the lid back on. She gave a great huff of disgust. As she looked up she saw Ba and Yi passing by carrying full buckets on their shoulder yolks. She called to them “Hey you girls. You got sea water there?”
“Yes Auntie,” said Ba. “We’re
taking it to the shrine to pour on the Water God for an offering. We’re diving
tomorrow.”
“I need it more here, by order
of the Water Princess,” said Lee. They came over and set down the buckets. “Ah.
Good and cold. The best! Bring me the rope from the jeep and stay back.” She removed
the lid from the hamper and then slowly poured the cold water into the hamper. I
heard a stifled grunt. She did the same with the other three buckets. Lee
looked almost gleeful as she emptied the seawater. “Thank you girls. You have
to fetch them again. I’m sorry.” Lee then started to tie up the hamper so that
it would not open.
Na had put aside her rage and
was curious about the spectacle. “What’s this about?” she asked Lee.
“Two civets are trying to mate
in this basket. Had to cool them off before they foul everything inside with
their awful spray.” She flipped the hamper on its side and rolled it toward the
jeep. She pulled down two pieces of lumber to roll it up into the back. On the
first try, she almost seemed to intentionally drop it off the top of the ramp,
letting it fall more than a meter to the ground. I gritted my teeth as it hit. I
looked over and saw that Auntie Feng was holding her chin, wincing as well. That
must have hurt. Na helped her the second time.
“Give me a lift to The Lake? I
want to wash.” asked Na.
“They got hot bath right there,”
said Lee.
“Bunch of old hens can ‘fookin’
go fook themselves.’ Second dipping them would be like washing in pig piss. No
thanks to that.”
“You and I are just as old! What’s
wrong?” said Lee.
“The usual. I stink. That’s
what’s wrong.”
“No more than usual,” said
Lee.
“Na,” said Mother running up
to the jeep, “I’m sorry. I’ll explain.”
“Nothing to explain, Lil’
Lummy. You’re not the problem. Get me out of here.”
Xiaomei: And so, Lee
drove away with Na and that’s how the Professor met Aunties Ting Ting, Mu, and
Feng.
Personal Journal
Entry – continued
Dr. Clete Wong – July 16, 2012
Dr. Clete Wong – July 16, 2012
[Section deleted.]
There were some mishaps and misunderstandings regarding the
lunch meeting I had set up with Lum earlier in the day, so it was cancelled. I
recounted what happened to Lee, my liaison, and to my surprise she actually
believed me.
To follow up, Lee invited Lum and Xiaomei over to dinner
with us that evening and after that, Lee hosted and prepared a bath in the
smaller facility near our cottages. Bathing is a ritualistic and a social
affair on the Island as I have learned. Lee undressed us both, rubbed down our
skin with some sort of loofa-like thing, put us in a smaller version of Central
Bath’s large tub, and then she took up a post, sitting at the doorway to
monitor those who might pass by and also to chaperone us, keeping us in her
line of view.
“You say whatever you want to
say to each other in the bath,” she had told me. “It is the place, the only
place on the Island, where what is said is private. Even if you overhear
someone, you do not hear it. Outside of the bath everybody hears everything and
knows everything. That is the way the Island is. Understand?” I nodded that I
understood. Then she scolded Lum. “I am liaison. You should have had me set this
meeting for you before! Look at all the trouble you caused. Na’s feelings were
hurt.”
“I just wanted to do something
nice in my favorite bath though. It got so out of control,” said Lum. “But I
thought you would deny me.”
“How you know I will deny unless
you ask? Are you going to ask him something embarrassing or illegal?”
“No.” And that was that. Lee
left us and sat at the doorway to deny outsider access to our conversation.
Of all those I had met on the Island, unlike Lee and Lian, Lum’s
hair was interspersed with silver. I peg her as the Island’s hippie chick, the
kind of woman who would be teaching a yoga class, prepping whole grains for all
meals, never shaving anything, growing hydroponic pot, having a prodigious dick
collection. On the other hand, aren’t all of these girls back-to-nature, hippie
chicks? But I guess you can’t go back to nature if you never left.
When I pair Lum up in my mind’s eye with someone, the image
goes quite naturally to match her with a balding, bearded Jewish intellectual, making
for the picture-perfect biracial, interfaith couple living in educated, liberal
harmony, like so many amongst my university colleagues. Come to think of it, I
know more Jewish Buddhists than I do Japanese ones. I need to introduce her to
Arnie Weinstein over in Microbio—she’s a dead ringer for his ex. I’ll e-mail
him her picture and see what he thinks. He’ll buy a ticket here tomorrow. But I
digress.
“Turn
your back to me,” she said. “I will massage you.” She poured water over my head
and then began to massage my scalp, then applying fingertip pressure and
rubbing a various places on my ears and on my face. All this time she hovers
close to me, invading personal space, but it is strangely not intrusive. It was
like a trip to world’s best dental hygienist.
“It’s
been years since I’ve had a male to work on,” she said moving down to work my torso.
“The head forgets a lot of things, but the hands remember.”
“Your
hands are like mechanical vices,” said I. “Concert pianists and sculptors are
probably the only ones with fingers that strong.”
“Many
years ago when I was little, we had tourists here. One of my relatives was
trained in deep-tissue body work that she did for the visitors. She took me on
as apprentice. We have no more tourists, but the Islanders work very hard and I
treat them.”
After
she was done I turned myself back around. “Lum? A little bit of American bath
etiquette in case you ever go there? Just so you know where my mind is here?
Especially if I don’t seem like I can relax?”
“Yes?
You have been very tense.”
“A
man and a woman together in a bathtub like this? Back home, this is a situation
I would only let myself be in with my wife.”
“Really?”
She took that in. “ARE you married Clete?”
“Not
anymore.” Time to change the subject. “I noticed when you got in you did not
cause a ripple and you barely made the water level barely rise. Don’t you have
any displacement mass? You’re like a water fairy.”
“My
father always used to say that my body liked being 14, so it just stayed
there.”
“With
such water affinity, seems like maybe you should have Lee’s job of being the
Island ‘Water Commissioner.’”
“Funny
you should bring her up. Lee always makes a splash. It’s like the water was
afraid of her and moves out of the way.”
“It’s
because she’s the water’s boss then. Maybe that’s why she swims so fast. It
resists her.”
“So
if she’s the Water Commissioner, what does that make me then?”
“I
guess you would be the Agricultural Commissioner, at least for crops and trees.
So, who handles livestock?”
“The
responsible regulatory officer for animals would be Qi for mammals, for birds
it would be Feng, and for fish, snakes, lizards, and insect control it would be
Ting Ting. You weren’t properly introduced today, but you met two of them.”
“So
why this division of authority? What’s the rationale?”
“It’s
simple. We divide the world that we are caretakers of into eight palaces or
domains, based on the five elements, and on the four heavenly beasts.”
“FIVE
elements? Hate to tell you this, but there are currently 118; 98 if you only
count those on Earth.”
“I’m
talking about the traditional elements.”
“I count
four. Earth, wind, water, and fire.”
“You’re
thinking like a Westerner.”
“I
am a Westerner. I’d be the first to tell you I’m about as Chinese as a fortune
cookie. Which is, not much.”
“Time
for Chinese school then. The elements. Fire, water, wood, metal, and earth. The
beasts are the phoenix, the tortoise, the chi lin, what you call the unicorn,
and of course the dragon.”
“I
count eight jurisdictions but nine officers in total.”
“The
dragon domain is the entire world. Mu holds that office. You have met Lee who
is the guardian of the Water Element, Lian who is of the Fire Element, and now
me, of the Wood Element. The other three you sort of met today are not
elemental offices. All plant life is of
the Wood Element which is why I oversee agriculture. See? It makes perfect
sense.”
“I
suppose. I’m going to have to write this down, Teach.”
“Don’t
bother. Lee will explain it to you as you work through all the domains.”
“Lee
does not explain anything.”
“That
is unfortunate.”
“This
is very helpful though. I’ll keep that in mind as I work here. What did you
want to talk about tonight?”
“I
understand you are a college professor?”
“I’m
an adjunct professor. So I am not on a tenure track or anything like that, but
it means they hire me from time to time to deliver content that I am expert
in.”
“Ah
yes. Then you are quite familiar with the processes of admission and testing to
enter college?”
“Well,
I’ve been admitted to universities four times, so I guess I know something. But
yes, I have counseled high school students on how to prepare.”
“I
was wondering, if I might engage you to tutor my daughter, Xiaomei, to assist
her in being able to score favorably on her college entrance exams?”
“Where
is she applying?”
“There
is a university in Fiji which is most likely where we would send her.”
“USP?
I think I know somebody there. I’ll have to fire up the e-mail network tonight
and put out a feeler. What does she intend to study?”
“We
don’t know yet. Probably agriculture.”
“My
advice? Steer her to petroleum engineering. OR . . . any energy sector
engineering program. There’s way too few us in the world and so many depend on
what we do.”
“It
sounds quite rigorous.”
“I
find your life here more rigorous compared to mine. One goes to college to get
an easy life, right? Has she considered an American university? How are her
grades? I know people where I teach and went to school. If she falls into the
acceptance parameters I can ‘sponsor’ her in. But she has to have the academic
chops to cut it if I do sponsor.”
“That
is very generous, American schools are quite prestigious and but very expensive.”
“I
happen to know there are scholarships reserved for young people who are Pacific
Islanders that go largely unclaimed. And an energy engineering grads can pay
off loans easily since they’re so employable. Don’t dismiss it without some
research. So, what’s her GPA?”
“That
is why I am asking for your assistance. High school instruction here ends at
age 16. She doesn’t really have a GPA. So she must score well on an equivalent
exam. She has been taking the sample entrance exams that schools have sent us
and she is especially weak in the mathematical portions. I thought that since
you were a scientist you might be able to assist her in her weaknesses?”
“Lum,”
my voice went down to a whisper and I motioned her in close to me, “I tried to
help another girl her on the Island with an acute need and I got shut down
faster than the speed of light. And that was by her own mother. Much as I would
like to, I don’t know if I can.”
“I
know all about the girl you’re speaking of.”
“Do
you? Well maybe you can help me there. I think there’s something bigger going
here that I can’t understand. Tell me about it.”
“That
is a sensitive subject.”
“I know
that. What is it?”
“I
cannot tell you everything, but I will restrict my comments to my daughter. There
are other girls here her age, and she is the only one who will be attending
college. This is the cause of some . . . envy and unhappiness.”
“I
don’t think there’s a reason that everybody with ability can’t be accommodated.
You probably just need someone to help you identify funding sources. I can
check in with the financial aid office and start doing some research for you.
How about that?”
“Funding
is not the main problem. Well, I guess it is. We have eight girls who are
college age.”
“Eight
eh? Hmmm. That’s a lot for a small community.”
“Oh
dear. I am probably disclosing too much to you. The others will be angry with
me. Please, just let me know if you would be willing to help Xiaomei.”
“Seems
harmless enough. Show me her practice tests and let me assess if I can be of
any help. Security Council can’t nail me for helping a kid with math homework
can they?”
“Oh
I don’t know. I don’t know what those girls think is important. It’s too
complicated for me.”
“I
suppose we’ll have to do this on the sly then? Just puh-leez don’t ask me to
get into a hot tub with her. If video of something like that got up on YouTube,
I’d never work at a college again.”
“Oh
Dr. Wong. Thank you. This means a lot to us. But we need to discuss your
compensation.”
“Forget
it. Counseling a young adult is free from me. Just get her into college. Force
her to major in engineering. That’s all I ask. The field needs women.”
“Do
you have a usual hourly rate?”
“If
I calc’ed it, you couldn’t afford it. Just give me something that you think is
of equivalent value when I’m done. OK?”
“I
make everyone’s clothes on the Island. How about if I make you a garment?”
“Fine.
My chest size is 42 inches, my waist . . .”
“We
prefer metric here. But Clete, I just had my hands on every part of you. I know
ALL of your dimensions.”
“You
sure do.” Not quite all, I thought. There was the chick who got me out of “The
Igloo from Hell” who knows one more. Of course that particular dimension is variable
and she got a much higher reading than normal, but we won’t go there. I hope to
God I don’t run into her again. For all the lack of good ol’ American prudery
here, THAT would be embarrassing. This is what it must feel like to be a high
school girl on a Japanese subway. Can’t take it personally though—gotta remember
that farmers, especially animal handlers, have very nitty-gritty sensibilities
about bodies. “So, we’re done here then? Shall we get out?”
“Oh
let’s not. I want to enjoy this bath a while longer. It still smells so nice.”
We eventually quit the bathtub and went to take a look at
Xiaomei’s written work. Her problems were all with algebra and even then I’m
sure if I just backtracked to manipulating fractions, all of her issues would
disappear. I wrote out a series of 25 problems of accumulating difficulty, told
her work them, and then drop by the lab after hours so that I could go over
them with her. “Take care of those, young lady, and then let’s get down to some
REAL math. You will have an exam score that the schools will fight over you for
by the time I’m done.” I counted it as a victory when she managed to break her
intensity and give me a smile.
* * * * *
Those Whom You Have Met So Far in the Story
(more or less in order of appearance)
Clete Winston Wong - an oil and gas entrepreneur, geologist, petroleum engineer, and adjunct professor of math and engineering -- good at pole fishing, ever better at intuitively finding underground fossil resources (but it's really the same skill isn't it ...?)
Johnson Lai - fundraiser for the nonprofit Earth Dragon Institute (don't bother remembering him, he will not reappear, his job was to launch the initiating story event)
Sally - Clete's secretary and assistant back in the States
Rex - elderly protectorate government security representative on Dog Island, male
Lee - citizen of Dog Island, 50-ish female, Guardian of the Water Element, and Clete's designated liaison during his research visit
Ling - citizen of Dog Island, 20-something daughter of Lee
Lian - citizen of Dog Island, 50-ish female, Guardian of the Fire Element
Qin Qin ("chin chin") - citizen of Dog Island, 16-year-old female, Second Guardian Princess of the Fire Element, Guardian Princess of History, Prophecy, and Lore, Lian's daughter, and Clete's sometime indigenous Island research assistant
Ba - citizen of Dog Island, a little older than Qin Qin, female
Yi (pronounced "Ee") - citizen of Dog Island, a little older than Qin Qin, female
Xiaomei ("shao" rhymes with cow, "may") - citizen of Dog Island, older than Qin Qin, female
Lum - citizen of Dog Island, 50-ish female, Guardian of the Wood Element, Xiaomei's mother, she's very small
Ting Ting - citizen of Dog Island, 50-ish female, member of the Dog Island Security Council, Tortoise Guardian
Mu - citizen of Dog Island, 50-ish female, member of the Dog Island Security Council, Dragon Guardian of the East
Feng ("Fung") - citizen of Dog Island, 50-ish female, member of the Dog Island Security Council, Phoenix Guardian of the South
Qi ("Chee") - citizen of Dog Island, 50-ish female, member of the Dog Island Security Council, Chi Lin Guardian of the West
Na - citizen of Dog Island, 50-ish female, Guardian of the Earth Element
