closing the barn off by dragging a sheet of corrugated iron across the entrance. He didn’t seem to have any more time for them.
Ding Ming felt mortified. He’d caused an uncomfortable situation for his wife, and it seemed he’d broken the rules of conduct of his hosts. He wished he’d never seen that barn.
( 14
‘It’s okay,’ said Ding Ming. ‘It’s fine. This is a thing of no importance.’
‘How can you be sure?’ She gnawed on her bottom lip in that way she had. He felt foreboding, too. They were in a new country with new rules and new rulers, people who cared about them were too far away to help, and there were no friendly faces to provide a single stroke of comfort.
All the migrants were from China’s Fujian Province. The five other men were all from one village, some place on the coast. Tough and taciturn, they’d expected to become fishermen like their fathers and grandfathers.
Ding Ming was aware that they did not see him as one of their own. Never mind that he was a peasant too, a simple village boy whose parents barely scratched a living out of a smallholding. He’d been educated, he could speak Mandarin Chinese and even some English, he didn’t smoke, and he’d brought his wife along. They’d left wives and girlfriends , and in some cases children, at home, knowing that they would not see them again for years, and they were still working at hardening their hearts. Perhaps it didn’t do them good to see a loving couple together.
The two girls were twins from a brood of three girls. Their unfortunate parents had been desperate for a son, and had kept trying, never mind the penalties. Squat and dark and big-eyed, they held hands and sucked their thumbs.
A couple of the men were relieving themselves against the wall of the barn. The girls were going in a ditch andeveryone else had turned their backs – that was the way to do it.
Kevin and his lieutenants stood apart, smoking and chatting . Little Ye followed his gaze and said, ‘I find them a little frightening.’
He knew what she meant. Kevin and the driver were overweight , and the sense their bodies gave of flesh multiplying out of control was alarming. But even their slimmer companions , with their booming voices and rudely assertive gestures, gave the impression of bigness.
Clicking his fingers and pointing, Kevin directed the men towards a dirty white van, while one of his lieutenants began herding the girls to a car.
‘I want all the men over here, and the women get in there.’
Ding Ming had no desire to act on those instructions, he did not even let go of his wife’s hand.
Kevin’s gestures got larger. There was something so peculiar about that babble and the big movements. A Chinese man laughed out of nervousness. Kevin punched him in the face and the man fell down.
‘Yeah? That’s what happens when you laugh at me.’ Kevin rubbed his knuckles.
There was a difficult silence and the felled man rose and wiped blood off his mouth. He waved away the ministrations of his friends and leaned against the lorry to recover his senses.
‘Men go to the van, women in the car.’
Little Ye let go of Ding Ming’s hand.
‘Wait.’
‘We have no choice.’
‘Let me ask.’
Without looking Mister Kevin in the eye, because he didn’t want to be distracted while he formed the clumpysyllables, Ding Ming said, ‘Excuse me sir, but wife and me is come together.’
And Mister Kevin said to his lieutenants, ‘How about that? That’s not bad English, is it?’
Ding Ming pointed with his chin at Little Ye. She looked fretful that her husband had dared speak out like this. ‘This my wife.’
‘It’s regrettable, obviously, but you’ll be back together in a few weeks. We got orders, I got quotas. Nothing I can do.’
Mister Kevin put an arm around Ding Ming’s shoulder, easily the heaviest limb he’d ever felt. He wore a big gold ring on his finger, now with a smear of blood on it.
‘So you’re going to have to say
Ding Ming felt mortified. He’d caused an uncomfortable situation for his wife, and it seemed he’d broken the rules of conduct of his hosts. He wished he’d never seen that barn.
( 14
‘It’s okay,’ said Ding Ming. ‘It’s fine. This is a thing of no importance.’
‘How can you be sure?’ She gnawed on her bottom lip in that way she had. He felt foreboding, too. They were in a new country with new rules and new rulers, people who cared about them were too far away to help, and there were no friendly faces to provide a single stroke of comfort.
All the migrants were from China’s Fujian Province. The five other men were all from one village, some place on the coast. Tough and taciturn, they’d expected to become fishermen like their fathers and grandfathers.
Ding Ming was aware that they did not see him as one of their own. Never mind that he was a peasant too, a simple village boy whose parents barely scratched a living out of a smallholding. He’d been educated, he could speak Mandarin Chinese and even some English, he didn’t smoke, and he’d brought his wife along. They’d left wives and girlfriends , and in some cases children, at home, knowing that they would not see them again for years, and they were still working at hardening their hearts. Perhaps it didn’t do them good to see a loving couple together.
The two girls were twins from a brood of three girls. Their unfortunate parents had been desperate for a son, and had kept trying, never mind the penalties. Squat and dark and big-eyed, they held hands and sucked their thumbs.
A couple of the men were relieving themselves against the wall of the barn. The girls were going in a ditch andeveryone else had turned their backs – that was the way to do it.
Kevin and his lieutenants stood apart, smoking and chatting . Little Ye followed his gaze and said, ‘I find them a little frightening.’
He knew what she meant. Kevin and the driver were overweight , and the sense their bodies gave of flesh multiplying out of control was alarming. But even their slimmer companions , with their booming voices and rudely assertive gestures, gave the impression of bigness.
Clicking his fingers and pointing, Kevin directed the men towards a dirty white van, while one of his lieutenants began herding the girls to a car.
‘I want all the men over here, and the women get in there.’
Ding Ming had no desire to act on those instructions, he did not even let go of his wife’s hand.
Kevin’s gestures got larger. There was something so peculiar about that babble and the big movements. A Chinese man laughed out of nervousness. Kevin punched him in the face and the man fell down.
‘Yeah? That’s what happens when you laugh at me.’ Kevin rubbed his knuckles.
There was a difficult silence and the felled man rose and wiped blood off his mouth. He waved away the ministrations of his friends and leaned against the lorry to recover his senses.
‘Men go to the van, women in the car.’
Little Ye let go of Ding Ming’s hand.
‘Wait.’
‘We have no choice.’
‘Let me ask.’
Without looking Mister Kevin in the eye, because he didn’t want to be distracted while he formed the clumpysyllables, Ding Ming said, ‘Excuse me sir, but wife and me is come together.’
And Mister Kevin said to his lieutenants, ‘How about that? That’s not bad English, is it?’
Ding Ming pointed with his chin at Little Ye. She looked fretful that her husband had dared speak out like this. ‘This my wife.’
‘It’s regrettable, obviously, but you’ll be back together in a few weeks. We got orders, I got quotas. Nothing I can do.’
Mister Kevin put an arm around Ding Ming’s shoulder, easily the heaviest limb he’d ever felt. He wore a big gold ring on his finger, now with a smear of blood on it.
‘So you’re going to have to say
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