The Vagrants

“That sounds exciting,” Bashi said. “But I can't go with you just now. I have more important business to deal with.”

“Be disappointed, then,” the man said. “Nothing is more important tonight than coming with us.”

Something metal was shaken outside.

“Are the handcuffs real? I remember I had a toy pair when I was this small,” Bashi said.

“Try them on.”

“Sorry, but I would rather be the one to cuff others,” said Bashi. “What are you here for?”

“You know better than we do.”

“I truly can't think of anything I've done wrong.”

“Well, you can keep thinking about it when we get to the station.”

Nini thought about opening the gate and dragging Bashi in before the men registered her existence. She could bolt the gate from the inside, and by the time the men broke it down she and Bashi would be gone from the yard, the house, and this world of horrors.

“But I'm busy tonight. Can I come tomorrow morning?”

A man grunted. “Look here. Do you know what this is? Can you read?”

“Arrest order. Now what is that for?”

“Well, let's go. I've never seen a person who talks as much as you.”

“Please, brothers, give me a hint. Is it because of a girl? Do you know if this has anything to do with a girl?”

“A girl!” the men said, laughing. “Did you get lost in your own wet dreams to think that we would come to get you because of a girl?”

“So it's not girl-related,” Bashi said.

Her parents, after all, did not care about her enough to go through the trouble to find her, Nini thought. Perhaps they would celebrate their good fortune in her loss.

The men again urged Bashi to go with them.

“Wait a second. Comrades, you are very gracious. Do you want to give me a minute to get a few things settled in my house?”

“You look enough like a man but fuss like a girl,” one man said, shaking the handcuffs again. “We have other houses to visit. We don't have the whole night to entertain you.”

“Please, just one minute. I have to tell my grandmother that I will not spend the night at home. You know how it goes with old women—they worry all the time even when there's nothing much going on.”

“Now don't fool us. Here it says you're the only resident in this house, isn't that correct?”

“True for the household register, but think of the ghost of my grandma—she raised me and she wouldn't leave me here all by myself so I talk to her every day and let her know where I am. If you take me away without informing her, what if she followed me to the station? What if she made a mistake and followed you two home instead and disturbed your children's sleep? Don't say you're from out of town and you don't worry about such things. Ghosts travel faster than you and me.”

Nini shivered in the darkness. She looked up at the ham hanging just above her head. What if the ghost was watching her? But what kind of a ghost was she if she didn't come to rescue her own grandson? Nini said a low prayer to the old woman and asked her to understand who her real enemies were.

“Are you bluffing? You know this is a new society where superstition has no place.”

“Well, if you don't trust me, take me away now. The thing is, you never know. Ghosts don't read newspapers and they don't listen to government broadcasts.”

“That's all right,” the voice that belonged to the older of the two men said. “Let's give him a minute. It's not like he can run away from us.”

“No, I won't run away from you,” said Bashi. “You have my word—I'll only be a minute.”

“What do you mean by that? We're coming in with you.”

“But my grandma hasn't invited you.”

“We'll be good houseguests.”

The gate opened and the three men came into the yard. Nini, squatting behind a jar in the storage cabin, remembered Little Sixth fast asleep in the bedroom, and her heart began to pound. “Do you smell that?” she heard Bashi say, after the door was open.

“What's the smell?”

“My grandmother's floral water,” Bashi said. “How long has it been since I smelled it? The last time she used it I was still a child going into the street without my pants.”

The two men coughed uneasily and one of them said, “Now hurry up.”

“You're not coming in with me? Perhaps my grandma knew you were coming and prepared some food for you.”

“Let's go now,” one man ordered suddenly with a sharp voice. “I'm tired of your superstitious nonsense.”

“Are you scared, comrade?” Bashi said, but his laughing was interrupted when one of the men yanked him back and made him stumble down the steps. He cried out loudly, but the two men grabbed him and dragged him out the door. “Nana,” called out Bashi. “Did you hear the gentlemen? I need to be away for a night. No need to worry, Nana. I'll be back in a blink and you be good and stay here. Don't ever think of being naughty and following the gentlemen here, all right? I don't want you to get lost.”