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Don looked at him sadly with an eye that's starting to swell shut. "I... I don't..."
"Damn it Don, I have a full six pack and an empty bladder, I can bother you all night long or I can give you a quick ride home, what'll it be?" Don surrendered and climbed in the old car. "Damn son! What happened to you?"
"High school stuff," muttered Don, "usual thing. Please don't tell dad."
"Ok, but remember I saved your life. I may come calling for help come calving season."
Don nodded; all dairy farmers need help come calving season.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Don hardly got any sleep that weekend, mostly from the pain he suffered after Lanh left the dance. But beside the pain he spent the weekend torn between anger at those guys who used him to embarrass Lanh, and anger at himself for believing that he could actually have a shot at joining the swim team. That and getting the crap beaten out of him. Don kept thinking of Lanh, their dance was a joke, they weren't supposed to actually dance. They were supposed to be embarrassed, and they were both the biggest jokes of all the "Woodcutters" at Grant Valley High School.
At least Lanh left unscathed, Don didn't care what the bullies did to him, he was worried about Lanh. She was the first girl to ever treat him nicely, he wanted to protect her and Lanh had no clue of what happened after she left.
Don had lunch during fifth period and as usual he sat in the corner of the cafeteria furthest from the food line facing the back wall so no one would see him. It was the loser's corner, this is where the nerds, the geeks, the dweebs, the rejects, the losers sat and it was his home. He opened up his brown paper bag and found a bologna sandwich, a bag of chips, and an apple. His dad packed several lunches for him before he left for work in Mankato on Thursday and this was exactly the same as all the others. Don sighed, his teeth and jaw hurt so much that everything in that lunch bag was impossible to eat. He didn't really care; he was done with high school. Right now, his only plan was to put his books in his locker and leave. To where he was going was something he'd decide once he got there.
At the far end of his table someone sat down, he didn't look to see who it was, if they were sitting here and not with the animated crowds toward the front of the cafeteria, then they were a loser too. He stared at the half-smashed sandwich (Larry Jensen tried to crush Don's lunch earlier) and ignored whomever it was at the other end of the table. Whoever it was picked up their tray and stepped away in a few moments anyhow. He made another attempt at biting the sandwich, it hurt so much, but he was so hungry! He could bite a bit off, but he couldn't chew so he tried biting off tiny pieces and swallowing them unchewed. Just then someone sat down right across from him. He heard a tiny feminine voice say "Don?"
He didn't look up; he knew it was Lanh, her sweet little voice was music to his soul. He wanted to scoop her up and run away with her, but he couldn't let her see him like this. The jerks in this school must be torturing her just like they're torturing him. He kept his head lowered and said "I'm sorry I put you through that, I didn't mean to. I didn't know..." He stopped right there, he didn't know how to talk to a girl...
"You didn't know what... that I was lonely?" She didn't sound angry, she sounded sad. "You didn't know that I was scared to talk to any man that wasn't a relative?" Lanh started to freak herself out, Oh God, I don't believe I said that she groaned inwardly. Now he's going to know that I'm a loser. She had sought him out to say goodbye, there was a bottle of sleeping pills that she had stashed behind her fish tank. She stole the pills one by one from her mother's medicine cabinet and now she had enough. This morning she was walking on air, then Cindy Reese told her all about the joke and how she and Don were just dorks and looked so homely out there on the dance floor, a total joke.
Thanks to Cindy Reese Lanh was planning to sneak out of school, go home, lock herself in the bathroom and take every single one of those pills and end this living nightmare she found herself trapped in. She just wanted to say goodbye to the one nice boy she's ever met in her short, sorry life.
Don could only shake his head, why won't the earth cooperate and just swallow him up whole. "I... I... I didn't know... they were..." he said again, then he felt a gentle finger on his aching chin.
"Don, look at me," she started, and when he looked up, she saw the bruises and gasped, "What happened to you?"
"When you left..." Don was suddenly interrupted by a sneering pair of jerks.
"Well, well, well, isn't this a pretty sight, the chink and the farmer. Hey farm boy, you gonna put in 40 acres of rice for her daddy's chop suey shop this spring?" It was Tad Larson and Dale Swensen, both in their baseball lettermen's jackets. Dale grabbed Don's lunch bag, wadded it up, and tossed it in the trash can like he was making the winning basket. "Nothin' but net!"
"You just go away!" shouted Lanh as she tried to imitate her mother, she was loud enough to silence the typical hubbub in the cafeteria. "Haven't you cause enough pain?" The entire population of the cafeteria stopped whatever they were doing to turn toward the losers corner and see Lanh leaning over the table and touching Don's chin, frozen in anger at two jock upperclassmen. The whole school smelled blood, and they knew it would be the nerds doing the bleeding.
"Shut your chi-com bitch up," yelled Dale, "my Uncle James was shot over there because of commie cunts like her."
At his words Lanh stepped back in anger, and Dale reached forward and gave Lanh's lunch tray a shove. It slid off the end of the table and crashed to the ground. With a deep breath Don slowly stood up, it was clear he was going to get another beating, and he wasn't going to escape it. He just hoped he could distract them long enough for Lanh to get away again. He looked Dale right in the eye and spoke truth to power, "Your Uncle James was shot by one of his own men for selling them chow hall oregano and calling it marijuana." It was a legend known by all members of the local American Legion post and their kids, like Don. His dad would share stories like that after legion meetings. Don steeled himself for the blow which should be coming any second...
Suddenly a hand appeared on Tad and Dale's shoulders. "Problem here boys?" it was Craig Lewicki. From Don and Lanh's point of view, Craig looked as big as the Woodcutter's team mascot, Paul Bunyan.
"Just teaching these nerds a little manners, nothing to concern yourself about Craig," sneered Tad.
"Well Tad, then we have a problem. Don Campbell is my new two-hundred-yard swimmer, and if he can't perform at practice tomorrow, I may have to assume it's due to those bruises and we may have to speak to Coach Mach about how those bruises got there. Is there an understanding between us?"
Tad just glared at Craig. Coach Mach is adamant about his teams being ambassadors for the student body and he demanded how they need to act as such at all times. The coach benched their starting quarterback two seasons ago, sacrificing the regional championships because of the quarterback's behavior toward underclassmen. That's the problem with having the coach be the Guidance Counselor, he expected his players to behave, and he got their compliance. Tad made a face and tried to shrug Craig's hand off of his shoulder, but Craig held tight. "I asked, is there an understanding between us?"
"Yes," Tad snapped and wisely kept his mouth shut.
"Will wonders never cease, learning has occurred on the baseball team. It's a Christmas miracle. Now keep your fucking hands off of my team." And with a shove he propelled Tad and Dale away from Don and Lanh. He then grabbed a chair and spinning it around backwards he sat down and leaned forward on the backrest. "Let me see those bruises," and he reached forward to inspect Don's injuries. "Ow, I'll bet that hurts."
"Yeah, it does," said Don through gritted teeth.
"Ok, forget what I said to those two, I don't think you'll be ready to swim for a while. Swing by the gym Wednesday for a suit, cap, and goggles and we'll go over the team schedule, get you set up for a team physical and get the paperwork done. Please don't tell me you use a nose clip."
Don was incredulous, "I'm on the team?"
"Well, yeah. I mean not yet, if you can't swim you're out, but yeah, we want you. Did you think I was lying to you on Friday?"
"Yeah," said Don, "I did."
Craig rested his arms on the back of the chair. "I don't play that game, not with the swim team. Mr. Mach came to me and told be to check out your form in gym class, we think you have some talent, so after Christmas break let's see what you got."
"Ok," Don wasn't sure Craig could hear him, his voice seemed restricted.
Craig got up to leave, then paused. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for Friday, I didn't realize what those jerks were up to. I thought it was a, 'ya know, a hookup. For what it's worth, you guys looked great out there." And with that Craig left and the two were left in stunned silence.
Finally, Don broke the embarrassed silence, "I'm sorry they called you a chink and a chi-com." He still couldn't look her in the eye. She was so cute! What is she doing with a loser like me?
"Would you be upset if someone called you a dumb canuk?" she asked.
"No, I'm not Canadian."
"See?" she grinned, "I'm not Chinese or a communist." When she saw Don smile, then wince at the pain that smile brough she said, "You should eat." Why did he stick up for me? she asked herself, he's so nice! He could have any girl...
"I can't, hurts too much."
"Did you try the soup?"
Don looked at the lunch line then shook his head sadly, "I don't have any money."
"We'll get you some soup, come on." Lanh stood and leaving her lunch tray on the floor she led Don out of the cafeteria through the empty halls to her locker where she grabbed her jacket, then they retrieved Don's jacket and headed back toward the cafeteria. As they approached the cafeteria the period changed, and students poured into the halls. They used the bedlam in the halls to make their escape, they stepped out of the cafeteria exit, walked across the parking lot, ducked through the tree line that defines the school property boundary, and headed up Main Street.
The cold wind and the blowing snow made Don's bruises feel better, but Lanh looked cold. He offered her his Minnesota Vikings scarf which she accepted eagerly. She wrapped it around her neck and over her head to keep her head and ears warm. As they walked their hands brushed against each other and soon they were unconsciously walking hand-in-hand. Shortly they entered a small restaurant that Don had never noticed before. The sign on the front said Nguyen's Pho. "What is Foe?" asked Don.
"It's pronounced Fuh, it's soup."
"You have a restaurant just for soup?" Don couldn't conceive of a thing. Money is tight on the farm, so if they saved up enough for a meal at a restaurant, it was going to be more than just soup.
"You try it then tell me if a soup restaurant is a good idea." As they entered the restaurant Lanh called out in a piercing voice something at the top of her lungs which startled the patrons of the establishment. A female voice from back in the kitchen answered in what Don would soon learn was Vietnamese. Lanh seated him in a booth then disappeared back in the kitchen. He could hear animated chatter from that area, then she came back and sat across from him, a happy smile on her face. Soon the beautiful Asian woman that he saw with Lanh on Friday night brought out Don a huge bowl of hot fragrant soup, placed it and a large glass of iced cola in front of him.
Don looked horribly embarrassed, he looked down at his hands, they too were bruised, not from hitting someone but from getting stomped. He was lucky they weren't shattered. "I'm sorry, there must be a mistake, I can't afford this, I should go."
He started to get up and leave but the waitress plunked herself down on the booth seat next to him blocking his exit. "Oh no, you're not going anywhere mister." She further slid in the booth bumping her hip against his forcing him to center himself in front of the hot steaming bowl of Pho. When her shapely hips stopped nudging him into the booth he found that his breath caught, he's never seen someone so beautiful before in his life. "You got my dorky kid sister out on the dance floor?" she grinned, "Buddy, you earned this and so much more!"
Another beautiful Asian woman arrived with a platter of bean sprouts, onion, jalapeño, Thai basil, lime wedges, hoisin sauce, and Sriracha and placed it alongside Don's bowl of Pho. She looked at the seating arrangement and with a quick few words in Vietnamese Lanh and her sister quickly changed positions without question, then the woman sat down across from Don. "So? Introduce us," she told Lanh.
"Don, this is my mother Mai, and my older sister Kim-ly. Mom, Kim-ly, this is Don Campbell. He's a sophomore like me and we danced together on Friday." Lanh was blushing horribly by the time she finished these simple introductions, but she really started blushing when Kim-ly spoke up.
"They were really cute má, you should have seen it," said Kim-ly with an oddly dreamy look in her eye. "They daaaaaanced, then they went and sat in the bleachers and taaaaaalked... It was like a Hallmark channel Christmas romance." Lanh tried to kick her sister under the table.
"Mrs. N'win, I really want to say that the few minutes I've been blessed to spend with Lanh have been simply wonderful. Meeting you shows me exactly where her beauty comes from."
Mai was impressed that he was able to pronounce Nguyen properly, but she remained stoic. Kim-ly on the other hand rolled her eyes and said "Plain Jane beautiful? She rarely brushes her hair, and she never wears any makeup..."
"Not all beauty comes from a bottle," said Don softly, it was one of his grandmother's favorite sayings.
Mai's right eyebrow raised when she heard Don say that. She finally spoke "Young man, you are either the nicest person on the face of the earth, or you are so full of shit your eyes should be as brown as mine. As Lanh's mother I'm hoping for the former, but until I see any proof of that, I'll be considering you the latter."
"I understand ma'am."
"I have some questions, and if you want to see Lanh ever again you need to be straight with me, the first one is, what happened to your face?"
"I got beaten up on Friday night."
"I can see that, let me rephrase question one, why did you get beaten up Friday night?"
Don did not want to answer this at all, but it was Lanh's mom that asked, and lying to someone who just brought you free food is simply wrong. "After Lanh and I danced, a couple of the cheerleaders were intending to hurt an underclassman. I got in their way and their boyfriends took offense to that and hit me."
"It looks like they hit you a lot," frowned Kim-ly.
Mai took a few seconds to understand the answer. Having raised six children, she knew when kids were lying to her, and this boy was telling the truth, but not the whole truth. Slowly she took a breath then asked, "Why were they going to hurt Lanh?"
"I didn't say it was Lanh, ma'am."
"You didn't have to. Why were they going to hurt Lanh?"
Don moved his bruised and aching hands to his lap and looked down at his lap. "Because the whole thing was a cruel joke, they picked the two dorkiest people in the school and conned us into dancing a romantic slow dance so they could laugh at us, but we ruined their joke by not being embarrassed and ended up liking each other."
Lanh looked shocked, Don did that for her? And then knowing what kind of beating he would get, he stood up for her again today?
Don sagged. Where was that crevasse to swallow him up when he needed it the most? Before he knew it, the words spilled out, "I do, I really like Lanh. I feel right around her... I haven't felt right in a long time."
"What does your mother think of this?"
Again, he paused, but Mai raised that eyebrow which seemed to pry an answer out of him. "My mom died when I was eight, it's just been dad and me. I had to repeat third grade because..." and his voice drifted off from there.
If Don was expecting Mai to soften up when he said that he was going to be sorely disappointed. "How did she go?" Mai asked him softly, but with enough iron in her voice to let Don know that if he was lying to get her to go easy on him, life as he knew it, would come to an end.
"Cancer, she had a spinal tumor that was inoperable. It spread to the bone, and she died on Christmas morning when I was eight."
"What about your father?"
"We have a farm just outside of town, right now he's down in Alida working for the Parks department for the past week, they're clearing a few acres of pulp wood, I'm watching the farm 'till he gets back tonight." Then he asked "Do you mind if I eat? I haven't eaten since Friday, and this smells so good."
"Go ahead, what are you waiting for?" scowled Mai.
"A spoon."
Lanh giggled nervously and held up the Chinese spoon, a spoon with a short, thick handle extending directly from a deep, flat bottom bowl. "Oh, I thought that was a spoon rest," said Don, "my dad has one that he puts his teaspoon in when he drinks coffee." Ignoring Kim-ly's guffaws, Don tasted the broth and his eyebrows shot up, "this is so good! I have to bring my dad here."
Don started having trouble with the noodles, he tried to cut off chunks of noodle with the edge of the spoon, but was having difficulty doing that with the thick, ceramic Chinese spoon. Lanh gave him the chopsticks and said, "We eat the noodles with these," and tried to help him wield the sticks, but his hands were so bruised and swollen he couldn't hold them, so she ended up feeding him the noodles, bean sprouts, and beef.
Kim-ly offered (in Vietnamese) to get Don a fork, but Mai smiled and said (in Vietnamese) that they were doing fine. Finally, Mai got up and said, "I have a restaurant to run," and started to leave, then stopped and added "One last question," in a tone of voice that told Kim-ly and Lanh that má (mom in Vietnamese, it's pronounced "may") was about to drop a nuke. "School doesn't get out for almost two hours, what are you doing here!"
"He's starving momma! I had to..."
"Enough!" said Mai with a chopping motion of her hand. "You, young man, why are you not in school."
"I couldn't eat and I don't have money to buy soup at school... I was going to drop out... then I met Lanh... and the swim team wants me... I don't know..." Don's head was swimming with the strange twists his life has taken in the past 72 hours.
"They were going to beat him again momma, they called me names and he stood up for me, so we ran away."
Mai glared at the two, her features clouded over. Skipping school? Over a farm boy? Unheard of! Lanh's older siblings were all in college and grad school, all had foresworn entanglement with the opposite sex to make something of themselves. And now here was Lanh, flirting and giggling like a Saigon bar girl, did she not learn from her brothers and sisters' example? Mai was ready to explode when several customers walked in. "I will be back," she hissed. "You eat, and we will discuss this." And with that she put on her hostess face and turned to her new customers.
The whole time Mai and Kim-ly waited on the new customers Mai kept a close eye on Lanh and the boy she dragged in. She continued to feed him, and they were smiling, every time their eyes met, they would blush and look aside. In the end, Mai didn't see any behavior that would lead her to think that there was anything suspicious going on, but a mother shouldn't let her guard down.
