LONG LOVE, SHORT LIFE

CHAPTER 20

THE BUDDHIST MONK FATHER, SAKURA’S TEARS BLOOM

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Part 1

Dara was getting old and had turned 46. He was getting more worried as his situation seems to get worse and worse. He keeps telling himself life must move on and this is what we mean by the struggles of life. As always, he sees himself more than just being a daddy, but a man who wanted to set an example for others of how to be a father, especially in showing Cambodian parents to pay great attention to their children’s education.

Being a father, he understood that the scholarship stipend is not enough for his daughter, which prompted him to work harder and save as much money as he could for his daughter. He has no complaints as long as he can support his life and his 19-year-old daughter who is taking as B.A. course in international relations in Los Angeles.

The single father continued his work as a freelancer, such as translating books and documents from English to Khmer and vice-versa, and sometimes he drives his old 1994 Camry to the provinces working as an interpreter at foreign funded seminars and translating for visiting foreign journalists. He is more cautious of every single move he makes, since he is the only hope for Sakura since her mother lost her life. That incident continued to haunt him and make him be extra careful when he travels around.

Not long after, the assassination of a local political analyst on the 10th July terrified him even more into not coming out after dark or hanging around with friends in coffee shops like before. He penned a fiction novel and recorded his own life and that of his late wife. His house was equipped with security since he helped foreign correspondents to understand better about Cambodia’s real situation on the ground. Dara is good at analytical pieces about his country although he is bad at making money.

The death of the well-known analyst reminded Dara how painful it was Doungchan was killed. The social crimes, the grenade attacks, the shootings, and the jailing of suspects of crimes, terrified him so much getting felt like a coward, given the fact that he himself went through past difficulties, survived communist rule, and survived the Khmer Rouge soldier who arrested and dumped him in a minefield in 1990. Such trauma continues to haunt him. He was frightened sometimes even by the noise of people dropping metal by accident on the tin roof. Sometimes, the cat wakes him in the middle of the night when it chases a mouse. He sometimes lay on the floor when he heard gunshots as if he was on a battlefield. He responds to the surrounding environment quickly thanks to his natural senses. Unfortunately, the once time ebullient Dara is no longer youthful. He now wears thick-rimmed glasses.

When working as a reporter for the English newspaper, The Cambodia Diamond, many of his American friends called him Mr. Scoop-man thanks to his talent and good connections with his sources. But that was not true anymore since he had changed his world from hanging around with sources to staying quietly at home and working alone. He seemed to have isolated himself from the outside world, while his country had increasingly integrated into the global family.

The young generation of Cambodians enjoyed advanced technology devices, such as smart phones, for their daily business and leisure communication. Such devices help them to get things done faster and more efficiently, but Dara is getting slower because he does not fancy such devices. Dara still likes old and classic stuff.

He always has reasons for what he does. He is hateful of people who have access to his privacy and he sees those devices as if they are spying and shadowing him all the time when he travels. At one point he told his daughter that, “these electronic devices have GPS embedded, which means that these devices can tell the location of the device’s users”. Sakura opened her eye wide with shock and disbelief. “I did not know that”.

“So I will carry a smart phone when I am in the USA, then I do not have to tell you where I will be travelling,” she responded.

“Oh, I do not need any machine to track you from here, just please stay in touch,” said her dad.

Cambodia’s authorities are now very good at tracking the anti-government movement and a few were arrested. Although he did nothing wrong, Dara is nervous, sceptical, and hardly trusting anyone given the bad experiences in his past. This led to Dara sometimes, if not necessary, to not bother having a mobile phone with him.

Dara sometimes goes in the front door and leaves through the backdoor. To give another example, he travels by Monivong Boulevard then returns by Norodom Boulevard thanks to of the knowledge he gained from taking a hostile environment course when he worked as a journalist.

He always gets a different motor-taxi. He sometimes walked two blocks away and got another for further travel. Although Dara himself never worked in the intelligence field, he has learned a lot about it. The social crimes in Cambodia prompted him to hang a fishing net above his front door house so that it will catch any explosive material hurled by gangsters and keep him safe. He sets up security cameras under the plants to see if any stranger approaches his house. He has bunches of keys and locks for his front and back doors. He rotated them from the front door to the back one. He sometimes got in trouble himself because he struggled to figure out which key suits which lock. At one point, there was a house fire in his next door neighbor’s. He was in bed and coughing because of smokes which got inside his house. He could not tolerate the smoke so he used a wet scarf to cover his nose as he struggled to find a way out.

Having gone through difficulties in Cambodia’s civil war, this had partially shaped his mind to be tricky sometimes. He bought a safe box to mislead strangers or thieves that he has some valuable items in the box though he did not. He kept money inside unexpected places—such as in the backyard under shabby clothes or inside smelly shoes—although he did not really have much money.

To be continued …

Part 2

The main portion of Dara’s income goes to support Sakura and her studies in the U.S. His priority was to keep his life safe, followed by supporting his daughter,

“Safety first” is Dara’s primary focus since his daughter lost her mom, Duongchan.

The messages between father and daughter reveal what their life was like at the time.

Sakura, upon her arrival in Los Angeles, called her dad that she has now set foot in the land of opportunity. Dara wrote to his daughter Sakura in January 2014:

Dear beloved daughter Sakura!

I hope you are enjoying living and studying there. Please take my message on board: Stay away from guns and gangsters or where people gather for protesting over racial discrimination or other political reasons. I recently read some news about the shootings and killings in U.S. schools and such tragic events have made me worried and think of you.  As you know, I only have half of my world left since your mom was shot dead. The half of my world left h is you which inspired me to move on. My world would be gone if you were gone but I am sure this will never happen. Please study hard and stay safe. My heart and head continue to function today thanks to you. Please do your best to accumulate knowledge there. However, just remember my words: First and foremost is taking care of your safety and health, and then followed by study. Be humble and work hard. Be friendly. Try to listen to everything people say although you do not have to take all their inputs on board. Make friends there and build bridges regardless of their background or whether they are black or white. Keep saying hello to all, even beggars or homeless people since we are all human beings.

I have no complaints at all about partially supporting your education in the U.S. As long as I am alive I do things legally to support you. I can be a taxi-driver, a translator, a fixer, or working as a freelance journalist. Please respect and honor my words, almost all the income I make is for your education. I can eat anything here since as you know I am versatile. I can eat snake, crab, even fried rats and grilled frogs. You do not have to be like me, but please study hard and be smart at research. By that you will have a good future.  Always remember what your mom told you in her letter.

I have said quite a lot already. As always, I am a bit worried about you as a girl, since you are not as strong as when I was there as young boy I could do many things there including writing letters to your mom. Please take care of yourself beloved daughter,

Your daddy.

A week later his daughter, Sakura, replied from her dormitory near her university.

Dear respected daddy,

Hello. I read your letter with great attention. I read it over and over. Your words continue to stay in head and heart forever. I will not make you disappointed. Although I miss you and my late mom a lot, I must work hard to satisfy your investment in my education. I continue to dream about mom sometimes as if her spirit stays with me.

Last week, I dreamt about her visiting me. I woke up and cried in the middle of the night and woke up my roommates from Bulgaria and China. If this continues I might have to ask your permission to return home and study in Phnom Penh instead of California. I have to go to school now. Please write to me when you can. I miss you so much. Your daughter, Sakura.

Dara replied worriedly.

Dear beloved Sakura, I know how you feel about seeing your late mom in your dreams. Your situation worries me a great deal, and see what I can do in term of superstitious belief, but I would ask you to focus on your study and leave all bad memories and worries behind as if nothing bad had happened. Sakura must blossom. This is your golden opportunity, Sakura. Please try to put such bad memories aside, otherwise it will affect your study.

Please hang in there for a while and you will be fine. Please get a train to Long Beach where there is a Cambodian community. Please go there at the weekend and stop by some Cambodian shops and chat with them and eat some Cambodian food and that may help to get rid of bad memories, you will be O.K.

I will get some fruit, water, and flowers to offer to the spirit of your late mom here where I have a special shrine with her photo placed on it at our home in Phnom Penh. I will ask her spirit not to disturb you there and let you sleep well from now on. Please take care. I miss you! Your daddy

About a month later, everything is getting better for Sakura. She sees America now as her second homeland.The years pass. Dara has now reached 49. Sakura is 22.

Dara faced difficulties in making money due to a number of reasons. He cannot make as much money as before since Cambodia became more integrated with the outside world, along with the increasing competition from young educated Cambodians and graduates from overseas. Their skills are much greater than his. They speak English, Chinese, French, and Russian. Dara speaks only English along with his journalism skills. His Vietnamese is broken and sometimes he makes listeners get mad or laugh when he speaks the language due to his incorrect pronunciation. His hair has turned grey. His skin is wrinkled. He cannot see far without his glasses. His memory is getting poorer. His mental health has deteriorated due to his past sufferings, especially Duongchan’s death. He has lost quite a lot of weight as he keeps working day, night, and did not have enough rest.

At one point he emailed to his daughter Sakura,

Dear beloved daughter, please do your best. I do not have many resources left. I was thinking if I could find a way to get the U.S. embassy in town to support your study. I am hoping that the U.S. may look to convert Cambodia’s debt of an estimated more than $400 million from Cambodia’s war era in the 70’s into humanitarian assistance, especially in education. But I am doubtful if the embassy would agree with my request as they are watching our government’s activities on the issues of human rights, social injustice, land grabbing, corruption, and other political issues. I am also doubtful if the U.S. would either write off or convert any debt into humanitarian assistance for Cambodia’s education. I however respect Cambodia’s leaders’ decision in calling such debt “dirty debt”, arguing that the US bombed Cambodia and caused massive destruction, including the loss of thousands of lives, during the Vietnam War of 1965- 1973.

To be continued …

Part 3

Sakura replied in her email:

Dear respected daddy, I know the difficulties you are facing/ I share your values in many ways and I am so grateful for your support since day one. As a last resort I will have to seek a part-time job as a cleaner or waiter so that I can save some money to support my study. I can’t drop my course; as you know, I have another year to complete my B.A degree in international relations. I will do what I can, please have confidence in me.

Since that day, Sakura looked sad and did not talk in class like before. Her classmates started to learn about her financial burdens. Back home in Phnom Penh, Dara could not find a job. He borrowed money from friends to pay his electricity and phone bills and eat instant noodles for lunch and Cambodian noodles for dinner. His mental health suffered more.

He did not have money to buy fruits, flowers or incense to place on the shrine for his lover’s spirit like before. Dara’s last resort was to send out a message on Facebook and email to friends near and far seeking a job. One week passed, two months passed, still he received no replies.

In California, Sakura had received no messages from her dad. She emailed Dara who replied,

I am sorry, Sakura, I have had no job for months. Could you please borrow from friends there and I will wire the money to pay them back when have it?

“Thanks for your reply,” answered Sakura, who added, “I am asking your permission that I can look for a part-time job and working as a waitress in a Long Beach restaurant where there is a Cambodian community. I will get the train to Long Beach at the weekend. I miss you. Your daughter, Sakura”.

Back home in Phnom Penh after more than two months being jobless, Dara received a call around midnight from his long time British friend, who worked for a research institute in London, offering him a job as a researcher and writing reports about Cambodia’s economic and political situation. The job fits him well. He interviewed officials, independent analysts, even reading newspapers of all forms related to the fields of economics, politics and foreign policy. Dara as usual talked to many people to make sure his analyses are acceptable to the institution he works for.

He thanked his friend, saying: “My friend, you are more than just giving me a job but you are also helping fund my daughter’s studies in the U.S.” His friend replied: “My friends and I in London have been watching you since you tendered your resignation to Rising News America Agency. I think it was a mistake for you to quit your career after working for more than 16 years. We, however, understood the reason you did, we understood the reasons behind your decision, and we respect your decision. We also need to help you and your daughter since we trust you as a Cambodian journalist. We are also looking to get you a round-trip ticket to the UK next year if you want.”

Dara replied with deep appreciation to his long-time friend, but one thing he never and ever forget was to work so that he can wire money to his daughter who was about to complete her B.A. program.

Back in California, Sakura was offered a part-time job in Long Beach at a local restaurant owned by Cambodian-Americans, whose family fled Cambodia in early 1979 after the fall of the Khmer Rouge and took refuge in Thailand before receiving asylum in the U.S. a year later.

The dad and daughter are now happy again with their current situation. Dara worked hard in Cambodia to make money. The daughter enjoyed her studies more and obtained great academic results. Sakura’s classmates are quite impressed with her study records. They said of her: “Sakura is now blossoming again after being sad for several weeks.” She beamed at her classmates with thanks in Khmer, “Orkun”.

After four years of studying hard in California, Sakura obtained a B.A. in international relations in diplomacy from her university.  She was offered an internship as a political analyst working for a western consul in California, Los Angeles. Her daddy now looked to transform the rest of his life to be Buddhist monk.

Now the 52-year-old daddy in 2019 and he wants nothing more than to settle down his in his life and to become a Buddhist monk in a pagoda in the village where Duongchan and her mom lived before. Such a move, he believed, would help redeem the bad karma of his late wife, Duongchan, if any, from her past life.

In California, after her internship program Sakura then got a full-time job working for the Japanese embassy in Washington partially thanks to her name literally translating from Japanese as cherry blossom. She enjoyed her job and took Spanish classes after work. She makes friends from many parts of the world thanks to the American friendly immigration policy which allows her to enjoy her life after her B.A. has finished.

About a year later, Sakura met an African-American named Baraca Drake. Sakura, 30, felt in love with her long time classmate Drake. She planned to marry him, who worked as an FBI agent. A year later, they got engaged and both sides agreed that their marriage would not be complete without the participation of their parents.

They decided to hold the wedding ceremony in Cambodia in 2017, the year that Cambodia held local elections. Prime Minister Hun Sen had warned that Cambodia would return to civil war if his party lost the elections and the ill-willed opposition took office. The couple had decided that no matter what happened in Cambodia their wedding plans would remain unchanged.

Sakura and Drake planned to have the wedding ceremony in Phnom Penh. Dara and Sakura sometimes talked by Skype, some nights by email or telephone. One weekend, Sakura called her dad on Skype and asked: “Hello, dad. How are you? Do you have any idea when and where I should have the wedding party?”

“You should do it in March in Phnom Penh although the weather is a bit hot. But it is a great month for me, the month of prosperity. March is the greatest month of the year. The sky is clear, you can see the moon, the sunset, and there is no rain. It is the month which is full of food, full of happiness,” her dad said.

“That is perfect then,” she said.

“… And more than that, I remember that my reunion with your mom was in March 1993 when I worked for the U.N. I drove the U.N. land Cruiser and woke your mom in the middle of the night.” he said.

To be continued …

Part 4

“Really?” asked the daughter.

“I still remember as you were aged 9 then, and you gave bunches of wild flowers to your mom and me then we stood next to each other under the coconut and palm trees. That was the day your mom cried because she was so thrilled to see you do that,” the dad recalled.

“I think I remember some of that but what was the date then?” she said.

“It was in early March, I think it was the harvesting period,” the dad replied.

“How do you remember that?” Sakura asked since she was unsure how her dad could remember such details after more than 20 years.

“I have my personal diary and my memory. I also engraved that date, 11th March 2003, on the trees,” he replied.

“That is wonderful! Daddy, I quite like your idea for making good memories and happiness. Please pick that date for my wedding ceremony then,” she said excitedly.

“But please do not fly on the same flight with Cambodia’s opposition leader,” he said.

“Why?” asked the 25-year-old daughter.

“Er, hmm, because your plane will not be allowed to land in Cambodia. On the top of that the plane will also have to return to where it originally departed from. It is all about politics in Cambodia. Anyway, I would like you to talk to your future husband to see if that date will fit his schedule and his family and friends,” said Dara.

“I think it will not be a problem. I can convince him to get on the plane that will not carry any politicians with us so that we will not be in trouble,” Sakura added. 

At one point her dad wrote: “Once you get back to Cambodia, I will be a Buddhist monk.”

“Which Buddhist temple are you going to stay at?”

Dara responded: “I am going to stay and work as a Buddhist monk in the local village about 500 meters from where your mom rests in peace”.

Her dad’s words remind her how much he still loves her mom after all these years. Sakura then says: “I will visit you quite often.”

Her dad replied, “thanks. But you do not have to do that, please take care of your family and after my death I want Cambodia’s flag placed on my coffin and bury my body next to your mom’s grave site. Then my world will be complete. I want to rest in peace with her spirit and see her again in the next life.”

“Dad, please do not say that. You will have a long life and live to be old and I will take care of you for the rest of my life. By the way, would you like anything from the U.S.? asked Sakura.

“If you can get me an American flag that is joined with Cambodia’s flag from any Cambodian shop in Long Beach, that would be great. I will place it on my desk. That would be very kind of you, a symbol of friendship between the two countries and the peoples,” said her dad.

“Anything else? asked his daughter. 

Instead of answering his daughter’s question, Dara repeated his request, “Just remember, after my death, please bury my body next to your mom under the palm tree. And please cover my body with Cambodia’s flag along with your mom’s picture.” He repeated this over and over to make sure his daughter remembers his words.

Sakura, in response, smiled on Skype and joked with her dad, “I will try to get one flag from the White House and try to get Mr. President to sign it for you. Is that Ok?”

The dad giggled, knowing that she is joking with him. “You do not have to go that far. Just get one from Long Beach along with Cambodia’s flag.”

What a wonderful wedding ceremony plan! The guests are from many parts of the world given the bride is Cambodian and the groom is American but his parents are from Central Africa. The guests come from the U.S., Japan, Africa, China, and Europe and most are the classmates of Sakura and Drake.

Almost half of the American Angle Air seats are occupied by passengers who will join the wedding ceremony, including relatives and friends.  It landed at Phnom Penh International airport where there was only one man waiting for them, the Buddhist monk, Dara, who was in pink robes and carried a bunch of flowers of mixed colors. He stood in the crowd and waited to greet Sakura’s group.

As the plane hit the runway, the group who travelled with the groom and bride applauded, startling the other passengers. The joyful moment was mixes with sadness for Sakura who had tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked out the window and saw her homeland but knowing that her mom was not waiting for her.

Sakura walked quickly down the plane’s stairs and tried to get out of the airport as fast as she could. Once she got out the exit, she almost collapsed as knelt down before her dad and worshipped him as her god. Others palmed their hands as a sign of respect to the monk who did the same in return.

The Buddhist monk with his head shaved carried flowers in his hands waiting to greet her and her friends. Her daddy monk had joyful tears as his voice broke, saying, “This is life, my daughter, life moves on.”

Dara continued: “If there is bad Kama in this life, please pass it all on to me alone. I am ready to bear all those burdens and will do anything to replace bad karma. That is part of the reason to devote myself as a Buddhist monk. You can see I have no shoes, no glasses on. Now let us go to the bus waiting at the parking area inside the airport and we will talk more.”

To be continued …

Part 5

Other guests, who had learned some of the past tragedy regarding Sakura’s mother, saw that sad moment and they could not hold their tears back. Such a sad moment also touched others who waited for their friends and relatives at the airport.

He walked along with his daughter to the bus and spoke in a low breaking voice as his tears welled up in his eyes, “Be strong, daughter. You get to marry Drake   and leave all sad memories behind. I know what happened to mom is too much for all of us as we can never accept it and forget it”. He patted Sakura’s head with one hand and he patted the shoulder of Sakura’s future husband with the other.

Sakura cried as her husband Drake consoled her. The whole group of people who had accompanied the couple to Cambodia walked behind Sakura like schoolchildren following their teacher to the classroom.

Sakura was still sobbing as she murmured to herself: “mom, how happy I would be if you were alive and could see me graduated from U.S. I am about to get married this week. How happy if I could see you standing right there next to daddy waiting to greet me. But this did not happen, you passed away and it still too much for me and daddy.”

Relatives and friends did not mind standing in the heat of almost 40 degrees Celsius as they were about to get in the bus.

Dara sat next to his daughter and he stood up and raised his hands palms together and spoke in tears in English to the guests on the bus: “I can’t thank you all enough for coming to join the wedding ceremony of Sakura and her husband Drake.” They all responded at the same time by clapping like the sound of thunder inside the bus.

“I got people to arrange hotel rooms for all of you on the riverfront about six blocks away from the U.S. embassy. From there, you can ride boat to see the sunset on Mekong River. As you all know, the wedding ceremony will be on the 11th March at the Chinese restaurant called ‘Cambodia’s Great Wall’. Again, thank you all!”

Dara sat and his son-in-law Drake approached him. Dara said to him, “I am so glad to have you as my daughter’s husband.” Drake nodded his head, “I thank you for all the preparations for the wedding party. After the wedding, Sakura and I would like to invite you to visit Africa and the native village of my grandparents. I have never been there and I want to visit with Sakura.”

“Thanks. We will talk more about it later,” said the monk who then turned quiet like a statue sitting on the bus.

Drake—who had already made an appointment online with the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh to get permission for his wedding—took Sakura to the embassy next to Wat Phnom, a Buddhist hill temple which has been there for about 500 years. Things were all set. 

The wedding ceremony day arrived. Dara was seen among the Buddhist monks blessing his daughter and his son-in-law with water and mixed flowers. About 50 people came to Dara’s house, but not all could get in as his house was small and on the first floor. While Dara tossed the water in blessing, Sakura glanced at the picture of her late mom, Duongchan, and worshipped at the picture, covered with yellow flowers around the frame and hanging on the wall next to Dara’s desk.

At the wedding reception, Sakura has her friend from Norway as bridesmaid. Drake has his friend from the Middle East as best man. All of them were classmates. The wedding ceremony showed that Cambodia sees people from different parts of the world as friends.

The color of skins included black, white, brown, and yellow, and guests put on different colors of clothes and traditional clothes to show up at the party. Some of the guests had flown thousands of miles from the U.S. and found it difficult to use chopsticks and bowls at the Chinese restaurant sitting near the Mekong delta. However, the bang of the chopstick and the clatter of the bowls along with the sounds of different languages made the party joyful though noisy.

After the wedding, the group who attended the wedding flew to visit Angkor, the world heritage site listed in 1992, except Sakura and her husband Drake who wanted to see the grave of Sakura’s mom in Takeo first and will visit Angkor later in the week.

As usual Dara took a lot of fruit, flowers, and water when he visited the grave. This time, Duongchan’s spirit received a stranger who is now her son-in-law, Drake.

Sakura shed tears again before her mom’s grave, making her husband also cry. Drake, although he did not understand much of what happened with his mother-in-law, still understood the feelings of grief as Sakura’s husband. 

They placed the fruit, flowers, and water in front of the burial site. Dara lit the incense and candles, then passed some to Sakura and Drake. Dara invited the spirit of his late wife to enjoy the offerings.

They all prostrated before the grave site. Sakura started in Khmer: “Mom, I miss you so much. I love you. I wish you were here with us and see how I have been doing so far. Today, I come to introduce you to my husband Drake and please accept him as a member of our family.”

Drake talked to her spirit in English, “Hello, mom Duongchan. I am now your son-in-law. I have learned something about the pain the family experienced when you got shot. I am more than just your son-in-law; I will do what I can to seek justice for you.” He then placed the incense and candles into the ground next to the site along with offerings of fruits.

At the same time, Dara talked while in tears and worshipped before his wife’s grave: “My darling Duongchan, I am now serving as a Buddhist monk. Although you left us forever physically, our hearts and spirits still live together as one like before. I am ready to handle and bear all the burdens, so if you have any bad Karmas or sins, please pass them all on to me.”

The Buddhist monk continued in a soft voice, “I will redeem any sins you have. I have told you before that no matter what happened to you, my love for you will never change. Please let bygones be bygones. You are still my wife in this life and the next life and more to come. I will not go back to Phnom Penh, but stay at the local pagoda about 500 meters from here where you and I went before, so that I can come and see you quite often. I gave my house in Phnom Penh to our daughter and her husband since Sakura is the only daughter we have. Please enjoy the fruit and water we offered you. I miss you dearly. I love you so much. See you again, again, and again… in the next life.”

To be continued …

Part 6

About half an hour later, all three bowed their heads in respect to the spirit of Duongchan with their palms placed on their hearts and walked gently back to the village where Dara said goodbye to his daughter Sakura and Drake. The couple knelt before the monk at the entrance of the Buddhist temple about one km from Duongchan’s mother’s house. In response, Dara wished them well and pulled a CD and audio tape of the song ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon from his bag and gave them to the couple. Sakura held the audio tape with great care, while Drake had the CD in his hand.

They departed. The Buddhist monk father walked in slow motion like a ghost as his robe flew behind him from the power of the wind flowing all the way from the small river nearby. Dara walked to the temple where the sounds of chanting could be heard. He looked back again at his daughter and her husband stood next to the old Camry car, and he waved his right hand to bless them with peace and prosperity. His left hand held his robe to prevent it from flying. The young couple, in return, bowed their heads in respect and got into the car.

Drake started heading to Phnom Penh. Sakura inserted audio tape into the player… ‘imagine there is no heaven ... it is easy if you try... no hell below us... above us only sky... imagine all the people living for today... imagine there is no country... it is not hard to do… Nothing to kill or die for... and no religion too… imagine all the people living life in peace... you may say i am a dreamer, but I’m not the only one... i hope some days you join us and the world will be a peace one… imagine no possessions, i wonder if you can…no need for greed or hunger... A brotherhood of man... imagine all the people, sharing all the world… You may say i am dreamer, but i'm not the only one… i hope some days you join us and the world will live as one…

Drake, after about half an hour driving, found it too difficult to handle.

“I am sorry, babe, I am worried I might crash. Please take over from me,” he said as he braked to slow down his speed and avoid hitting a dog which jumped out from a bush on the other side of the road.

“Cambodia is my world, let me do it,” said Sakura as she opened the door and walked to the front of the car. Her husband got out and they kissed each other as a sign of eternal love before they moved on.

Though the song is old, it is still sweet and meaningful to Dara. The same music had touched the couple a great deal, making them see that peace, friendship, and love are the most important elements of their world.

Sakura, who was familiar with Cambodia’s traffic and the culture of the people, is now in charge, while Drake was sometimes terrified when she narrowly missed hitting two calves which ran across national route 2.

“You just need to close your eyes and pretend you are asleep so that you do not have to be frightened by my driving in Cambodia, Mr. FBI,” she said to Drake while she bumped over a pothole.

“Slow down a bit, babe. I need to save my life so that I can see the ancestors of my parents in Africa.  I have yet to see them although I have heard about them for more than four decades,” he said as his wife hit another bump.

“You’re quite right darling, we need to be in full health so that we can help others,” said Sakura as she beeped the horn to scare away pigs moving in front of her.

The young couple arrived at their home in Phnom Penh and the first thing Sakura did was to kiss her mom’s picture hanging on the shrine while holding her dad’s photo on her chest above her heart. “We love you both,” she said to the pictures. Drake got a glass of cold water for his wife. “Please save your energy since we have a long way to go to do everything and I love to see you, Sakura, blossom all year long.”

Drake, after walking around the house that was built during the French rule of Cambodia more than a hundred years ago, felt nervous and asked, “Is this house structure still strong? Because I see cracks in a couple of places on the ceiling and wall.”

“No problem at all babe, I lived in this house before I studied in your country, now I come back and I still see the same things. You are from the developed world of America, and you want to see things perfect but you do not have that here, except for me,” she said as she threw the towel at Drake and pointed in the direction of the bathroom.

Drake looked up and down as he was scared of cockroaches. He opened the bathroom door and spotted a big lizard, a type of gecko, clinging to the corner of the ceiling. The scary-looking lizard is as big as his wrist.

Drake murmured to himself, “Oh, no. Man, never drop on me. I love your boss who is my wife, but not you, lizard.”

Sakura who heard him, giggled: “You do not have to love that animal, Drake, just me. Please take your shower faster as we need to ride the boat to see the sunset on the Mekong river.”  Drake sped up taking his shower and quickly washed himself with Chinese soap because he is scared of the lizard staring at him. When he came out, Sakura spotted soap on his ears and shoulder. “Did you take a shower at all?” she asked.

“I did, but the lizard terrorized me and scared me out. I believe the lizard owns the bathroom and it sees the bathroom as its kingdom,” said Drake laughing.

“My dad respects every life, he did not touch even that gecko you saw and he lets it enjoy living in this house like a friend,” said Sakura. Drake interrupted: “… Treating the lizard like a friend? Oh no.”

“You did not notice that my daddy monk when he walks, he looks at the ground, making sure he did not step on any animal such as crickets or grasshoppers. That is part of a Buddhist monk’s morals in respecting life,” she said as her husband opened the suitcase to get his clothes.

To be continued …

Part 7

In Drake’s working life as an FBI agent, he liked to do things fast, but he has to be careful now. He checked inside his shoes to make sure there are no cockroaches in them. As they came out and walked to the river to ride the boat, Drake looked around and saw a couple of guest houses.

He turned to his wife and asked, “It would be great to spend some nights of our honeymoon there instead of sleeping at home, don’t you think?”

Sakura, who had earned that her husband is scared of lizards, said: “Drake, you work as police so how come you are scared of lizards?”

Drake laughed with his mouth wide open and replied, “You read my mind. It is a lizard, not love. I choose love over lizards.” They quickly walked across the street to avoid the motor scooter coming their way.

He turned to kiss his wife as they walked down the riverbank to get on the boat. “Please do not kiss me in public.  This is Cambodia, not California. I am shy as a Khmer lady. We are not supposed not to do so according to our culture and tradition even though we are a couple,” she told Drake who now held her hand to ensure they are not separated by the crowd.

They got the tickets. “Please get round trip tickets,” Drake said to his wife, who responded, “there is only one type of ticket and we will be safe and return to the shore after sailing on the Mekong.”

Drake grabbed two life jackets, put one on this wife and then one on himself, saying, “prevention is better than cure, babe.”

The handsome African-American stretched out his legs and arms to warm up his muscles and be ready in the event of the boat accidentally capsizing.

“I am glad to see there are many boats coming and going so that we can cling to one of them in case of an emergency,” Drake said as the motorboat carrying about 15 passengers - including Chinese ladies whose bags are larger than their bodies -  departed the river bank and started sailing through the small waves.

After they enjoyed the boat ride and watched the view of the sunset, they returned home after dark and heard the sound of the gecko from the bathroom. Sukura had to escort Drake to the bathroom and chase the animal away.

Drake did not sleep well as he was annoyed by the gecko’s call, “tektok ke… tek tuk ke…” over and over every hour or so. “Oh, god… the sound is louder than the sound of Big Ben’s bell in London.”

Sometimes, Drake opened his eyes to ensure no geckos had crawled through the gap of the room close to their bed.

His fidgeting awoke Sakura who learned that her husband is being terrorized by the animal.

“Just close your eyes and sleep, Drake. The gecko will not come to bite you or cling to you. The animal has been living here for ages since it was as small as a finger to now when it is as big as your wrist. Lizards eats insects flying in this house. You are too big for the lizard to eat.”

“You’re right. I need to recharge my batteries as much as I can. We will fly to Angkor Wat temple tomorrow,” he said and just fell asleep a like baby around 1 AM. next to Sakura whose hair spread across the other side of the pillow with one hand stretched upwards, and the other downwards like an Apsara dancer dancing in the heavenly bed of love.

It was 7:30am, Sakura gently woke her husband to get up to ensure they will not miss their flight to Siem Reap, the home of Angkor.

Once Sakura landed in Siem Reap, she shed tears as he remembered when she and her daddy waited for their mom more than four years ago. She briefly told husband about that time. Drake understood her feeling, “Babe, please smile again. I am always with you. I know what happened is far from over but I will help you how I can. Your tears can’t solve a problem sometimes, so be strong, strong, and strong again.”

Drake held her hand with one hand while in the other he carried a booklet about Angkor.  He learned a great about the temple, “Sakura, please keep smiling again like the statue of the Bayon temple where the images look like human faces smiling at all regardless of their individual backgrounds.”

The next day, the young couple toured the temples. They were thrilled, especially Drake who for the first time could see the most beautiful temples he had ever seen in his life.

They both strolled from one temple to another, Drake looked far to another temple at the corner of the complex, and said, “The name and the fame of Angkor built by your Khmer ancestors will last forever and I wish this temple will last forever as well”.

Drake who is quite impressed by the development of the kingdom of wonder can’t wait to say, “you are lucky that you are born in this country… and...” Sakura interrupted, “well, it depends on which area you talk about. I mean, I lost my mom to a bullet from an unidentified gunman as she walked home in Phnom Penh. But at the same time I agree with you about the country’s social development.”

Drake also struggled to understand how with such great culture, traditions, and gentle people something like the killing fields could happen. “There are complex trends and reasons which contributed to the Khmer Rouge genocide.” Sukura tried to explain to her husband.

“Domestic fall-outs in Cambodia along with the impact of external influence from the Cold War pushed my country to the abyss of killing and destruction. U.S. bombardment on my country during the Vietnam War, was also partially to blame for driving Cambodians to join the communists, too much was too much already. You need to get a real history book and learn about it. But just remember for now that this is new Cambodia on old land.” Drake interrupted, “What is the most important for us is that I love you as much as you love me so that the flower Sakura continues to bloom and blossom all year round.”

Sakura laughed out loud and raised her hands into the air, “… and Angkor witnesses our eternal love, and that love will shine on forever in the kingdom of wonder.”

The end.