Brothers

by Yu Hua

  Baldy Li shook his head. "I'll get up after you leave."

  "Fuck," he said. "I really won't kick you anymore. Get up."

  Baldy Li didn't believe him. "I'm quite comfortable sitting right here."

  "Fuck," Sun Wei spat out and stalked off. As he walked away he recited a line from Chairman Mao: "I ask, in this boundless land, who is master of his destiny?"

  These two lonely fellows would often run into each other on the streets. At first Baldy Li would either keep a safe distance from Sun Wei or he would immediately plant himself on the ground, and each time Sun Wei would chuckle. Baldy Li always guardedly watched Sun Wei's legs to make sure that they wouldn't sneak in a kick. One day at noon Baldy Li finally let down his guard. At this time most people in town were locking up their faucets; in a great thirst, Baldy Li tried faucet after faucet until, on the eighth try, he found one that hadn't been locked up. He turned it on and filled his belly with water and also stuck his head underneath to cool himself off. Just as he finished twisting the faucet shut, someone came from behind him, turned it on again, and drank for a good long time, his mouth sucking on it as if it were a sugarcane. As this person drank he stuck his backside in the air and let out a string of farts, making Baldy Li giggle. When the person finished, he turned to Baldy Li and said, "Hey, kid, what are you laughing at?"

  Baldy Li now saw that it was Sun Wei, but he was so busy giggling, momentarily he forgot to sit down. He said to Sun Wei, "Your farts sound like snores."

  Sun Wei chuckled as he turned the stream of water down to a trickle. He dabbed some water on his fingers to comb his hair and asked Baldy Li, "Where's that other kid?"

  Baldy Li knew he was referring to Song Gang and replied, "He went back to the countryside."

  Sun Wei nodded. He turned off the faucet and shook out his long hair, then waved for Baldy Li to follow him. Baldy Li walked a few steps before he suddenly remembered the sweep-kick, whereupon he immediately planted himself on the ground. Sun Wei walked a bit farther before noticing that Baldy Li wasn't following, and when he turned around, he saw that Baldy Li was again seated on the ground. Curious, he asked, "Hey, kid, what are you doing?"

  Baldy Li pointed at Sun Wei's legs. "You have sweep-kicking legs."

  Sun Wei burst into laughter. "If I had wanted to kick you, I would have already done so."

  This struck Baldy Li as logical, but he still didn't fully believe Sun Wei. Cautiously, he suggested, "You just forgot to kick me earlier."

  Sun Wei waved his hand, saying, "Nah. Get up, I won't kick you anymore. We're friends now."

  The words "We're friends now" thrilled and surprised Baldy Li, and he almost leapt up. Sun Wei indeed didn't sweep-kick him; rather, he placed his hand on Baldy Li's shoulder, and they walked down the street as if they were old pals. With a toss of his long locks, Sun Wei intoned, "I ask, in this boundless land, who is master of his destiny?"

  Baldy Li beamed with excitement. Sun Wei, who was seven years older than he, was his friend. Now that Song Fanping had passed away, Baldy Li's new friend was certainly the Number One Sweep-kicker in town. Sun Wei's hair, which usually covered his ears, blew in the breeze, and he recited the Chairman's verses as he ambled along, sometimes adding an "Alas!" at the end of the line for emphasis. Sun Wei's improvements on the originals impressed Baldy Li. He also felt that walking alongside Sun Wei brought him great clout. He was no longer intimidated by anyone, not even the armband-wearing men.

  As they ascended the bridge they ran into Victory Zhao and Success Liu, both of whom looked upon Sun Wei walking with the young Baldy Li with great curiosity. Ignoring them, Sun Wei continued with his recitation of Chairman's Mao verse, "I ask, in this boundless land…"

  Baldy Li rather overeagerly rushed to complete the couplet: "… who is master of his destiny?"

  Victory Zhao and Success Liu whispered to each other, laughing. Sun Wei knew that they were making fun of him, so in a low voice he scolded Baldy Li, "Hey, kid, stop walking next to me. Follow behind."

  Baldy Li's swagger instantly dissipated. He no longer had the right to walk shoulder to shoulder with Sun Wei and could only follow behind him like a little lackey, his shoulders slumped and his head drooped. Trailing behind Sun Wei, Baldy Li now understood that the only reason Sun Wei had recruited him as a friend was because he had none left. All the same, he still followed closely behind Sun Wei, since trailing him was better than being on his own.

  What Baldy Li didn't expect was that the next day long-haired Sun Wei would come knocking on his door. Baldy Li was just finishing breakfast when he heard Sun Wei reciting Chairman Mao's verse outside the door: "I ask, in this boundless land, who is master of his destiny?"

  Overjoyed, Baldy Li opened the door. Sun Wei beckoned him like an old friend. "C'mon, let's go."

  The two of them walked for a bit. Baldy Li cautiously followed alongside Sun Wei, relieved not to see any reaction from him. When they reached the end of the alley, Sun Wei suddenly stopped and asked Baldy Li, "Take a look for me. Do I have a rip in my pants?"

  Baldy Li crouched down and peered at the seat of Sun Wei's pants but didn't spot anything. He replied, "No rips."

  Sun Wei said, "Look more closely."

  By this point Baldy Li's nose was almost touching Sun Wei's butt, but he still didn't spot anything. Suddenly Sun Wei let out a loud fart, blasting Baldy Li's face like a gust of wind. Sun Wei guffawed and, walking off, chanted loudly, "I ask, in this boundless land …"

  Baldy Li quickly chimed in, "… who is master of his destiny?"

  Baldy Li knew that Sun Wei was taunting him, but he didn't care. He only cared that Sun Wei let him walk alongside him, rather than making him trail behind.

  For the rest of the summer, Baldy Li and Sun Wei spent all their time together. They loafed about in the streets past sunset, sometimes staying out long after the moon had come up. Sun Wei didn't like deserted areas, preferring the crowded main streets. Like a fly hovering over a pile of dung, Baldy Li trailed him everywhere; and the two wandered the streets, not knowing what else to do. Sun Wei was enamored with his own long hair, and at least twice a day he would walk down the steps to the riverbank and, squatting down, take up some water to style the locks framing his face. He would then admire his blurry image in the river and blow a few smug whistles. Baldy Li eventually figured out why Sun Wei liked to amble up and down the main streets: What he liked were the large glass windows of the stores. Whenever he stopped in front of one and started whistling, Baldy Li knew even without looking that Sun Wei was once again tossing his hair about.

  They often ran into Sun Wei's father on the street. On those occasions, Sun Wei would look down and hurry away as if he were worried about being recognized. Sun Wei's father wore a tall dunce cap and swept the streets as Song Fanping had once been made to do. Each morning he would start at one end of the street and sweep his way to the other end, and each afternoon he would sweep his way back. People often lectured him, saying, "Hey there, have you confessed all your mistakes?"

  He stuttered in reply, "Yes, yes."

  "Did you leave anything out? Think more carefully."

  He nodded obsequiously. "Yes, I will."

  Sometimes it would be children who would lecture him: "Raise your fist and shout, ‘Down with myself.'"

  And he would raise his fist and shout, "Down with myself!"

  On those occasions Baldy Li would itch with the desire to yell at him too, but with Sun Wei by his side, he couldn't bring himself to do so. One time Baldy Li really couldn't help himself, and when Sun Wei's father had finished shouting "Down with myself!" Baldy Li said, "Shout it twice."

  Sun Wei's father raised his fist twice, shouting, "Down with myself!" Sun Wei stomped on Baldy Li's foot, cursing, "If you're going to fucking kick a dog, you should first see who it belongs to."

  But when Sun Wei ran across other dunce-cap-wearing people being struggled against, he would happily throw in a kick himself as he walked past. Baldy Li would follow suit, and the two w
ould be pleased with themselves as if they had just had a bowl of house-special noodles. Sun Wei said to Baldy Li, "Kicking bad guys is as natural as wiping yourself after taking a shit."

  Sun Wei's mother had once been a woman with a vicious tongue. On Li Lan and Song Fanping's wedding day, she had been the one who let loose with a string of the foulest curses over a wayward hen. But now that her husband was wearing a dunce cap and a wooden placard, it was as if she had become a different person and was now soft-spoken and obsequious. Baldy Li often appeared at her front door in the morning, and she knew that he was her son's only friend; so whenever she ran into him, she was as affectionate as if she were his mom. If she noticed that Baldy Li's face was dirty, she would fetch a towel to wipe it, and if Baldy Li had a button missing on his shirt, she would have him take it off, then she would sew it back on right then and there. When no one was listening, she would ask after Li Lan. Baldy Li always shook his head and said that he didn't know, whereupon she would sigh and turn away before he could see her cry.

  Baldy Li and Sun Wei's friendship didn't last very long. Now in addition to the parading masses, the streets were also full of people wielding scissors and razor blades. Whenever they spotted someone with tailored pants, they would drag him out and shred his pants legs until they were like the ends of a mop; when they saw a long-haired man, they would wrestle him to the ground and chop at his hair until it looked like a roughly weeded patch of grass. Men wearing tailored pants and sporting long hair were obviously bourgeois, and Sun Wei's long hair could not escape this fate. One morning, just as he and Baldy Li reached the main street and spotted Sun Wei's father sweeping at a distance with his head bent, a few men wielding scissors and razors ran toward them. At that moment Sun Wei was still busy reciting, "I ask, in this boundless land, who is master of his destiny?"

  Baldy Li heard the clatter of footsteps behind him, and he turned around to see a few red-armbanders rushing at them with scissors and razors in their hands. Baldy Li didn't know what was going on. But when he turned back to look at Sun Wei, he saw that he had already dashed off frantically toward his father, with the red-armbanders close behind.

  Usually, when Baldy Li's middle-schooler friend ran into his father on the street, he would walk past, eyes averted. But this time, in order to protect his beloved head of long hair, he ran toward his father, screaming, "Papa, save me!"

  Another red-armbander suddenly jumped in front of Sun Wei and kicked him to the ground. When Sun Wei got up to continue running, the group of men tackled him. By this time Baldy Li had caught up and saw that Sun Wei's father was also rushing over. A gust of wind blew the father's dunce cap to the ground, so he ran back to place it on his head and then continued running toward his son.

  Several of the stronger red-armbanders pinned Sun Wei to the ground and started pushing the razor across his gorgeous long hair. Sun Wei resisted with all his might; even after his arms were pinned down, he still kicked his feet as if he were swimming. Two red-armbanders sat on him, holding down his legs. Though his body was immobilized, Sun Wei strained to lift his head up, screaming, "Papa, Papa …"

  The razor blade in the red-armbander's hand was slashing through Sun Wei's hair and neck like a machete. Between the red-armbander's downward thrusts and Sun Wei's struggles, the razor blade slashed deeply into Sun Wei's neck. Blood gushed all over the blade, but the red-armbander still slashed, ultimately slicing through the jugular vein.

  Baldy Li witnessed the horrific scene as blood spurted in a two-yard-long arc like a fountain. The faces of the red-armbanders were sprayed with blood; shocked, they all leapt back like springs. When Sun Wei's father rushed over and saw that his son's neck was spurting blood, he pleaded with the group to spare his boy. As he knelt on the blood-drenched ground his cap fell off, but this time he didn't retrieve it. Instead he cradled his son in his arms as Sun Wei's head flopped over like a dolls. He screamed his sons name, but there was no response. With a look of terror he asked the crowd, "Is my son dead?"

  No one answered. The red-armbanders responsible for Sun Wei's death were all mopping the blood from their faces and looking about in a panic, struck dumb by what had just happened. Sun Wei's father bellowed at them, "You! You killed my son!"

  As he shouted he rushed at them. They backed away in terror, and he, with his fist clenched, didn't know who to pursue. At this moment four other red-armbanders walked over. When they spotted Sun Wei's father, they scolded him, ordering him back to his sweeping. Sun Wei's father's crazed fists crashed down on them, and the four beat him brutally in return. They rolled around like a pack of wild animals as the crowds hovered, rushing back and forth. Sun Wei's father used his fists, feet, and head, roaring like a crazed beast, and even the four red-armbanders together couldn't manage to take him down. He had once fought Song Fanping, and back then he had been no match for Song; but at this moment Baldy Li was certain that it would be Song Fanping who was no match for Sun Wei's father.

  More and more red-armbanders congregated in the street. There were now more than twenty of them, and they encircled Sun Wei's father, taking turns beating him down until he was flat on the ground. Still, they continued to shower him with punches and kicks, and only when he was completely motionless did the red-armbanders pause to catch their breath. When he came to again, they bellowed at him, "Get up. Get going."

  Sun Wei's father by now had resumed his former air of diffidence. Wiping at the blood on his lips, he dragged his bruised body up, but not before retrieving his dunce cap, stained with his son's blood. He solemnly placed it back on his head and, as he followed them with his head hung low, he caught sight of Baldy Li. He wept and said, "Go tell my wife our son is dead."

  Shaking all over, Baldy Li arrived at Sun Wei's house. It was still morning, so when Sun Wei's mother saw Baldy Li standing by himself at her door, she assumed he had come looking for her son. Curious, she asked, "Didn't you two go out together just now?"

  Baldy Li nodded his head. He was trembling so hard he couldn't say a word. When Sun Wei's mother saw the blood on Baldy Li's face, she gasped and asked, "Did you get into a fight?"

  Baldy Li swiped his hand across his face. When he saw the blood on his hand, he realized that it was Sun Wei's. Shaking and sobbing, he said, "Sun Wei is dead."

  Baldy Li saw the horror creep over Sun Wei's mother's face as she stared at him. He repeated himself and, feeling that she was not registering what he was saying, he added, "On the main street."

  Sun Wei's mother stumbled out of her house and to the end of the alley until she reached the main street. Baldy Li followed behind her, stammeringly describing how her son had died and how her husband had battled the red-armbanders. Sun Wei's mother quickened her pace until she was no longer reeling with shock; speed gave her balance, and when she reached the main street, she broke into a run. Baldy Li ran behind for a few steps but then paused as she ran to where her son was lying. Baldy Li saw her fall to the ground, then heard a shattering series of wails, each sob wrenched from her chest as if with a dagger.

  From that point on, Sun Wei's mother never stopped weeping. Even after her eyes became red and as puffy as two lightbulbs, her weeping continued unabated. In the days that followed, each morning she would support herself against the walls of the alley and walk to the end, then support herself along the walls of the main street and walk to the spot where her son had died. She would stand there, gazing down at the traces of his blood, and weep unceasingly. Only after the sun had set would she support herself against the walls and stumble home. The next day she would be there once again, sobbing. When acquaintances went over to comfort her, she would turn away, bowing her head deeply.

  Her gaze grew unfocused, her clothes shabby, and her hair and face increasingly filthy. Her gait became odder and odder: As she stepped out with her right foot she would swing her right arm forward, and as she stepped out with her left foot she would swing her left arm forward. As they say in Liu Town, she was walking lopsided. She would walk to the spot where
her son had died and sit there, her entire body slack as if she was barely conscious, her weeping sounding like the buzz of mosquitoes. Most people thought that she had lost her mind, but when she would accidentally catch someone's eye, she would turn away and stealthily wipe away her tears. Eventually, in order not to let others see her cry, she started sitting with her face against a wutong tree and her back to the street.

  There was much talk among the people of Liu. Some concluded that she had gone mad; others noted that she was still capable of feeling shame, so obviously she hadn't gone completely insane. However, even they admitted that, judging by her odd behavior, she at the very least had fallen into a deep depression. One day her shoe fell off, and from that point on she never again wore shoes. Various pieces of clothing also fell by the wayside, and she never replaced them, until finally one day she sat there stark naked. By that time, the traces of her sons blood had been completely washed away by the rain, yet she still stared at the ground, weeping inconsolably When she noticed someone looking at her, she would turn away and lean into the tree trunk, stealthily wiping her tears. Now the people of Liu Town were all in agreement that she had, indeed, gone completely mad.

  This pitiful woman no longer knew where home was. At nightfall she stood up and wandered the streets and alleys of Liu Town, looking for her home. Like a ghost she silently paced the streets, often giving the towns residents a good scare. Later she even forgot where her son had died. All day she rushed about frantically like someone trying to catch a train, running from one end of the street to the other calling out her sons name, as if she were calling him home for dinner: "Sun Wei! Sun Wei!"

  Then one day she vanished from Liu Town altogether. She was gone for almost half a month before people realized they hadn't seen her for a long time. They asked one another, "How did Sun Wei's mother suddenly disappear?" Sun Wei's former buddies, Victory Zhao and Success Liu, however, knew where she had gone. They stood amid the crowds and pointed north, explaining, "She's gone. She's long gone."