by CW Ullman
“Mr. Colonel Cin, may I talk to you?” she called out across the yard.
He walked over to her and when he was twenty feet from the cage, Elvis and Long growled just loud enough to stop him. “I’ll stay here.”
“Can you ask one of the men to go in the house and look for a violin and bring it to me?” She requested.
He was not sure he heard her correctly, “Violin?”
“Yes.”
“Somebody check the house for a violin and bring it to Tiger Girl.”
After searching the house, a man returned with a violin and placed it twenty feet from the cage. My Ling left the enclosure and brought the instrument into the pen. She tuned it for a moment and then slowly and deliberately played the first movement of “Adoration.” She watched Elvis become calmer and purr loudly. She did not notice the slack-jawed amazement of the men. Some had tears as they were enveloped in the melody of My Ling’s graceful bowing. When she was finished, she turned and saw their melancholy expressions thinking the music saddened them; until Colonel Cin slowly clapped. He was joined one at a time by the men until all were clapping standing in rapture appreciation for My Ling.
She called to Cin, “Can you come here, Mr. Colonel Cin?”
He walked over and stopped, “And, you play a violin?”
“I have an idea. I am going to repeat playing “Adoration” for Elvis. Have your men form a large circle around the cage. I want to teach them this piece. I think if Elvis can hear the melody from them it will make him more comfortable. Can we try it?”
“You want them to learn the violin? These guys can barely put their sandals on,” he joked.
“No,” she continued. “I want them to hum the tune for Elvis.”
Colonel Cin looked at Thanh who shrugged.
All the men fell into a circle around the pen which caused Elvis to pace anxiously. My Ling told them to back up and when she motioned, approach the cage one step at a time. The men backed up, but Elvis still paced, eyeing the men surrounding the pen. My Ling tucked the violin under her chin and played “Adoration.” Elvis stopped pacing and lay flat on the ground.
“Hum when you get the melody,” she instructed.
The embarrassed men glanced at each other, but slowly chimed in with the melody. After My Ling repeated it once, a third of the men had a rudimentary grasp of it, and by the fourth repetition, they all had it. While she played and the men hummed, she had them walk toward the cage slowly until they were five feet from it. She set the violin down and conducted the men while motioning them closer to the pen’s edge. My Ling looked at Elvis’s eyes and saw they were unfocused which meant he was at peak calm. She then had the men sit and beckoned to Colonel Cin to rest his palm against the pen. He unwillingly obliged her as he shakily hummed. She brought Elvis over to Colonel Cin humming in a deep baritone. Elvis rolled his head against the Colonel’s palm and licked it. My Ling felt her lips stretching into a broad smile for the first time in over a year.
Colonel Cin, the terrorist warrior who had the entire country of Cambodia in a panic, nervously chuckled as the tiger tickled his palm with his tongue. My Ling lowered her hand to quiet their humming until it was silent. The big cat continued to lick Cin’s palm. She then slowly unlocked the cage and stood outside. She separated the men so she could sit next to the colonel and she called to Elvis. He pressed his head to the fence for her to rub it along with Colonel Cin. She was outside the cage, sitting with another person and Elvis did not react. Elvis had been seduced by the humming.
It was not only the cat that had been seduced. The colonel was so taken with the magic of this event, he could only marvel at the tiger girl, wondering who and what she was. The powerful tiger’s submission to her affected him the same way. It would be weeks later that the twenty-five year-old soldier realized that even though My Ling was only thirteen, he had fallen under her spell.
My Ling said, “I’m going back in the cage in a little bit. With time, I think I will be able to stay out longer.”
Cin could only stare at her, befuddled.
“What do you think?” she asked.
He snapped to, “Yes…yes. Whatever you need. Yes…let me know what’s needed. The men will help you with whatever you need,” he repeated.
Thanh came over and whispered in the colonel’s ear and Cin ordered the men to take up guard positions around the perimeter. When he stood, Elvis stood with him and followed his movement.
“I think you have a new friend,” My Ling joked. My Ling walked back in the cage and Elvis came to her. She picked up his face and rubbed between his ears. “Do you like the colonel?” She picked up the violin and played “Adoration” again. She now was in possession of the one thing at the compound she ever wanted, the violin. It gave her a respite from loneliness and the chance to be lost in the loftiness of the instruments song. She played from memory solos by Mollenhauer, Paginini, Bach, and others. While playing, she suddenly remembered the girls. She called the colonel over.
“There were three girls brought here with me. One left with a woman and the other two are with Mr. Pok,” she urgently told him.
“Bi’ch is who you’re talking about. I have a squad who has already caught up with them and they’re being brought back here. Where’s Pok?” Cin asked.
“I don’t know. He’s been gone for months,” she added. My Ling had a question she had to ask. “Colonel Cin, why are you killing people?”
He was surprised by the question. “I’m Degar; we’re all Degar. In the war we fought on the side of the Americans and the North didn’t like that. Right now they’re trying to wipe out my people along with the other mountain people, the Bahnar, Jarai, Rhade, M’Nong, Koho, and more. On this side of the boarder the Khmer Rouge is doing the same thing. They hate us brown-skins,” he explained. “I’m fighting other fighters and soldiers, not civilians.”
“But, I’ve heard stories -,” My Ling was interrupted.
“We spread a lot of them. Two things in battle that always help you, fear and surprise. I want the enemy to believe we’re the children of Satan and we’re murderous demons,” he explained. “These men,” he waved his hand at the troops, “all fought with me and the American Green Berets. These men are my family.” He pointed at several of them, “He’s my cousin, that one’s my uncle, that’s his son, the old guy is his father, that one is a cousin, and so is that one. When I say family, I mean family.
“We just came back from Thailand. To get there we had to fight our way across Vietnam and Cambodia. We took our wives, children and parents to Thailand where the Americans will resettle them in the U.S.”
She was curious, “Why are you here? Why didn’t you go with them?”
Colonel Cin looked slightly sheepish when he said, “Well, there’s some unfinished business with the communists. They did some things…and we’d like to return the favor; besides some of these guys will never leave. The way a lot of us see it, this is our country and we want it back. We’ve been getting pushed around for centuries; that’s over.
“It wasn’t until we crossed the border from Vietnam three months ago that we found out what was going on in Cambodia. This place has turned into a blood bath,” he finished.
“We saw it on the way here; in the river,” My Ling added.
“It’s worse now. They’ve killed thousands of Cham,” shaking his head. “If I could just get my hands on one American helicopter gunship…mmm,” he offered wistfully.
Later in the day, the colonel’s men brought Bi’ch and Huyen back to camp. The first person they saw was My Ling standing outside the cage. Bi’ch looked pained and Huyen had an arm around her.
“She doesn’t feel well, I need to put her in bed,” Huyen offered. Then she pointed at My Ling, “And, she’s dangerous. She tried to kill us.”
“Yes. She is bad…that’s why I had to take my girl out of here,” Bi’ch whined.
Colonel Cin watched Bi’ch and Huyen with curiosity and asked, “That girl there?” He inquired, poin
ting at My Ling. “How did she try to kill you…she was locked in a cage?”
“She beat a man to death and shot another one?” Huyen blurted out.
Turning to My Ling, “Tiger Girl, is that true?”
My Ling bowed her head slightly, kicked at the dirt in embarrassment, then nodded.
“You train tigers, play the violin, AND kill people? Is there anything you don’t do?” Colonel Cin asked.
My Ling earnestly replied, “I’m not very good on the piano.” This brought peels of laughter from the men in the yard.
Cin turned to one of the men, “Take those two into Bi’ch’s room, search it for weapons and keep a man outside her door.” While they escorted Huyen and Bi’ch off, Colonel Cin stared at My Ling with an amused expression, “Want to tell me about the two dead men?’
She told him the complete story: the helicopter ride, being thrown from the ship, Lieutenant Ba, the shark, the fishing boat rescue, Thai pirates, Binh and Ha’s death, Mr. Pok, the van ride, the journey up the Mekong, Phnom Penh, being sold to the boat man and navigating the skiff back to the dock. When she finished, she waited for him to respond and when he did not she remembered, “Oh, yeah, I got caught in a water spout.”
After a long pause, Colonel Cin asked in astonishment, “Where are you from?”
“Well, my father owned a rice plantation not far -,” My Ling was interrupted by Cin.
“No, not where are you from? But, where are you from? I mean…how…?” The colonel bewildered to the point of silence watched her and scratched his head.
“I also promised the girls I would get them back to their relatives in Vietnam,” My Ling added.
“That’s doable, but not right now. Let me give this some thought,” the colonel offered.
That night was the first time My Ling had slept outside the cage in more than a year. While she may have slept outside the cage, she did not move far from it. Colonel Cin’s men brought a bed out from the house and placed it next to the pen. She lay on her side and watched an anxious Elvis pace back and forth. She tried to talk to him, but it did not help. Long growled at the big cat who was keeping the dog awake. My Ling hummed “Adoration” and it was as though a switch had been flipped off; Elvis stopped pacing, stretched out his legs, rolled his back up against the cage, and fell asleep. Once the big cat was situated, Long came over and forced her way in between his front paws. With the two animals finally sleeping, My Ling drifted off.
<>
She wanted to get Elvis more acclimated to the colonel’s men and the men more comfortable with him, so every evening she would assemble them in the compound’s central yard and have them hum “Adoration.” After five days, she surprised the men by walking Elvis out of the cage. She put Long on his back, where the dog sat tall in the carriage as though she was a rajah. The slight weight of the dog reminded Elvis that he had his friend with him. My Ling walked the tiger between the men as they hummed. When Elvis brushed past the men, some hummed in higher octaves trying to control their fear as the muscular tiger bumped them. The biggest surprise was the way he acted when he came to Colonel Cin. My Ling tried to lead Elvis on to other men, but he wanted to stay with the colonel. He pulled into a circle around Cin and then reared up on his hind legs and dropped his fore paws on Cin’s shoulder. The weight of the tiger almost buckled the Colonel’s knees. Elvis seemed transfixed by Cin’s deep baritone and wanted to lick his face, making it hard for Cin to hum. Eventually Elvis dropped to the ground and lay at Cin’s feet. My Ling handed the leash to Cin and motioned him to keep humming and walk the tiger amongst the men. Elvis would roll his head into the colonel and Cin would rub it, bringing the tiger to a purr. He strolled with him for ten minutes, then walked Elvis into the pen. When it was over, most of the men slumped to the ground exhausted. Colonel Cin leaned down and rubbed Elvis’s chest as the tiger pawed Cin’s arm.
My Ling was on the outside of the cage watching Colonel Cin on the inside. She joked, “Who’s the tiger girl, now?”
Over the next few weeks, the colonel’s army stayed and recuperated. For the last year and a half they had traversed thousands of miles, had skirmishes with the Khmer Rouge, the North Vietnamese communists, and the Cambodian Royal Army. When Cin’s troops were not fighting one of the three forces pitted against them, those forces were fighting one another.
During the period from 1975 to 1979, the Southeast Asian subcontinent saw the most bloodshed of its entire history, and the majority of the carnage happened in Cambodia. Much of the killing was directed at the native people of Cambodia and Mr. Pok’s compound was in the middle of it.
Mr. Pok left the compound months earlier to secure heroin for Bi’ch and buy whatever he could later resell. He had departed on a scooter, but he returned by boat. One of Colonel Cin’s men held lookout on the Tonle San River to alert the compound of any river traffic. After Cin was notified of Mr. Pok’s impending arrival, he ordered the men to stay out of view. Once the boat had been secured to the small pier, Mr. Pok, Dao, and Di.u came up the hill into the compound. The only person they saw, standing in the middle of the compound, was My Ling.
Di.u ran to My Ling and Dao followed. The bruised girls were crying as they hugged her.
“Why are you outside the cage? Where is everybody?” Mr. Pok asked. As he approached her to administer a beating, Colonel Cin stepped out from behind a tree. Mr. Pok turned to run, but Cin’s other men revealed themselves. Mr. Pok’s knees weakened when he recognized Colonel Cin. He did the only thing he could think to do.
“My Ling, it is so good to see you…my little flower. I missed you so much. Come and hug your father,” he nervously gushed. “Have you missed your papa?”
Colonel Cin rolled his eyes and My Ling stood her ground with the sisters clinging to her. Mr. Pok looked anxiously about with his arms wide apart as he approached My Ling and wrapped them around her and the girls in a smothering hug.
“Isn’t she a sight for sore eyes?” Mr. Pok said to the girls. “Come down to the boat so you can help me unload the things I bought,” after a pregnant pause, “for you.” Mr. Pok, with his arm around My Ling, ushered her to walk with him.
“Good idea, Pok,” Colonel Cin said. “We’ll help you.”
“No, no, we don’t need help…do we, My Ling…my little cherry blossom? I’m sure the girls and I can handle it. Can’t we, sweethearts?” Mr. Pok enthused.
“We’ll go with you,” Colonel Cin insisted.
Mr. Pok’s shoulder’s slumped momentarily, then he brightened and straightened up, “On second thought lets do it later, so we can catch up. How have you been, sugar plum? How is the…tiger…” he could not remember Elvis’s name. “Big Cat and his dear little friend…the dog?”
Colonel Cin stood in front of Mr. Pok and pointed down the hill, “Go,” he commanded.
With slumping shoulders, Mr. Pok walked ahead as My Ling slipped his arm off her shoulders. They reached the river where they found a small barge instead of the skiff Pok had described. Colonel Cin went aboard and pulled back tarps. Mr. Pok had brought back hundreds of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. There was also six mortar tubes, along with hundreds of mortars, scores of claymore mines, boxes of hand grenades and flare guns.
Cin joked, “And on top of all your other accomplishments, Tiger Girl, you’re also an arms dealer. This is for the Khmer Rouge, isn’t it?” Cin demanded of Mr. Pok. “All this was going to be used against me, my people and the Cham, huh?” He grabbed Mr. Pok by the throat.
Mr. Pok blurted out, “They threatened to kill me if I didn’t bring this barge up here. I didn’t want them to harm my family…and my little love beetles.” Mr. Pok sniffled, clutching My Ling’s hand.
“Let me just shoot him,” Thanh urged as he drew his forty-five.
Colonel Cin blocked him, “Later.” He turned to Mr. Pok, “The Khmer Rouge are supposed to meet you,?”
Mr. Pok nodded.
“When are they getting here?” Colonel asked.
�
��They’re on the way. Probably be here today or tomorrow. I overtook them,” Mr. Pok whined.
“They’re going to come through the pass,” the colonel concluded. He turned to Thanh, “I want men to unload the boat and then get everybody ready to move out. We’ll need a couple of squads at the pass to slow them. Throw this clown into one of the tiger cages.” He turned to Mr. Pok, “We’ll deal with you later.”
“But I can help,” Mr. Pok suggested.
Colonel Cin rolled his eyes.
“I know that pass better than anyone. My brother and I played there as kids. The gully they’ll go through will lead them into dense underbrush with triple canopy overhead. Once they come out of the brush it’ll be easy to shoot them,” Mr. Pok explained
The Colonel took his brother aside, conferred, and then turned to Mr. Pok, “You’re still in a cage.”
He started to protest until Colonel Cin gave him the look that My Ling had seen on the river. Thanh took Mr. Pok and everyone else grabbed guns, ammo, and other supplies and carried them back to the compound. My Ling was carrying a sixty millimeter mortar round next to the colonel who shouldered an M60 machine gun and two boxes of ammo.
“That look that you gave Mr. Pok was the same one I saw when we were on the river a year ago,” My Ling said.
“Was your boat tied off with a van onboard?” Colonel Cin asked.
“Yes”
“I’m nearsighted, so when I looked in your direction, I could only make out the big things” Cin answered.
My Ling spent the next hour helping the men haul ammo supplies and weapons up to the compound. It felt good to be stretching her legs and working. She liked being part of Cin’s troops.
One of Cin’s men said he wanted to test a mortar down by the river and warned everyone there would be ‘fire-in-the-hole.’ After the barge was unloaded, My Ling stayed down by the water with the mortar crew and watched them set the mortar baseplate, balance the tube, strip the safety off the mortar and then drop it down the tube. She listened to the men picking a target and the calculus for aiming. They let her drop one mortar into the tube so she could get the feel of it. They also fired the flare gun a few times and watched how the descending brilliant light appeared like a falling sun, scattering the wildlife to the ground and under logs.
