Radiant

- 20 -


Burn


Almost every date Mary went on with Phos was spent translating around the globe. They went everywhere, even Antarctica. When Phos removed his sweater and only wore a t-shirt, Mary was warm enough just standing next to him.

It was the best way to travel. No need for luggage, hotels, cramped flights, jet lag, subways, rental cars, or any other inconveniences. They exchanged money a few times to buy wontons, gelato, pineapple, or anything else that they wanted. But other than that, it was just Mary, Phos, and the place. They went on a few "normal" dates for Mom's benefit. Phos would do the gentlemanly thing of waiting for her downstairs and then bringing her back promptly at the end of the evening. They visited Spice several more times and even met Raj's parents and his sister Gita.

During one of their "cool" dates, as Mary called them, Phos took her to Vietnam. While it was the middle of the night at home, it was the middle of the day there. He took her first to Ho Chi Minh City, which was once Saigon. They worked their way north to various spots until they ended up in Hanoi. Everywhere they went, people looked at Phos as if they'd never seen a Westerner before.

"I'm hungry," Mary said. "Can we get something to eat?"

"Of course," he said. "What would you like?"

She thought for a moment. "I don't know. Do you have a taste for anything?"

"I don't know what that means," he said, "to have a taste for something."

"You don't?" she asked. "Like, you haven't wanted something specific when you were hungry?"

"I don't get hungry," he said.

"Really?"

He nodded. "My energy is constantly regenerating Carter's body. It doesn't require nourishment or rest. But I've observed that sharing food is a pleasant social activity among humans, and I like participating and trying new things."

They found a kind of food court in a busy area of the city, where mobs of Vietnamese people were stopping for lunch. Mary and Phos ordered some bánh mì sandwiches and coconut drinks and found a small empty table among the noisy crowds.

Mary's bánh mì was overstuffed with pickled vegetables, so she picked some of them out before she ate. "You said you don't need rest either? So you don't sleep?"

Phos took a bite of his sandwich and washed it down with some coconut water. "I sleep the same way I eat. I don't need to, but I do it once in a while. Or I should say that it's Carter who sleeps and I just watch."

"Have you dreamed?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I wish I could."

"You're not really missing anything," she said. "Sometimes, our dreams are not good things to see."

"I know Carter's aren't."

She laughed. "So, if you don't need to eat, then do you go to the bathroom?"

He shook his head. "This body is highly efficient as long as my energy occupies it. It wastes nothing. I also don't sweat."

"That's so unfair," Mary grumbled.

He laughed.

"If you don't sweat, then does that mean you don't cry?" she asked

"I haven't tried that yet."

"Why not?"

"I haven't experienced something to cry about, I suppose," he said.

"I see," she said. "It's possible you're like me. I can't cry."

"I noticed that," he asked. "I've never seen you. Is that normal?"

She shrugged. "I mean, I did a couple times when I was little. But not since then." The last time Mary had shed any form of tear was that one time she told Mom she hated her.

"Not even that time?" he asked, nodding at her scar.

Mary's hand went unconsciously to her neck. "No, not even then. You didn't see that happen?"

"Apparently not, since I remember everything I hear and see. I was probably working on the other side of the planet," he said. "If I had been there, though, I would've done something to stop it."

"Like what?" she asked. "You wouldn't have hurt Ba. Right?"

"Of course not," he said. "But I would've done whatever I could to protect you."

Mary blushed.

As they ate and talked, some men set up a stage and sound equipment at the end of the food court. They apparently didn't know what they were doing very well, because when one of them stepped up to the microphone, his voice was so loud you couldn't understand what he was saying at all. After he left, a woman came up to the microphone and started singing with a terribly synthesized track. She sounded awful.

"Ugh," Mary said. "I wish she'd stop."

Phos chuckled. "Don't humans sing for fun?"

"That isn't fun," she said. "That's a disaster."

He looked at the singer. "It's fascinating to me, all the things you humans do for recreation. You sing and play instruments, play sports, climb mountains, dive in the ocean, act, play games, race. Oh, the races you have! Everything from horses and cars to goats and lawn mowers."

"Lawn mower racing?" she asked. "There's such a thing?"

"Apparently," he said. "It has a small but fiercely loyal following."

"Huh," Mary said. "Lawn mower racing. Who would've thought?"

"Exactly!" he said. "Humans come up with such amazing ways to amuse yourselves. You never cease to astound me."

"We try," she joked. "So, you don't need to eat and you don't need to sleep. But you can translate. And you can heal, like you did for that boy at the hospital."

He thought for a moment. "I wouldn't say I 'healed' him. I just addressed some bad energy that was inside him."

"Bad energy?"

He nodded. "Disease is energy just like anything else. But it's a detrimental kind. Human doctors use energy to treat it. I just did it more accurately."

"That's so cool," she said. "Oh my gosh! You can heal all the kids in the cancer ward."

He hesitated. "No, I can't."

"Why not?" Mary asked. "Do you not have enough energy? What if you just healed some of them? Like, the ones that really need it."

"I want to," he said. "But I'm not supposed to."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's…complicated," he said. "I'm sorry I can't explain beyond that."

Mary said nothing. There were kids who were sick and he had the ability to make them better. How complicated could it be?

"Can I ask you something now?" he asked.

"Okay," she said.

"These human emotions are remarkable," he said. "I'm learning so much. But is it possible to turn them off?"

"I don't think so," she said. "If there was a way, I'd like to know, too. What emotions have you had so far?"

He thought for a moment. "Surprise. Confusion. Hurt."

"I'm...sorry about that one," she said.

"No need to apologize," he said. "Because not long after that, I experienced Happy."

"Good." She smiled. "What about love? Have you experienced that yet?"

He cocked his head to the side. He was doing that in a more natural way now, not so abrupt and robot-like. "I've been confused about that concept. Love."

"How so?" she asked.

"By my observations, I don't think 'love' is an emotion," he said. "It doesn't make sense to me."

The awful singer finally stopped, but then a young Korean-pop-star-wannabe got on the stage and was worse. Why they were doing this bad concert during the lunch rush was a mystery to Mary.

"Let's go," she said. "My ears are going to bleed."

They tossed their empty sandwich wrappers in the trash and began walking down the street. It wasn't less noisy there, because people were walking everywhere. When Mary and Phos tried to cross the street, a man on a moped almost hit them.

"Watch it!" Mary cried. "Man, I can't stand Vietnamese people."

Phos wrinkled his brow. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I mean, not all of them. But so many of them are jerks. There's this lady who owns a convenience store, and she always rags on me about not knowing the language."

"Why don't you learn it?" he asked.

"I have enough trouble with one," she said. "Besides, you have to admit, it's an ugly language. Like that lady at the store? She sounds like an angry duck."

He laughed. "That may be what she sounds like regardless of what she's speaking. But it's a really beautiful language. There are many great poems written in it."

Mary shrugged. "The people still suck."

Phos smiled. "Let's walk over here."

She followed him, and they came to a massive lake. It was a little quieter there, which made the walk pleasant as they headed for an old temple nearby. Inside, they saw the statues of two women with their arms raised. From the way the display was arranged, they looked like they were important people.

"Who are they?" Mary asked.

"Hai Bà Trưng," he said. "The two Trung ladies. They were sisters and they were warriors. They fought for freedom against Chinese oppression around the first century. They're heroes."

Mary stared at the statues. "They were Vietnamese? And they were girls?"

"And queens," Phos added. "Vietnam wasn't called 'Vietnam' back then, but it was here before the Roman Empire was even established. It was a feudal system. There were kingdoms with Vietnamese kings, queens, lords, and ladies."

Mary looked at him. "I never knew that. All I know about Vietnam is what Ba told me. About the war."

Phos smiled. "You come from some rich heritages, Mary. You should never despise any of them."

Mary looked back at the statues. Who would have ever thought that a pair of Vietnamese women had ever done something like battle against the Chinese empire?

"How did you know about them?" Mary asked.

"I don't have an age, remember?" he said. "I was around when everything happened."

Mary couldn't tear her eyes from the statues. She was only able to when Phos reminded her that it was getting late at home and they had school in the morning. He translated them to the roof of her apartment building.

"Thanks," she said. "Not just for the trip. But for telling me about those sisters. It really gives me some perspective on things. And perspective on me."

Phos smiled. "It was my pleasure."

Mary smiled as well. "Well, see you at school." They hugged, and she reached up and gently pressed her lips to his cheek, giving him a quick peck of a kiss.

He looked at her, surprised.

"What?" she asked.

He touched his cheek. "I thought that was something you only did for your mother and grandmother." He smiled. "Thank you."

Phos stepped back and turned, as he normally did before he translated away. But Mary stared at him. He was right. The only times she had ever kissed someone was when she kissed Mom or Ba on their cheeks.

"Phos?" she asked.

He stopped and looked at her. "Yes?"

Mary hesitated for a moment. Then she went up to and him and, this time, pressed her lips to his. Kissing him was like putting her mouth to hot coffee—burning but bearable. He tasted like coconut water, and she could feel some of the hair on his chin. Phos must've been caught off guard, because he didn't do anything at first. Then, he put his arms around her and pulled her closer.

Mary didn't know how long the kiss lasted. Not long enough, as far as she was concerned. But then her mouth started burning. The heat became too much, and she finally had to come up for air. She laughed. "There. So you know that you're not my mom or grandmother."

But Phos didn't laugh, too. He looked concerned.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You're mouth," he said. "It's red."

She wrinkled her brow and pressed her finger to her lower lip. "Ow!"

"You're hurt!" he said.

"Just give me a moment." Mary gently touched her lip again. It stung, and it was starting to feel sore. She remembered feeling the same way when she pulled a heavy pan out of the hot oven once and accidentally brushed her arm against the scalding upper rack. "I think I'm burned."

"A burn?" he asked. "I burned you?"

"It's not like you meant to," she said.

He looked at her. "It's starting to swell."

"I think I need some ice or something," Mary said.

"I think you need more than that," he said. "I'll take you to see your mother at the hospital."

Just then, the door to the roof started to open.

Mary turned to Phos and whispered. "Get out of here!"

"What about you?" he whispered back.

The door opened more.

"I'll be fine. Go!" she hissed.

The door opened all the way. Bruce stepped outside. "Oh, it juss you."

Mary looked around. Phos was gone. "Um, yeah. Just me. I was doing some star gazing." Her mouth was throbbing, and she tried hard to talk normally.

Bruce looked around. "Where your telescope?"

Crap, she thought. "Uh, my telescope? It's uh—"

Just then, a shooting star flashed by.

"Wow!" Bruce said. "Did you see that?"

Thanks Phos, Mary thought. "Yes! I was up here watching for shooting stars. I don't need my telescope for that. But I'm done now, so I'm going downstairs. Good night."

She made her way past Bruce to get down to her apartment. Once inside, she ran to the freezer, grabbed a bag of frozen vegetables, and put it over her sore mouth.

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