Chapter 2
“Do you need my help, lady?” The man said. He took the glass off as a sign of courtesy of the gentleman.
“Really? Oh, thank you.” She said and giving the camera to the strange man. She knew all kind of them, a common flirter with overconfidence of himself. Let’s just play with a guy for moment, she thought. She said in weak voice, adding a slice flavor of feminine “It’s so nice when at least I can find a man in this deserted place.”
“My thousand gratitude, lady. Can I ask your name, please?” He said.
“My name’s Minh Hanh, Dao Thi Minh Hanh.”
“Do you want to know mine?” He said, giggling with her.
“I have to know?” She asked. He wanted to play? Lets him.
The man smiled broadly, not lost a single fiber of determination. He took a camera from Hanh, examined it pretty close. It startled her for a degree, he came here to flirted with her, not her camcorder.
“You done yet? Or you want to know where and when I bough it?” She said in contemptuous.
“Forgive me for my mistake.” He said and smiling. The stranger put the camera forward Hanh, he stepping back for few steps, reconsidering the perfect angle “Shall we continue?”
Hanh changed her position several times, for each of her pose was two to three shots. The man showed himself a dedicated worker with no sign of distraction. He really got fond with her, or maybe just done it for his satisfaction of photography?
“All is yours, beauty.” He said and giving back the device. She didn’t mind to checked them, instead she got more curiosity with the man himself.
“Tell me, what the reason for a man like you come to this beautiful place with no woman, all by yourself?”
“Nothing special, my ex-girlfrend and I used to came here as annual.”
“Ex? What happened to her?”
“She and I had a fight with each other. She said she didn’t ever want to see my face again, so I made her wish came true.” He said.
“Then why you keep coming here? To recollect good old memories?”
“I’m not kind of romantic like that. I just love to observing and shooting the remarkable views. And I don’t mind if I can printing you.” He said and chuckling.
“I used to have an ex too.” She said.
“Your boyfriend and you had a fight?”
“Actually he was my husband. We had married 2 years before divorce.”
“I’m so sorry for that, he has to be someone important to you.”
“No, in fact he was a dickhead, so I said goodbye to him forever.”
“I see. Did you have a kid with him?” He asked. She seemed to unhear of what he spoke, looking far away with a careless manner. He continued “I means you have to be careful, my mother always say children are fragile creatures. You have to watching them attentively if don’t want any bad thing happen to them.”
“What do you mean?” Hanh asked, now he had her attention again
“You know what I’m pointing at. I said you should take care of your son. Sea is beautiful yet dangerous place. You don’t want them to be drown, do you?”
“Listen! I don’t know what you are talking about. You start to become nonsense, understand?” She said in anger, her voice gone deeper and rough gasp showed up on her face “And I thought you’re a decent guy.” Hanh took her camera to a small bag laying on the waist and started to walking away.
“But of course a lot better than your husband, right?”
“What do you say?” She said and turning back quickly.
“Let’s drop that topic right now and then, ok?” He said “I have a thing to confess with you, in case you want to go away, there is one more reason for me to come here. I think you know about the murder have happened 3 days ago?”
She replied none. The man kept going “The body of decreased have been found right here, right on the shore, be discovered by an ordinary fisherman. You can see why people avoid to come here. Then one day, I mean this day, a beautiful woman for no particular reason at all have decided to see this spot.” He said and grinning “Do it startle you, lady? And all of those things make me remember the fine words that one of my friends, who accidentally a police inspector have said. Do you know what he said?” He asked.
“Do I have to know?” She said in despite.
“My friend said……..” He said, ignoring her “….every murderer have tendency to come back to the zone where he/she have committed a crime. I don’t know it so called instinct or to recollect the memory when he/she took a victim’s life.”
“For what I understand now, you are implying I’m a killer? What’s your proof?” She said, her jaw clenching with high pressure, made impression of capable to crushed anything put beneath it.
“Use your own imagination, lady. And proof, you say? Why don’t you point your ears toward the sea, where you can hear the crying of the dead and the sound of the wave, it may answer you.” He said, bowing his head lightly and leading out of the seaside, abandoning everything behind him, abandoning the fantastic sightseeing which full of sea and sky, abandoning the haunting currents which he sure could hear something alike the sirens hidden inside them. And foremost, he abandoning a woman who was screaming and cursing behind him. All of that things he had done.
Tides kept coming and coming after another without stopped, it got more and more aggressive as the night came replaced for the day. As usual, fishermen went to worked with the boats beside them. Together they went to darkness of the sea without knowing what would come for them. Yet they hoped this time, might be, something would park on the nets. Ocean is the spacious world, where the waves been ordered to brough goods from distance sea for the mankind. Sometimes there were tunas, shrimps, crabs,….. Or the pieces of woods that belong to the wrecked ship. Other times there was something originated from civilization, something organic and was much alive before and now the life was faded forever to the dark blue sea.
The End
