Page 90 - I Live in the Slums: Stories (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)

come out?”
“Why not? I’ve never seen them come out. Not even once. You’re a fool if
you go on waiting.”
The girl glanced contemptuously at Ayuan and looked at him doubtfully for
quite a while before leaving.
Ayuan circled to the back of the building. Sure enough, there was also a brick
wall behind the building. Although there were some windows, they were on the
second and third floors. He looked down and saw the sign he’d seen before—the
words “Wedding Photos” were blood red. Ayuan recalled the long red satin
gown that the bride had worn. How come the sign had fallen down? This time,
he’d better do as Uncle Sang had said and patiently investigate this building. He
decided to keep watch.
The morning sunlight fell on the sign. The words that were painted blood red

actually lit up in the fire, and a funny smell filled the air. Ayuan heard someone
stick his head out a window and shout, “Fire! Fire!”
Ayuan thought, What does this little fire have to do with the people inside the
building? But the entire building rapidly filled with noise. People seemed to be
dashing around. They poured basin after basin of water down from the windows.
The water didn’t actually hit the fire, and yet the fire began shrinking, as if
intimidated by the people’s actions.
A garbage collector came over and stopped his cart. He bent and picked up
the charred remnants of the sign, looked at it, and threw it into the cart. Just then,
someone in the building dumped a basin of water on him. He grimaced at Ayuan
and said, “It’s really dry today, don’t you think?”
His hands on his hips, he stood below the window, as though he didn’t intend
to leave anytime soon.
Ayuan heard bubbles gurgling in the garbage cart. When he took a look, it
was empty except for the sign in the bottom of the cart. Ayuan wanted to move
closer to get a better look, but the garbageman pushed him away. He was so

strong that Ayuan nearly fell.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked Ayuan furiously.
“I just wanted to see if there was a swamp in your cart.” Ayuan was
aggrieved.
“What makes you think it’s okay to spy on things? Get out of here!”
Pedaling his cart, he took off. Ayuan heard the merry sound of a series of
bubbles rising from the depths of the water to the surface.
The people in the building continued pouring water down. Ayuan wished they
would pour it on him, but they didn’t. After a while, the place where Ayuan was
standing turned into mud, so he circled around to the front of the building. The
wall with no door was just the same, but someone was standing there. It was