After talking to Rafiq, Su could not sleep. After her futile attempt to sleep, Su left her bed and went for the washroom. Her heart was still in Medina. While she had been brushing, her toothbrush slipped out from her mouth and brushed all over her cheek. She was totally absorbed by the thoughts of Medina. She left the washroom and started thinking of her next step. If she stayed in Myanmar, she would never see her husband again. This way or that way she had to travel to Medina. After a two week leave, she was to report to her office at nine in the morning. But instead of heading for her office, she planned to visit the passport office. Before going there, she was going to take four copies of her passport size photos with her. She didn’t notice it was already breakfast time. When she heard her mother’s voice at the door, quickly she walked towards the door. Kim asked her daughter if she was done refreshing herself. Kim had neatly placed the breakfast on the dinner table before she knocked on Su’s bedroom door. She prepared toast with butter and jelly, lightly fried baked potatoes with two eggs over. She also served tea with the breakfast. Su loved to have tea with her breakfast. After two weeks, mother and daughter were going to take breakfast together again. Kim wanted to find out how Su spent her time with her father, what happened to the purpose that had her travel to Sittwe. More or less, Su told everything to her mother. However, she refrained from telling her that early in the morning she had talked to Rafiq. Su could clearly see the joy in her mother’s face when she told her that Rafiq had left for Saudi Arabia. Su told her mother not to worry about them. By the time she left home for the studio, it was already eight thirty in the morning. Dark clouds had been floating in the skies of Yangon. Perhaps it would rain. Because of the clouds, the weather was way more humid. Snow white tops with a sky-blue skirt made her look like one of the most glamorous beauties of Yangon. Su could tell that she was being watched by the pedestrians.
She was relieved after entering the air-conditioned environment of the studio. It took almost an hour to get her photos. Another two hours passed submitting the relevant papers and documents to the passport office. If everything went smoothly, she would get her passport within two weeks. While filling up her form for the passport, she used the address of her office. She wanted to keep this from her family.
Around twelve in the noon, a strange sensation almost suffocated her when Su entered La Opera. On the first floor, Rafiq used to perform his duties behind the cash counter. Helplessly, she kept looking at the cash counter. The memories of their first meeting in their college were also playing hide and seek as she sat in a chair with a depressed look. She closed her eyes before her vision became blurry. When she looked, she was a bit embarrassed to see the waiter standing in front of her. Realizing her embarrassment, the waiter told her not to rush. He moved away and left her alone. When Su returned home, noon had given way to evening. Kim had been waiting for her daughter to arrive. She thought about her daughter while watching the news on television. The sound of the doorbell interrupted her thoughts. Instead of going to her bedroom, Su walked straight into the living room, throwing her bag on the table before dropping herself on the sofa. She didn’t look tired. Kim followed her daughter and sat next to her. She looked at Su and asked, “What happened? Usually you go to the washroom and wash yourself before coming to the living room.”
“Nothing happened. I just don’t feel like doing anything. Everything seems so unfamiliar to me. I feel like it’s not my home. I feel like I’m a stranger in this country. When foreigners visit our country, perhaps they feel this way.”
Kim hugged her daughter and tenderly stroked her face. In order to console Su, she wanted to say something, but nothing came out of her. Su stared at her mother in an indifferent manner, and asked, “Mother, why do you have tears in your eyes?”
“When you’ll become a mother, then you’ll realize why. Don’t trouble yourself for that boy”
Sulkily Su asked, “Which boy are you talking about?”
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“By the way, what’s the name of that boy?”
“Which boy are you talking about? Here in Yangon, I know quite a few grown up men.”
A bit angrily, Kim said, “I’m talking about one who had kidnapped our daughter and fled from the country.”
Su smiled back at her mother. She put her arms around her neck and said, “His name is Hissain and the fact is, he did not kidnap your daughter. We’re two adults, and with mutual consent we decided to get married. If you ever think of going to the court, this is what I’ll tell the court.”
“Sweetheart, why do you trouble yourself over this? You two are not meant for each other.”
Steadily Su looked at her mother, took her face into her arms and then said very softly, “Mother, what was supposed to happen has happened. You have no other option but to accept it.”
Finally, Kim gave up and presented her daughter a sad smile, and said, “Hissain, it’s a beautiful Burmese name.”
“Yes mother, it’s a beautiful name and his heart is way more beautiful.”
There was frustration among the generals who were known as the pillars of the military regime in Myanmar. Gradually the pressure had been increasing from the international quarter to hand over power to the civilian authority. But the process of transferring power had taken a complicated turn because Tatmadaw could not rely on the politicians, particularly the champion of human rights. Instead of handing over power to her, the generals wanted to hand over power to a reliable third party. Apart from that, the generals who were loyal to the regime had drawn a plan for Tatmadaw to be represented in the parliament. The generals wanted to make sure that the civilian government did not stray from the policy followed by the military regime. Outwardly, the generals talked about the just rights of the military personnel. Actually, there was dissatisfaction among the high-ranking military officers because even after three months, no steps had been taken regarding the incident at Maung Dao. Everyone in the army headquarters expected a final solution to the problem. The generals at the army headquarters could not accept that it was being delayed because of lack of political will. In mid-April, the high-ranking officers were told in a meeting about an understanding with the politicians. Instead of the pro-democracy leader, one of her subordinates would be appointed as the next head of state. The pro-democracy leader would carry on as the leader of her political party. But she would have no direct role in the government.
The most hardliner general in Tatmadaw, general Pol Pot would be given the leadership of Tatmadaw. The officers present were also told that the defense, the internal security and the relation with China would remain in the hands of Tatmadaw. Consequently, there was no obstacle to start the drive against the Rohingya Muslims. Brigadier Lee and Ban La were both present in the meeting.
After the meeting, Lee and Ban La were summoned to the office of Chief of Staff, senior general Ko Lay. They were briefed in details about the impending drive against the Rohingyas. The objective and the extent of this drive were clarified to them. They were warned to stay away from the journalists. At all time, this was to be considered a state secret. Before leaving the army headquarters, Lee and Ban La went to the canteen to discuss the operation ‘Blood Red Greetings’. While working at the headquarters, Lee had frequently visited the canteen. Hence, the staffs in the canteen were all familiar to him. They sat next to an open window in a relatively quiet spot. Before the discussion, he told the waiter not to allow anyone to sit anywhere near them. The time happened to be in between breakfast and the lunch hour, so they ordered hot tea and toast. Having a toast in his mouth, Lee said, “I think our Chief of Staff does not believe that the secrecy of the mission will be maintained and I don’t blame him.”
Ban La said, “Well, it’s not an issue of blaming anyone. It was his duty to inform us and he performed his duty. He knows very well that in Tatmadaw, we don’t have the tradition of keeping secrets.”
Something else had been troubling Lee. After this statement from Ban La, he felt like he should express it. With a faint smile on his face, he told his colleague, “We love our wives more than our country. I think our Chief of Staff knows it.”
“Actually there’s nothing to hide. These Rohingyas have become an obstacle to the future development of our nation. Therefore, the entire world knows what we are about to do. It’s happening in many other countries.”
“Yes, that’s true. But some people still complain about secrecy and then try to find a scapegoat.”
“That’s natural. Everyone wants to move ahead in his career. That’s why Darwin has written in his book about the survival of the fittest. Throwing mud, tripping others will always exist in human society. There’s no point in complaining about these.”
“I never thought of acquiring these vices. However, now I feel like I should acquire them.”
“Of course, why would you fall behind others? If you need to, you can borrow a few pages from me.”
“A few pages won’t do. I need the entire book.”
“In that case, you should visit our army Chief.”
Both of them exploded in laughter after this statement before heading for their homes. Lee wanted to pay the bill. Ban La was ahead of him in this case too.