by Di Li

Vietnam News, April, 2011

"Hurry up! Yesterday, you were thirty minutes late. You don't want your wages to be cut, do you?" urged the young man's colleague ‘Phuc the Fat'.

"Yes, I know, I know. It'll only take me five minutes to get there. Five minutes to get through the next intersection…," thought the young delivery boy. Hardly had he finished his statement when a speeding bus nearly hit the handle of his motorbike. He jerked his bike toward the curb and unfortunately the front wheel caught on a sewer grate and he fell to the ground. One after another all the other vehicles on the road passed by. So did pedestrians. Nobody paid attention to his minor incident. In this megacity with a population of nearly seven million, hundreds of road accidents, big and small, happened every day. The sight of a poorly-dressed youth with a single bag and large boxes crawling to safety then trying to lift his motorbike failed to attract attention because they were all in a hurry.

When he finally managed to pick up his motorbike all of his Christmas boxes fell to the road, one after another. The cover of his handset had come off and all of his batteries were lying at the bottom of a puddle. Worse still, his jacket was stained with muddy water.

It was Christmas Eve. Young people were complimenting one another, schoolchildren were waiting for their parents to pick them up from school while foreign companies let their employees go home early. Tonnes of people were out shopping. The owners of small shops were taking advantage of this special occasion; all of their unsold goods were on clearance, including wine and spirits, cakes and candies, decorations, teddy bears, clothes and cosmetics. The fact that Lunar New Year was just around the corner made them even happier because gold prices, foreign exchange rates and other commodities would sky-rocket and make them even happier.

Anyone else would have cursed loudly at the bus driver, who had now disappeared behind the bend, but this young delivery boy remained calm as usual. In the last month he had been happy to accept half of his wages because it had given him time to spend with his pretty sweetheart. One night they had gone to her dearest friend's birthday party. "You can do your delivery work any time, but my friend's special event comes only once a year," she urged him. Plus, he did not want any other guys to flirt with her.

This evening, he should have taken her to a restaurant to enjoy a Christmas dinner together, or gone to a cafe to watch the ebullient streets through the window. Yet these days were a profitable period for his company, usually resulting in a bonus equal to his monthly pay. If he didn't work evenings during this rare time of year, his salary would be remarkably reduced and he would not have any bonus at all. He tried to find a reasonable way to explain the situation to her so that she couldn't get angry on the one hand and did not feel alone during the cold weather of the Christmas season on the other. From the other end of the line she said softly that she would wait up for him until he finished work. "Wait for me, my darling," he told her with a sigh.

***

After ten minutes of struggle he finally managed to bind the packages back together. Once they were stable he checked the stained boxes carefully. "It doesn't matter really! None of them are seriously damaged: the wet traces will dry quickly, except for a few black marks," he said to himself convincingly.

He continued to drive through heavy traffic. The streets were full of vehicles of every description: bicycles, motorbikes, cars, buses and even modified three-wheeled vans. He anxiously inched his way through the mess one metre at a time. His fall had made him even later. Twilight was drawing near. At rush hour, nobody yielded to others on the crowded streets. Smoke from all the vehicles filled the air.

As he waited, he was afraid that he would be fined for being late. He worked for a cake company. They made cakes for a variety of events: birthdays, longevity celebrations, gold and silver weddings, Valentine's Day, International Women's Day, Teacher's Day, Physician's Day, Children's Day, and especially Christmas. The cakes were all made from the similar moulds with a few changes to the tiny details depending on the event. Cakes and other items were delivered to customers. Besides cakes, customers could also ask for gift boxes from other business to be delivered to their houses. The young man picked up the boxes from the agencies to deliver. At Christmas time, he changed from his casual clothes into a Santa Claus costume before heading out to distribute the gifts to little children. Each child received one log-shaped cake with a plastic figure of a waving Father Christmas standing on a layer of brown chocolate. He had been delivering cakes for the past two Christmas seasons after completing his food-chemistry degree at university. He had been unable to find a suitable job at any of the local food factories. He had been offered a good post in Vung Tau City, but he finally refused for fear of losing his sweetheart forever because they would only be able to see each other twice per year. She still had another year to go in her studies. He would wait until she successfully completed university then they would get married. After that they could go anywhere to find stable work and high salaries.

***

"Here you are! Yesterday, you were thirty minutes late," said Phuc the Fat who was standing on the veranda wearing a Santa suit.

"I had a minor road accident," the young man explained.

"Of course, I can see that looking at your clothes," Phuc the Fat smiled broadly beneath his long white beard. "Change your clothes while I load up your motorbike," he added.

The young man quickly signed dozens of orders then went into the warehouse to pick up his Santa Claus costume. As he removed his jacket he realised that his elbow was a bit swollen and his cheek had a slight scratch on it.

Although the wounds were not serious they still smarted when sweat trickled over them. He put on the red Father Christmas costume including a long white beard that covered most of his face. He looked like Phuc the Fat and all the other Fathers Christmas pacing up and down in the bakery.

"My dear Phuc, do you have some money I could borrow? I'll pay you back in full when I receive my wages," he said to the fat man before setting out to deliver the last batch of Christmas presents of the day.

Phuc the Fat passed his hand through the thick red coat and took out his wallet with difficulty. Without a word he handed of a wad of money. Sighing comfortably, the young man pocketed the sum equivalent to his monthly pay. "Thanks a lot," he said to Phuc the Fat before riding away.

The street was crowded with vehicles. He wormed his way among the crowd.

He delivered presents from his bag to customers' homes, one after another. He rubbed every child's head and secretly gave the invoices to their parents for their signatures. By and by, the number of boxes on his motorbike dwindled. At last, only three boxes remained undelivered. He felt hungry and his wounded elbow was becoming more painful. It was about half past seven. He had one hour to have dinner and a rest, but he had other things to do. He could put off dinner until ten o'clock without a problem. He just could not be late with his deliveries. All the bakeries would close their doors at nine. He rode swiftly past many delicious smelling restaurants in the warm yellow light to reach a jewellery shop in the old quarter.

Although he did not promise a blissful evening to his sweetheart, he was still planning a surprise gift for her. With all the money in his pocket he could afford to buy her a special Christmas gift. When the clock struck twelve he planned to stand at the front gate of her house. "Maybe, she'll go to sleep after waiting for me for so long," he said to himself. "She may be sad and angry. I'll wake her up to surprise here. I'm sure she'll reproach me at first but then she'll hug me tightly," he said dreamily. He would inhale the fragrance of her hair, kiss her burning soft lips and put the ring on her finger. Her eyes would sparkle in the dark when she received his gift of love.

The jewellery shop was bright beneath a chandelier shedding light on the diamond, ruby, black sapphire and emerald pieces. He chose a ring inlaid with a blue gem stone. "How much?" he asked the shopgirl in uniform. Silently, she took it out of the shop window to let him look at it carefully while she figured out the price in dollars on her calculator. She was too busy to answer him so she just showed him the calculator. Taken aback, he replaced the ring on the glass of the case then asked for the prices of others, one after another. Finally, he chose a gold ring with a piece of inlaid purple quartz. He paid her the entire amount he borrowed from Phuc the Fat plus everything he had left in his wallet.

After placing the small ring box into his chest pocket, he hurried off to the next addresses. A few well-dressed couples were loitering here and there on the streets looking for a relaxing place to enjoy the evening. The cold mist of a deep Christmas Eve night made him tremble. In a moment, he found himself nearly ready to collapse. After a minute's recovery, it seemed like the box was fidgeting in his pocket. He had planned on ringing her up many times, but he kept control of his feeling. He would wait until midnight. They both lived in shanty's, so there was no balcony for him to climb up and kiss her through the window. However, he would wait for her at her gate in the hope that he might soon embrace her tightly.

Only one box of cake remained. He had spent fourteen successive hours in the cold weather making his deliveries. The seemingly endless trip was almost over. After re-arranging the long white beard and leaning his motorbike in the alley, he grabbed the last box of cake. He was puzzled as he glanced at his watch. It was already ten o'clock. "I wonder if the child is still awake to receive this Christmas gift or not?" he asked himself. Jumping up three wooden stairs, he suddenly realised he was at a coffee house, not an ordinary home. The dim light coming from hundreds of tiny Christmas tree lights and the melodious piano melodies resounded under the clever fingers of a pianist wearing a black long sleeve dress revealed the restaurant's elegant atmosphere. The place was crowded with well-dressed people whose tables were full of glasses, cakes, fruit and packets of cigarette. Confused for a few seconds, he was able to find Table No 3 thanks to the address recorded on the delivery bill. A man sitting at the table close to the shop window waved him over.

"It's too late, too late," he complained. "Your company told me that the cake would be delivered at nine o'clock. Check your watch to see how late you are. If today weren't Christmas you would surely be fired. Please help us by setting the cake on our table," he said softly.

The poor delivery boy was trembling with fear. He put the cake box on the table awkwardly like a robot then opened it with quivering hands.

"OK, leave it there," the customer said angrily. In a single movement he managed to remove the cake from the box and place it on the table.

"Here's your Christmas gift, darling," he told his honey.

"Well, I never…," the pretty girl sitting opposite him exclaimed happily and kissed him passionately on the cheek.

It was the woman of his dreams.

"Oh my sweetheart, with your soft and fragrant hair, burning lips and eyes that have always swallowed me up in my dreams and regenerated me after long work days that leave me dog tired." The delivery boy said to himself. His hand went suddenly to his cheek which was hurting. Liquid began to ooze from the wound.
"My honey, that's not all. This is your real present," said the man in love. Quickly like a magician on the stage of the circus, a brilliant gold ring inlaid with a diamond was revealed.

In fact, the poor delivery boy had seen the rings just like it in the jewellery shop a few minutes before. They had been displayed in a special glass case for the very valuable pieces, quite isolated from the other precious stones. Again he heard the resounding happy shouts and kisses plus soft and sweet words. Suddenly, the couple recognised the unwanted presence of a Santa Claus standing like a stone statue in front of them. At once, the man thrust his hand into the inner pocket of his white jacket and took out a bank note.

"Here's your reward," he said, putting the money into Santa's red coat. "No need to thank me. You'd better thank my pretty girlfriend instead," he added.

The flabbergasted delivery boy retreated slowly to the door while trying to keep himself from collapsing. His wound had become so horribly painful that he could not see the way ahead clearly. He jumped onto his motorbike.

The coffee house and its piano music gradually faded away into the distance. Silently, he rode away into the endless, cold dark night.