Summary

The next section starts with Tun’s perspective as he packs in the middle of the night. His nanny Om Paan hands him some food and squeezes his hand saying “I will do my best to comfort her. . . until you return” (149). The war has progressed to a point where he feels he cannot stay home any longer, even though it means leaving his daughter. He does not know who to blame for the current situation in Cambodia, considers blaming the U.S., but he also thinks Cambodia could become the U.S. some day, if it embraces democracy. He takes a cyclo to the bridge where he is supposed to meet the guide, and chats with the young boy peddling the bike. The boy is trying to make enough money to send back to his mother.

The perspective changes to...