Summary

Patricia responds to Rainey’s letter. She relays more anecdotes about her last days in Saigon.

Shortly before she and Peter returned to the States, Charlene insisted that Patricia join her and Minh-Linh on “a little excursion” (297). Patricia did not ask questions, but knew that Charlene “had her fingers in everyone’s lives” (298).

The women drove through Cholon, eventually reaching an impoverished “section of the city” (298). Patricia worried about disobeying Peter’s orders not to leave home. Finally, the women entered a small room off a dark alley. They had tea with various children and families. Patricia could not make sense of what they were doing, but was reminded of her “kindergarten classroom” and Anna from The King and I (302). She studied Charlene and Minh-Linh’s expressions in order to understand the “bit of business Charlene had devised” (302).

Finally, the women who ran...