The Happiest Refugee

As Chapter 4 opens, Anh is finishing his fifth year of school and meets his first love, Karen. A Vietnamese girl ten months older than him, he finds out she likes him when she gives him a gift of carved soap. Soon, he’s over at her house, and they play spin the bottle with their friend Elizabeth. Karen stops the game claiming it’s her bad luck the bottle never stopped on Anh, as she kisses him on the cheek. The charity Jump Rope for Heart comes to the school. Although Anh is useless at most sports, he’s a natural at jumping rope. He soon finds himself holding the rope for Karen and her friends, when he wants to be playing with his friends, so he and Karen break up.

Anh is close to his Uncle Six, his father’s right hand man in the business. Anh recollects a story about how Uncle Six saved a huge load of clothes from a tire blowout while on the road. The family visits Melbourne for business. Six months later, Uncle Six suddenly moves out and disappears; Anh does not find out why for another twenty years. Soon afterwards, Anh’s father buys a duck farm to reconnect with the family’s farming roots. He starts a side business breeding ducks to sell the eggs, and the farm becomes a favorite vacation spot for Anh, his siblings, and their cousins. They go fishing, and at one point, their little boat is nearly sunk by a giant turtle. The family buys dogs to protect the ducks from foxes, and Anh and the other kids become close to the dogs. However, tragedy strikes when one dog, Blackie, eats a poisonous fish, and Anh’s father has to put it out of its misery. Despite this, Anh has fond memories of the farm. He loved learning practical skills from his parents, and enjoyed exploring and having new adventures, such as building a birdhouse and attending livestock auctions. However, the farm adventure ends when a batch of tainted feed wipes out the ducks, and the family goes back to earning a living sewing clothes in their living room.

Chapter 5 opens by introducing another member of Anh’s extended family. Anh’s paternal grandmother, Ba Noi, usually looks after the children when his parents are busy sewing. She loves gardening and keeps the equivalent of a Saigon paddy of produce. Despite her age, she seems young. She sings karaoke and plays Anh’s video games. She is a fastidiously clean woman, and once nearly throws away important citizenship papers because she thinks they are clutter. She does not speak English, so misunderstandings like that are common. Despite their success, the older family members still worry they could be deported if they do not have their papers. As Anh gets older, his parents struggle to find the best possible high school for him. Uncle Huy, in training to become a priest, suggests St. Aloysius, a prominent Catholic school. Although the tuition fees are expensive, they are determined to send him. Fortunately, a scholarship opportunity allows Anh and Khoa to attend a special test, and they score highly enough to win partial scholarships. With the tuition cut in half, both boys are able to attend the school. They go to celebrate at McDonald’s , but Anh warns the reader that it is the last outing like this they will have as a family.

As Chapter 6 begins, Anh describes his father as an incurable optimist, but says that for a while, it seems the universe is conspiring to destroy him with misfortune. The collapse of the farm has left his father in debt and unable to afford payments on his other investments. The family is forced to sell these properties at a loss, and Anh’s father loses not only his own money but that of his brothers as well. Losing the money and trust of his brothers brakes him, and one night, Anh wakes up to a brutal fight between his father and Uncle Three. Uncle Three moves out soon afterwards and returns to America where he originally lived, and Anh’s father begins drinking heavily.

In flashback, Anh retells Uncle Three’s story. He left Vietnam six months before Anh’s family did, and his boat was attacked by pirates as well. Most of Uncle Three’s fellow refugees were killed, and Uncle Three woke up on a beach in Malaysia. Two of his brothers, Five and Seven, did not make it. Anh’s father always blamed himself for not being on that boat. When Anh asks his mother about this, she reveals that Anh’s father also blames himself for the death of his oldest brother. Anh’s father continues to drink, and he can no longer hold down a job or help with the sewing. He becomes violent, and that is the last straw for Anh’s mother. Anh relates that his father hit him about half a dozen times when he was a young teenager. One day, Anh hits back and his father soon leaves the house. Anh’s mother tells the family that he’s gone back to Vietnam for a while. Six months later, he returns to Australia, but Anh’s mother tells the family that she’s asked him not to return because she fears he will be violent again. Anh is filled with rage towards his father and fear that he might try to hurt his mother. One night, Anh’s mother comes into his room, crying, and tells him his father is coming. He locks up his younger siblings and goes to confront his father. He tries to protect his mother, but she go out to speak to her husband while Anh goes to get a knife. When he returns, his father is crying. He leaves, and Anh does not see him again for the rest of his childhood.