QY’s Time Machine: "Caf? Sua", A Story.    

Some of us may have souvenirs from time spent in Vietnam. Those souvenirs may remind one happy or sad times. In all likelihood in those memories, somewhere, somehow is a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, and a cigarette.

        Here is one of those memories. The location? A small place outside of Pleiku in the highlands of South Vietnam. The time was 1972, late in the summer, when the rains had returned. It had been raining for a whole week with no interruption. The nights were cold and the days were gloomy. A soldier was sitting in a ravaged camp. It was a week of non-stop rain and three days and nights of non-stop fighting. Mortar shells, assaults, sniper shots, evacuation of wounded, and "Hold your position at all cost" were the last orders received two days ago before the radio went dead. The soldier was alone, and he was the only one left, or at least, left alive.

He did not sleep the night before or the night before that or the night before that. He could barely keep his eyes open to see the first lights of dawn and to see that he was alone. It was calm as if for a moment time had stopped.

Then he saw some movement from the corner of his eyes, he grabbed his muddy M-16 with the very last round in the very last clip reserved for himself.

A little voice called him: "Trung si, dung bang, Sergeant, don’t shoot, it’s me, Mai Linh, you coffee vendor." Mai Linh was a young lady, about 16, who used to sell coffee to the platoon. She carried her whole trade in a little basket, a pot for hot water, a tiny charcoal burner, a few cups, a filter, and made coffee on the spot using a little filter that sits right on top of the cup. A small amount of freshly ground coffee is put in the filter, a perforated lid is placed on the filter to hold down the ground coffee. Then a small amount of water is poured into the filter. Just a small amount, enough to wet the coffee, then, after maybe a minute, would she pour more hot water into the filter. Then Mai Linh and her customers would watch the dark, syrupy, almost black liquid drip drop by drop. They would then talk of things and otherswhile the coffee would drip drop by drop into the little cup.

"Trung si, dung lo, Sergeant, do not worry, they have all retreated, everything is calm. I am bringing you some coffee. That morning, Mai Linh was well dressed. She brought her basket and sat down by the soldier, and proceeded to make coffee. She looked sad, and the soldier noticed that she had red circles around her eyes. He also noticed that she wore a little make up, a shade of lipstick. "Everybody has retreated. You are alone. Please drink my coffee and go back to your unit in Pleiku." The coffee filtered slowly, drop by drop. That morning, Mai Linh had put in more coffee than ordinary, and she had also pressed the lip down a little harder. The coffee was very, very strong, dripping down very slowly. "Please come to me, and rest your head on my lap, and sleep. I will wake you up when your coffee is ready. The exhausted soldier did as he was told. He immediately fell in a deep sleep. He dreamed of a different place with blue skies and wide highways bordered with a shiny metal rail. He dreamed of joy and happiness and of children. After what seemed like a long time, the soldier woke up, something warm ran down his face. He opened his eyes, and saw Mai Linh bent over him with tears coming from her eyes and dripping onto his face. "Your coffee is ready, I kept it warm by putting it in a larger glass filled with hot water. Today, I am giving you caf?sua (coffee with milk) with no extra charge. The soldier sat up, and took the cup of coffee. He used a small spoon to stir the condensed milk at the bottom, until it was well dissolved. Then he drank the precious dark brown "caf?sua" a little at a time and enjoyed the best tasting coffee he ever had in his life. The warm liquid came down his throat, sweet, strong, warming him inside. It brought a renewed strength to his body. 

Mai Linh then proceeded to make a cup of tea. "Today, I will also make you the best Jasmine tea that I have." She took a small amount of tea out of a small pouch, put some in a cup, then carefully poured steamy water on it. Then she used a dish to cover the cup, to keep the water hot for as long as possible. The soldier looked at her, she kept her eyes down while preparing the tea. "Mai Linh, why do you cry?" 

Mai Linh looked up, her eyes full of tears." A mortar shell hit my home. Both my father and mother died. My brother and I buried them yesterday. My brother with his wife have left for Pleiku. Please drink this tea, and today, you do not have to pay, accept my coffee and tea as my gift to you. You better leave now."

The soldier did not answer, he stood up and went to whatever is left of the bunker he occupied with three other soldiers. He went in and saluting respectfully to a human shape wrapped in a straw mat, he said: "Lieutenant, I need your advice, but first, give me a cigarette." He took from the shirt pocket of the dead soldier a pack of Lucky Strike, took one cigarette, and put the pack back. He proceeded to light the cigarette with his faithful Zippo, then for a moment, looked at the unmoving body. He came out of the bunker and walked towards Mai Linh.

"I have orders to evacuate you with me to Pleiku. Please come, Mai Linh". Leaving behind her basket, Mai Linh stood up and followed the soldier.

Note: Mai Linh and her husband now live in San Jose, California. The soldier and his wife came to the USA on one of the last boats leaving Danang in April 1975. He went back to school, graduated with honors from Caltech as an engineer in electronics and now works for Intel. Mai Linh opened a coffee shop. Their two daughters when they are not at school help out at the shop. They serve coffee the same way their mother used to, one cup at a time and with a complementary cup of tea.