My hand can hold us

 my hands. On our block, children jump up and down d an wave  their arms in the air to greet these strange men Excited I 1, - I 5 C 6 wave at the soldiers even though I don’t know why er and  Only after the trucks have passed through my street and the people  quiet down do I go home.When I get there, I am confused to find m whole family packing. Y  “What’s going on? Where’s everybody going?”  “Where have you been? We have to leave the house soon, so hurry, go and eat your lunch!” Ma is running in every direction as she con. tinues to pack up our house. She scurries from the bedroom to the living room, taking pictures of our family and the Buddha off the walls and piles them into her arms.  “I'm not hungry.”  “Don’t argue with me, just go and eat something. It’s going to be a long trip."  I sense that Ma’s patience is thin today and decide not to press my luck. I sneak into the kitchen prepared not to eat anything.I can always sneak my food out and hide it somewhere until it is found later by one of our helpers. The only thing I am afraid of is my brother Khouy. Sometimes, he waits for me in the kitchen to make me eat proper food—or else. Heading to the kitchen, I poke my head into my bed- room and spy Keav shoving clothes into a brown plastic bag. On the  bed, Geak sits quietly playing with a handheld mirror while Chou throws our brushes, combs, and hairpins into her school bag. As quiet as I can be, I tiptoe into the kitchen and sure enough, there he is. He is feeding himself with his right hand while his left gently touches a slim bamboo stick lying on the kitchen table. Next to the bamboo stick is a bowl of rice and some salted eggs. Most evenings, the Younger kids in the house will gather in the kitchen to study Chinese, and a tutor uses the bamboo stick to point out characters on the black- board. In the hands of my brother, it is used to educate us about some-  thing €156 entirely. I was taught to fear what my brother will do with it  1“ do not do as I am told.  I give Kh011Y my most charming smile, but this time it does not work‘ He St!‘-fnly tells me to Wash up and eat In moments like these I fa ‘  “mile about how much I hate him. I cannot wait until I am as Stmng