Requiem III: The Search for the Truth

by Alisa Joaquin & Bonnie Eagan

Part One: A Dying Man's Story

As Peter approached the Ancient's door, just before he knocked, he heard the words, "Come in Peter, I have been waiting for you."

Peter thought to himself, 'He always has that knack, someday I will ask him how he does it.'

As Peter entered the Ancient's home both joy and fear threatened to spread through his mind and spirit. He walked into the room only to gaze upon his grandfather, his vision had been true. He was here.

"Grandfather." Peter rushed to his grandfather's outstretched hands, to embrace him. "I don't understand, why you are here? Is it my father? Is something wrong with Dad? Did something happen to my father?"

"No Peter, you must sit down. Your grandfather has traveled many miles," replied the Ancient as he placed a tray of tea on the low table in front of the couch. "There is much that he has to tell you. Please sit down and be still and let your grandfather speak."

"I have journeyed here to find your father," Matthew began. "Peter, I am dying. I must find him. I have never been a very good father. I must make amends with my son."

Peter was stunned. He had barely gotten to know his grandfather, and now he learned that he was dying?! No, this couldn't be. "Grandfather, no . . . There's got to be something . . ."

"Please, Peter. Let me finish," Matthew interrupted with a raised hand then placed it on the young man's shoulder to keep his attention from going astray. "There is more that you do not know. By now your father has learned that your mother is truly dead."

"How do you know?" Peter asked.

"Because I too denied in my deepest soul the very same thing. I had been drafted into a war. I had to leave Kwai Chang, Su Ling, and your great-grandmother behind in China where we were living. My son was barely three months old. When I returned four years later, I learned that my mother had been killed by the Sing Wah. When I searched for my son and wife, they had taken refuge in one of the remaining Shaolin temples. When I searched for them, only Kwai Chang was at the temple. He had been placed there for his own safety. He was only four years old. Su Ling, however, was not allowed inside. She had been sent to live with her relatives in the village. For one year we tried to stay together, but one night, while I was away, the Sing Wah came again and took Su Ling. For Kwai Chang''s safety, I took him to the temple."

Peter nodded his head. "Sounds familiar."

"But I am digressing," Matthew stated. "I must continue. I have been carrying a load of guilt around for a long time. Peter, how well do you remember your mother?"

"Not very much. Only what Pop, uh, Dad told me."

"This will not be easy to hear, Peter. When your mother was born, she had a twin sister. Her name is Marlene. Lo Si told me that your father has gone to search for Laura. There was a photograph showing a young woman sitting at a cafe in Paris."

Peter began to interrupt when Matthew stopped him with a raised hand.

"It was I that took the picture. It is of Marlene. The girls' mother had been very sick and struck with polio when the girls were less than one year old. Though polio was considered a childhood disease, many adults also succumbed to it as well. It left her paralyzed, and it was too much for her to raise twins, so she gave Marlene up for adoption to a relative. The one condition being that when Marlene turned of age, she would be told the truth about her sister. Marlene has known for several years that she had a sister."

"So, Pop's been searching for nothing," Peter said with anger. He brushed off his grandfather's hand from his shoulder and started pacing the room. "He's been gone a year, and my dad would still be here with me where he belongs, if he had known this earlier. Why didn't you tell him back in St. Adele?"

"Peter you must be still and sit down. There is more," cautioned the Ancient.

"Peter, I am here to try to heal wounds between a father and his son. I must try to do this. I was in Paris only a week ago to visit my friend the Dalai Lama. I had told him of Marlene and the past I had hidden. He revealed to me something very startling."

"Was that the fact that you abandoned your own son and walked away from him? That should be no surprise to you1" Peter snapped.

"No Peter. He told me that your father's best friend, Li Pei, was alive and was Marlene's husband. Li Pei had been taken by the soldiers and imprisoned when he was just a child back in 1949. He was the same age as your father. He would have been killed except for a sympathetic soldier who did not believe in killing children, especially children raised in a monastery. He was left on the temple steps in Tibet, far from home. The Dalai Lama took him in and had him trained in the ways of the Shaolin. Many Shaolin monks fled there from the new government's cleansing of the old ways, but that would later prove to be futile. The new government turned its eyes upon Tibet. When the Dalai Lama went into exile in 1959, Li Pei went with them. He was 19."

"Oh, I get it, when my father was taken prisoner with the Dalai Lama, he never told Dad the truth. Why is that? My Dad was held prisoner with him, until I formed a dragon's wing to set them free. He had ample opportunity to learn the truth then." By now Peter was fuming. "There were other times the Dalai Lama could have told him, too, but he didn't. Why?"

"The Dalai Lama knew that I must someday make amends with your father. He felt it best to leave it alone." Matthew was getting discouraged.

"I don't understand. How do you know so much about this?" Peter asked.

Matthew continued, "You must hear the full story in order for you to understand. Marlene loved the temple in Tibet and would frequently visit. Her adoptive parents were with the Foreign Service, and they had been assigned as representatives of the French government to establish relations with Tibet. She and her parents were one of very few women of foreign origin who were allowed to even enter the temple. It was there that she fell in love with Li Pei. They were married and she gave birth to a son. When the Dalai Lama went into exile, Li Pei went with him, but Marlene returned to Paris with their son and her parents. No reason was given. I met Marlene and her son while visiting the Buddhist temple in Paris. We would meet at a certain cafe and discuss our mutual family matters. I would receive letters about my son, and she would receive postcards from her husband whenever he was able to write. It was there that I took her photograph 12 years ago. She seemed very concerned that it be taken."

"Why and who sent you letters?"

"I do not know. The letters were unsigned, and the postmark was always obscured."

"What do you mean the postmark was obscured?" Peter questioned.

"Peter, you are changing the subject. I am doing my best to answer your questions, but I must continue as to what happened. After the photo was taken, I was not able to take the photo to your father right away and more time passed. When I did search out your temple, I arrived too late. I was told that you and your father had died and taken to your grave. My plan was to return to Paris to tell Marlene what had happened, but I was delayed in returning. And when I did, I discovered that Marlene had disappeared, along with her son," Matthew replied. "That is why I have come to find your father, to tell him of Marlene and to ask for help in finding her and her son."

"Where's Li Pei? Why isn't he here?"

"That is the reason for her disappearance. He searched for her everywhere the Dalai Lama visited, trying to find any trace of her or his son, but he could not find her. His searching was limited. When the Dalai Lama had been kidnapped, he blamed himself. The Dalai Lama told me that Li Pei was thinking of leaving the priesthood. He still had not found his wife and son. His Holiness tried to console him, but the next day, Li Pei had vanished without a trace."

Continues with Part 2