A Wish in the Dark

Pong is impressed by Ampai’s power to give people hope with just her words. She inspires a man who despairs that he cannot afford to care for his sick wife and gives him money wrapped around a tangerine. While Pong is cynical about the state of the world, Ampai is hopeful that she can change it. When Pong voices this thought to her, she gently helps him understand that his perspective is only a reflection of the way he views himself. She also reveals that she and Pong have more in common than he thinks: Ampai grew up in Tanaburi and also received a red cord from Father Cham. Ampai shares her blessing with Pong: “May your courage never falter” (218). Ampai affirms to Pong that Father Cham saw good in him. He wants to believe her, but the Governor’s words still resound loudly in his head. Pong reflects on his own blessing—that he will find what he’s looking for—and resolves that one day he will leave all the darkness behind entirely.

When Nok inquires about a boy with Pong’s description, a young woman working a chicken stand in one of Chattana’s busy canal-side markets points her to “Ampai’s kid” who can “listen” to orbs. Nok recalls her image of Pong listening to the mango tree back in Namwon, and she feels certain that “Ampai’s kid” must be the boy she seeks.

Back at the Mud House, Pong shares a meal with Somkit, and the two discuss Ampai’s significance to others. Somkit says people follow her because she upholds good morals while challenging unjust laws. When he was first released from Namwon, Somkit struggled to survive on the streets and had to resort to stealing; if Ampai hadn’t taken him in at the Mud House, Somkit probably would have been sent right back to jail. Thanks to her influence, Somkit says, he now feels like he can do anything. Pong notes that, indeed, Somkit is now fulfilling his potential as a light-orb mechanic. 

Pong discovers that Yord and Yai steal faded light orbs and sell them on the black market, scamming naive customers into thinking they’re fully charged. Pong intends to confront them, but he realizes that Nok is following him. Pong extorts the bodyguards to help him escape Chattana; he feels that the best way to help his friends now is to draw Nok away from them.

Nok is on the verge of apprehending Pong at the Hidden Market when she overhears a conversation about Ampai’s planned march. When Nok learns that Ampai is telling people to bring poles or sticks to the march—upon which to hang the gold orbs, unbeknownst to all but Ampai, Somkit, and Pong—Nok concludes there can be only one reason for it: to incite violence. She is conflicted over which concern to prioritize—capturing Pong or reporting what she learned about the march. Nok recalls a time when her father expressed doubt about the Governor’s proverb, “The law is the light” (241); Nok’s father told her then that things aren’t always so simple as that. Nok reflects on her contradictory feelings of shame and love for her father; she thinks her father’s statement indicates a dubious morality. Nok concludes that she must seek help from the Governor directly.

Yord and Yai deliver a nonfunctional hot pink boat, much to Pong’s displeasure. Before Pong can depart, Somkit confronts him. He is furious with his friend for abandoning not just him but also Ampai’s cause. Although Pong is ashamed, he feels that he had no other options. Pong angrily tells Somkit that he couldn’t possibly understand and that he doesn’t know all the bad things Pong has done. An outraged Somkit responds that he knows Pong better than Pong knows himself. Before Pong can reply, the police descend upon the two boys.

Nok visits the Governor’s home to warn him of the march, but she is shocked to find that he already knew. During her conversation with the Governor, Nok notices that he is colder and more condescending than she remembered. Although people compare the Governor to a monk, Nok doesn’t think this is an apt description; she remembers that the first thing the Governor built in Chattana wasn’t a temple but a jail. The Governor plans to have the march shut down by violence, if necessary, despite the fact that it’s meant to be a peaceful protest. Nok is horrified, but the Governor considers the law meaningless unless it is brutally enforced. This contradicts Nok’s conception of the law, wherein everyone is equally subject to the law’s strictures. She timidly expresses this, earning her the Governor’s ire. 

The Governor reveals the secret of Nok’s parentage: Nok was born inside Namwon Prison to a nameless mother with whom Nok’s father had an affair. Her father adopted Nok into the Sivapan family after her mother died in childbirth. The burn on Nok’s arm wasn’t an accident at all; it was to hide her prison tattoo. The Governor orders his assistants to keep Nok under guard until her parents come for her. He tells Nok that she “ruined her parents’ good name” (264).

Pong and Somkit are taken to makeshift holding cells in the stalls of a disused stable. Pong realizes there’s someone else in the stall opposite him and Somkit—Nok! As Pong observes her more closely, he notices that she was beaten, and her posture and affect are completely hopeless. Despite himself, Pong pities her. Somkit overpowers a guard using Nok’s discarded spire-fighting staff. After the boys are free from their cell, Pong releases Nok as well.

Somkit maneuvers the group to freedom aboard a stolen boat. Meanwhile, Nok is preoccupied by her shattered identity. Pong’s actions also puzzle her: Why did he free her? Nok resolves that she must disappear for good to spare her family more shame, and she slips away from the boat undetected.

Somkit and Pong return to find the Mud House in flames. Ampai perishes when she refuses to abandon the building until everyone else is safe. As Pong kneels beside her body, he notices that Ampai’s red cord from Father Cham came off her wrist. Pong reflects that Father Cham’s blessing for Ampai— “May your courage never falter”—held true to the last.