“I missed that,” I said.
“He called you a shithead,” Manfred said.
I smiled and watched Drillot and his men walk to their cars and drive out through the gate. “I’ve been called a hell of a lot worse.”
As promised, Hoàng arranged for us to stay at the plantation, putting us up in two empty chief overseer houses. Each house was built on stilts and was divided into four rooms—two bedrooms, a dining room, and a sitting room. The houses were well ventilated and had glass windows with shutters.
Mr. Quách’s house was the nicest of all. It was a bungalow with three bedrooms, a dining room, a living room, a kitchen, and indoor bathrooms. He offered to let us use it, but I refused. He had been humiliated enough by Drillot and his men, and to usurp his house would have been a gross loss of face.
