The French Lesson

The French Lesson"This Frenchman is a terrible person, Gene," Chen said. He rocked back and forth in the bamboo rocker.I remember Chen clearly, even though it was 20 years ago. I thought of him as a puppet, a small Chinese puppet. I assumed he was at least 50, possibly older. He was bald and full-faced, and he wore steel-rimmed glasses that complemented his rumpled linen suit and vest.Like the country of Laos itself, Chen was full of contradictions. He fancied himself a banker, and he...