A priest is coming to say evening mass at Riem Nguyen’s new house. It’s good luck, says Riem.
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The new town house is one of 28 recently built in Uptown by Voice of the People, a community-based development organization. They were built on city-owned vacant land, and the city is subsidizing their purchase. The owners, chosen by lottery from a pool of 156 applicants, reflect the races and ethnicities of Uptown: African, African American, Asian, Native American, white, Latino, Middle Eastern.
Riem was second on the waiting list for his house; the financing fell through for the man ahead of him. The house has three bedrooms and a full basement. It’s a long way from the streets of Saigon, where Riem once sold cigarettes and lotto tickets and was taunted for his American features and unruly brown hair. His father was an American doctor stationed in Saigon during the war who disappeared when his son was little more than a year old.
A small, thin man with bloodshot eyes and a whiff of alcohol about him comes up the steps and slaps Riem’s shoulder, then takes over seating guests as they arrive. The chairs are nearly filled, and people are already leaning on the porch railing. Several men set up an altar on top of the TV, below a crucifix and a large portrait of the Virgin Mary.
