Genre: Anthology, Realistic Fiction, Asian-American
AMERICANS
(NOTE: This is just a sample. Please contact me for the fully copy.)
1
Winds picked up as long branches of the palm trees swayed back and forth. The familiar setting of Los Angeles became a distant backdrop as Emily sat in the backseat. They were moving to another city, somewhere in San Gabriel Valley, but she didn’t care enough. She tried to emulate the fascination and excitement of her younger siblings, but she was the oldest one. She had the most connections at school, the most to lose. She hated what she was going toward.
“Crank down the windows!” Her mom barked at her.
The air was fresh and familiar. She’s lived in that bubble all her life, and the further she goes, the more the feeling of growing anxiety encroaches the edge of her mind. Without a doubt, she’s leaving her life behind.
“Mom, what’s there?”
“Where?”
“There. What’s there that is so important that we have to go?”
Her mom turned down the Chinese radio. “Don’t be stupid. You already know what’s there.”
Emily took one last look at where she began and didn’t turn around again.
2
“Ready for Chinese school?” Ryan asked his little sister. They’re sitting in the car before classes start, and his sister, as always, whined.
“It’s not fair.”
“A lot of life isn’t fair.”
“Saturdays are for fun!” He couldn’t argue with that. Ryan echoed her sentiments and gave her a quick hug as she left. “Promise you’ll get me something to eat when I’m done?”
“Don’t we always?”
She smiled and off she went. Better for her in the long run. He was too old to retain anything when he started.
He drove back home and set an alarm for 2:00 P.M. He’ll take her to one of those new joints that opened down the block. His mother tried to teach him before the characters for “Beef Noodle Soup” just so he can navigate the menu a bit better, but when would he ever need it?
Ryan sat down on the couch, ready to take a nap.
“Ge-ge!” His father yelled up from the bottom of the stairs.
“Yeah?!” He shouted back. “Is it time to pick up Mei-mei already?”
“No, but I need your help.”
He grabbed his glasses and trotted downstairs with a pen in hand. Ryan spotted the laptop and stack of papers and got to work.
“What does this say?”
He relayed the message as best as he could. School didn’t teach him this; his parents did from the countless hours of conversations they’ve had back and forth in their own unique combinations of two tongues.
BRRRRRRING.
Ah, he thought to himself. No nap today, either.
“Emma, did you learn a lot today?”
“Yeah. Did you take a nap?”
“Haha. Itll be your turn soon enough.”
“Dang it.” She pressed her hands on the cold window. “Are we going to Niurou Mein Palace?”
“Mhm.” He would have to take her word for it. “Come on. My treat.”
3
“Five dishes of lo mein for table six!”
Sarah wiped the sweat off her forehead. Three more hours and then she’ll be able to go home.
“Ma-ma! The customers at table five have been waiting for their food for a while!”
“Go help the cooks!”
She scurried past a few trays of hot food. Immediately, she picked up the apron hanging on the oven door and tied it around her waist in a smooth 1-2 movement. Sarah held the spatula in one hand, wok in the other, and stirred, flung, oiled all she could. The green bell peppers were thrown in, and it soaked up the spices that came quickly after. Black pepper, five-spice, salt, soy-sauce. Sarah hastily added the shrimp chunks last, and she angled the wok to stir better. The rice was then scooped up and thrown in. Carrots, two beaten eggs, and some pieces of garlic.
Quickly, she scraped the cooked bits onto a plastic plate and made sure to not to include too much of the excess oil. She used a pair of clean chopsticks and tasted it. Perfect.
“Order-up!”
4
“What do you mean ‘you didn’t know’?” Mom asks me. I can see her hardening eyes, but I don’t dare to look too long.
“I just don’t get it.”
“You learned this yesterday.”
“The teacher didn’t teach it well.”
She slams the table. I flinch. Rookie mistake.
“Excuses. All you have are excuses.”
Mom scoots back, harshly. The chair squeaks harshly. She makes her way to the closet and un-hooks a hanger.
“Get over here.”
5
My kid’s writing skills weren’t too good. Jackson’s falling behind in math. Make Jessica understand chemistry and biology. Josh is going to fail his AP classes if you don’t help him.
The girl in glasses nodded along to all of these comments and took down notes as each adult came into their room. She flicked off eraser shavings into the garbage can as the last person left.
The phone rang.
“Hello, this is Core Learning Center. How may I help you?”
“Sorry, can you speak Chinese?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I know that we had to make an appointment to come talk about what my kid needs help on.”
“It’s fine. We still have thirty minutes until we close.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“So, is it only one child?”
“Yes. My oldest. She’s started sixth grade, and she doesn’t understand algebra I.”
“Is she particularly struggling with any of the concepts?”
“She says that she does understand, but I know better. She’s been getting B’s on her tests. It’s only going to get harder later on. Her foundation is shaky, and her basics are not there. She’ll fall behind soon enough.”
“All right. You can bring her in to do an assessment, so we know where her skill level exactly is. B’s are not terrible.”
“...Yes.”
“Is Wednesday around 4 p.m. good?”
“That’s fine. Thank you.”
She hung up on the parent and sighed. Poor kid.