Girl in Translation

The girl sitting next to me hissed. “Get up, you gotta get up.”

I finally stood up for a second and the applause became louder. The blood pounded in my eyes so that I couldn’t see anything. As I sat down and my head cleared, I looked around for A

Ma was beaming when I found her in the crowd of students and parents after the ceremony.

“What was that about?” she asked.

“Ma, the principal said I won a full scholarship to that private school!”

We hugged each other tight.

Ma’s eyes glowed. “What an opportunity! This is the begi

I looked up to see Mrs. LaGuardia standing in front of us. She said, “You must be Mrs. Chang. It’s a real pleasure to meet you at last.”

Ma shook her extended hand. “Hello,” she said in English. “You very good teacher.”

I said in rapid Chinese, “Ma, she’s not a teacher, she’s the principal!” Then, in English, “Prin-ci-pal.”

Ma flushed, then said in English, “Sorry, so sorry. Mis-sus Prin-ci-pal.”

Mrs. LaGuardia smiled. “No matter at all. You have a very special child and she has really done her best here.”

Even though I knew Ma hadn’t understood a word of what she said, Ma realized it was a compliment and said in a nervous rush, “Thank you. You so good. You good teacher.”

I couldn’t believe Ma had said it again, but Mrs. LaGuardia didn’t seem to notice and she said to me, “I’m sorry about a

As she spoke, I understood what must have happened. There must have been a letter informing me of the scholarship, but it would have gone to the fake address we always used, the one my school had on file. This meant it was likely that Aunt Paula would be the one to receive it, and bring it to us at the factory later. “I think letter will come. Thank you, Mrs. LaGuardia. You help me so much.”

She bent down and, as a cloud of perfume enveloped me, gave me a kiss on my cheek. “You’re very welcome.”

I saw Tyrone leaving arm in arm with the woman in the feathered hat, who must have been his mother. He waved to me as they went outside.

A

As I disentangled myself, she cocked her head and asked, “How come you told me you didn’t pass the test?”

“I was not sure,” I said. A

“Hi, Kimberly,” Mrs. Avery said. “A very big congratulations to you.” She extended her hand to Ma. “It’s so nice to meet you at last, Mrs. Chang.”

“Hello,” Ma said. Ma shook her hand and then Mr. Avery’s. He was quite a bit shorter than Mrs. Avery, and seemed to have to crane his neck to allow his head to emerge from the top of the tidy suit he was wearing.

“We’re all going out for a celebratory lunch,” Mr. Avery said. “Would you both care to join us?”

Ma looked at me in confusion. I translated for her, hoping that just this once, she would say yes.

“No, dank you,” Ma said. “We go…” Her voice trailed off as she couldn’t think of the words for a polite excuse in English.

“Home,” I said. “We must do something.”

“Oh,” Mr. Avery said, “that’s a pity. Maybe next time.”

“Dank you,” Ma said. “You very good.”

After the Averys left for their lunch, Ma and I also withdrew from the celebrating crowds at the school and went into the subway station to go to the factory. I was still basking in the excitement of the ceremony. Ma was so happy about Harrison Prep that she barely glanced at my report card on the train.

Once we were at the factory, Ma and I were working as fast as we could to catch up when I saw Aunt Paula standing in front of us. She didn’t usually come to our area unless it was time for her to check the pieces before a shipment went out.

“How was the graduation?” she asked.

“Very fine,” Ma said. “Thank you for letting me take the morning off.”

“Would the two of you come with me?” Her tone was polite but Ma and I exchanged a worried look. I wondered if something had gone wrong because Ma had been absent from the factory that morning.

We trailed behind Aunt Paula and went past Matt, who was just leaving the men’s room. Behind Aunt Paula’s back, he caught my eye and pretended to scratch himself, in an imitation of her. I stifled a laugh.

When we entered the office, Aunt Paula invited us to sit down. Uncle Bob must have been out.

“I have some mail for Kimberly.” She held out a thick manila envelope with the crest of Harrison Prep stamped on it.

I took it. Despite Aunt Paula’s casual ma

“Are you applying to that school?” she asked.

I nodded. Ma took a breath, probably to tell Aunt Paula the news but Aunt Paula spoke first. “Why didn’t you ask me for advice?”

Ma must have changed her mind about what she was going to say. “We meant no disrespect.”

“Of course not. It’s just that this is a very competitive school and I could have helped you choose a school possibly more suited to Kimberly.”

“Do you know Harrison Prep?” I asked.

“Of course. I had to do a lot of research before figuring out where Nelson should go. Harrison Prep is a famous, beautiful school. But it is also very difficult to gain admission, and it is extremely expensive.”

“Yes,” Ma said. Like me, she didn’t say more. I think we were both waiting to see Aunt Paula’s true face. We wanted to know what she would say to help or discourage us, before she knew the truth.

Aunt Paula laughed. “Little sister, I am surprised you let Kimberly hold on to her hope when you must suspect how much this school costs! You should throw that application form away! Even Nelson couldn’t get accepted there. And it is much too late anyway.”

I finally spoke. “It’s not an application form. It’s a letter of acceptance with a full scholarship. My principal told us today.”

Aunt Paula stared. A flush crept up her neck and the dark mole on her lip trembled. “You’re going to Harrison Prep? The two of you did this behind my back?” Her voice was furious.

I heard Ma gasp as I clutched the envelope to my chest. Aunt Paula’s sudden open anger caught both of us by surprise.

“Older sister,” Ma said quietly, “what strangeness are you speaking?”

Aunt Paula put her hand to her hair to calm herself. Her fingers were shaking with emotion. “I am just surprised that something so important was done without asking me.”

“It happened quickly and we didn’t think it would be successful.” Ma tried to placate her. “We are grateful to you, for everything you’ve done.”

Aunt Paula had recovered herself. “Of course, I am glad for this opportunity for Kimberly. And to think, I worried that the two of you would be a burden to me here.”

“We can take care of ourselves,” I said, meeting her eyes.

Aunt Paula studied me as if she’d never really looked at me before. “I can see that.”

Later, when we were back at our finishing station, Ma and I didn’t speak openly about what had happened. I knew Ma didn’t want to admit Aunt Paula’s weaknesses to me. But I had understood what happened anyway. For just a moment, Aunt Paula had flipped her polite face over and we had seen the black face underneath. We would be allowed to work and not cause any trouble for her, but she didn’t want us to be any more successful than she was. And I wasn’t supposed to do better than Nelson. In other words, Aunt Paula wouldn’t mind if we stayed at the factory and that apartment all our lives.