American Born Chinese

“Yeah, but Ma-Ma says that’s silly. Little boys don’t grow up to be Transformers.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I’m going to let you in on a secret, little friend: it’s easy to become anything you wish...

...so long as you’re willing to forfeit your soul.”

“Class, I’d like us all to give a warm Mayflower welcome to your new friend and classmate Jing Jang!”

“Jin Wang.”

“Jin Wang! He and his family moved to our neighborhood all the way from China!”

“San Francisco.”

“San Francisco!”

“My momma says Chinese people eat dogs.”

“Now be nice, Timmy! I’m sure Jin doesn’t do that! In fact, Jin’s family probably stopped that sort of thing as soon as they came to the United States!”

“Class, I’d like us all to give a big Mayflower Elementary welcome to your new friend and classmate Chei-Chen Chun!”

“Wei-Chen Sun.”

“Wei-Chen Sun! He and his family recently moved to our neighborhood all the way from China!”

“Taiwan.”

“Taiwan!”

Something made me want to beat him up.

“Silly monkey. You were never out of my reach. You only fooled yourself.”

“When I move here to America, I was afraid nobody wants to be my friend. I come from a different place. Much, much different. But my first day in school here I meet Jin. From then I know everything’s okay. He treat me like a little brother, show me how things work in America. He help me with my English [...] I think sometimes my accent embarrass him, but Jin still willing to be my friend.”

“Ooh ooh! Chin-Kee know dis one!”

“Put your hand down!”

“Go ahead...Chin-Kee, was it?”

“Judicial, executive, and registrative!”

“Good, Chin-Kee! Very good! You know, people—it would behoove you all to be a little more like Chin-Kee.”

“Every year around this time, I finally start getting the hang of things, you know? [...] Then he comes along for one of his visits.”

“Who?”

“Chin-Kee, my cousin. He’s been visiting me once a year since the eighth grade. He comes for a week or two and follows me to school, talking his stupid talk and eating his stupid food. Embarrassing the crap out of me. By the time he leaves, no one things of me as Danny anymore. I’m Chin-Kee’s cousin.”

“People here aren’t like that. No one ever says anything about my weight. Well, maybe that’s because I broke Todd Sharpnack’s nose for calling me ‘Mr. Jiggles’ when we were freshmen. But whatever. People here are different. You’ll see. Heck, if anyone ever gives you trouble, I’ll break his nose.”

“It’s just that she’s a good friend and I want to make sure she makes good choices, you know? We’re almost in high school. She has to start paying attention to who she hangs out with.

Aw, geez. Look, Jin. I’m sorry. That sounded way harsher than I meant it to. I just don’t know if you’re right for her, okay? That’s all.”

“About twenty minutes into the party, though, I figured out that Lauren didn’t actually invite me. Her mom wanted to hang out with my mom, and I sort of just got brought along. Lauren and her new friends had their own thing going, so I spent the rest of the party watching TV in the living room. I felt so embarrassed.

...Today, when Timmy called me a...a chink, I realized...deep down inside...I kind of feel like that all the time.”

I replayed the day’s events over and over again in my mind. Each time I reached the same conclusion: Wei-Chen needed to hear what I had to say. It was, after all, the truth. And at around three in the morning, I finally believed myself.

I dreamt of the herbalist’s wife.

“So, little friend. You’ve done it. Now what would you like to become?”

“Take this with you. It’s a human child’s toy that transforms from monkey to humanoid form. Let it remind you of who you are.”

“You misunderstand my intentions, Jin. I did not come to punish you. I came to serve as your conscience—as a signpost to your soul.”

“You know, Jin, I would have saved myself from five hundred years’ imprisonment beneath a mountain of rock had I only realized how good it is to be a monkey.”