Inside Out and Back Again: Part 3: Alabama Summary & Analysis

Unpack and Repack. Days later, Hà and her family members are giddy as they get off the plane in Alabama. Their cowboy takes them to his huge house surrounded by a perfect green lawn. He invites them to stay until they feel ready. Hà smiles and unpacks her two outfits. But later, when she gets a look at the cowboy’s wife—whose entire body seems to be contorted in a knot—she repacks.

English Above All. Hà and her family spend all their time in the cowboy’s basement, where they don’t see the cowboy’s wife. Hà has to stand on a chair perched on a table just to see out the window, and the wife insists her guests stay hidden from the neighbors. Mother just shrugs and points out that they have more room than they did on the ship, but Hà wishes Mother wouldn’t try to make this terrible experience better. Then, Mother calls a family meeting and says that they can’t do, think, or hope for anything else until they master English. They can’t even think of Father. Hà knows she doesn’t mean it.

First Rule. According to Brother Quang, you must add an s to a noun if you’re talking about multiple things—even if there’s already an s there. So, glass becomes glasses. Hà spends her day practicing her hissing. She figures that the person who invented English probably loved snakes.

American Chicken. The cowboy brings most food wrapped in plastic or canned. Any meat comes chopped up and frozen. Mostly, Hà’s family lives on rice, soy sauce, and canned corn. But today, the cowboy brings fried chicken in a paper bucket. Brother Khôi draws back, and the cowboy bites into a leg and smiles. Hà, Brother Quang, and Brother Vū try pieces. The skin is crunchy, salty, and spicy—but Mother spits her piece out, and Brother Vū gags. Brother Quang explains to the cowboy that they’re used to chickens killed fresh after roaming the yard. Chickens butchered that way tastes sweeter. Hà bites into a thigh. It tastes like soggy bread. She hopes that soon, she’ll be able to ride the cowboy’s horse.

Out the Too-High Window. Out the window, Hà can see that every house has a bright green yard. All the houses have big windows, but with curtains that cover them up. Nobody walks on the sidewalks, and few cars pass. It’s quiet—“Clean, quiet / loneliness.”

Second Rule. Hà learns to add an s to verbs when one person performs the action in the present tense, even if there’s already an s. So she chooses, and he refuses. She’s getting better at hissing—she doesn’t spit on herself anymore.

American Address. The cowboy finds Hà’s family a house on Princess Anne Road and pays three months’ rent. Mother can’t believe it, but Brother Quang explains that the government gives sponsors money for this. Mother is shocked by the government’s generosity, but Brother Quang says they’re just guilty after losing the war. At this, Mother grows angry and tells Brother Quang to be quiet. She insists that they can’t afford political opinions at the moment, when they depend on others’ goodwill.

Hà inspects the house. There are two bedrooms and a washing machine—nobody here will do laundry in exchange for rice. There’s a stove with blue flames, rather than ashy coals. Hà loves the shower best, especially the way the water massages her scalp. But she doesn’t like the mismatched sofas, chairs, stained mattresses, and mismatched dishes. Everything has been donated by the cowboy’s friends. Hà’s family has always had lovely furniture and matching dishes, even when they were really poor. But Mother tells Hà to be grateful, and Hà tries.

Letter Home. Now that they have an address, Mother writes to Father’s brother in the North—he lives in the ancestral home. This is the first time Mother has contacted anyone in the North since the country split up, and unless Father has sent word to his brother, this will be the first Father’s brother hears of Father’s disappearance. Hà shivers with hope.

Third Rule. There are always exceptions in English, such as the nouns that don’t get an s when they become plural. There’s one deer, and there are also two deer. Hà asks why deer doesn’t get an s but monkey does. According to Brother Quang, nobody knows. Hà thinks that a snake should bite whoever invented English.

Passing Time. Since staring at the grass and trees doesn’t do anything, Hà studies the dictionary. She looks up Jane, which isn’t listed. Sees means “to eyeball something,” and a spot is a stain. Run means to move quickly. Put together, the sentence reads that something “eyeballs stain move.” Hà asks Brother Quang for help. He explains that Jane is a name, and Spot is a dog’s name. So the sentence is actually that a girl named Jane sees a dog named Spot run. Hà can’t even read “a baby book.” Nobody will believe that at home, she read Nhat Linh—but nobody here probably knows who he is.

Neigh Not Hee. Since Brother Quang is tired of translating, the cowboy takes Hà to register for school. Hà figures he’ll let her ride his horse. She starts to climb into his truck, but he motions that they’ll walk to school. Hà memorizes the route: she turns right by the big blue flowers and left where the purple flowers are like “fluffy wands.” It’s hot, and Hà’s armpits are embarrassing—she won’t raise the reins too high. The cowboy leads Hà to a red brick building. A woman pats Hà’s head as she fills out paperwork. Hà hates the woman’s pity—according to Mother, pity only makes the person doing the pitying feel better, not the person being pitied.

On the walk home, Hà works up her courage and asks the cowboy, “You, hor-ssssse? / Hee, hee, hee. / I go, go.” The cowboy shakes his head, so Hà gallops and says “Hee, hee, hee,” again. At home, Brother Quang translates: Mr. Johnson doesn’t have a horse and has never ridden one. Hà is incredulous; what kind of cowboy doesn’t have a horse? Then, the cowboy explains that here, horses say “neigh,” not “hee.” This is absurd. Hà doesn’t know where she is.

Fourth Rule. Apparently, some verbs change all the time for no reason. So I am, but she is, they are, and they were. Things would be so much easier if English—and life—were logical.

The Outside. Tomorrow, September 2, everyone is going to leave the house. Mother will start work sewing at a factory, and Brother Quang will repair cars. Everyone else will go to school and repeat their last unfinished grade. Brother Vū is upset; he wants to be a cook or teach martial arts, not repeat his senior year. Mother simply tells him, “College.” Brother Khôi gets a bike, but Mother insists that even though Hà is the oldest kid in the fourth grade, she isn’t old enough for one. Mother encourages Hà to worry about sleeping because tomorrow, she can’t nap. Instead, she’ll eat lunch at school with friends she’ll make. Belligerently, Hà asks what she’ll be eating and says she hates surprises. When Hà refuses to cooperate, Mother walks away.

Sadder Laugh. Hà wakes up on the first day of school with dragonflies in her belly and eats nothing. She walks carefully to school, enjoying the cool air and taking deep breaths. She’s the first student there. The teacher loudly introduces herself as MiSSS SScott. When Hà repeats the name, enunciating each s, the teacher doesn’t seem impressed. Hà touches her own chest and says her name, but MiSSS SScott fakes a laugh. Hà wishes she knew English so she could tell the teacher to listen for the diacritical mark that changes the tone. But instead, MiSSS SScott fakes a sad laugh again.

Rainbow. Hà stands in front of the class while MiSSS SScott speaks. Each student says something, but Hà doesn’t understand. She studies her classmates: some have bright hair on spotted skin, while others have fuzzier dark hair on shiny skin. A few have braids on chocolate-colored skin, and there’s a pink boy with white hair. Hà is the only kid with straight black hair on olive-colored skin.

Black and White and Yellow and Red. When the bell rings, Hà follows her classmates to line up and walk down the hallway. She takes a tray and gets her food. Everyone else sits, kids with light skin on one side of the room and kids with dark skin on the other. Everyone seems happy—as though they’ve never considered “someone medium” exists. Hà doesn’t know where to sit, and she doesn’t know how to eat the “pink sausage / snuggled inside bread,” which is smeared with yellow and red sauces. At first, she thinks they’re making fun of the Vietnamese flag—but then she realizes nobody here knows the colors of that flag. Hà puts her tray down and waits in the hall.

Loud Outside. When the bell rings again, Hà follows her classmates outside. All the kids of all colors surround Hà, shouting and pushing. The pink boy with white hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes pulls Hà’s arm hair and laughs. Hà’s hair does grow long and black. Perhaps he’s curious, just like Hà was curious about the sailor’s golden fuzz. But when the boy pokes Hà’s cheek and then her chest while everyone else laughs, she realizes they’re not curious. Though Hà wants to pull all the boy’s white hair out to see if his scalp is as pink as his face, she walks away.

Laugh Back. The pink boy and two of his loud friends follow Hà home. To help her walk faster (she doesn’t want to run), Hà counts her steps in English. She walks and counts faster as the pink boy shouts at her. Hà doesn’t care what Pink Boy is saying, but she knows she has to care if she’s ever going to be able to laugh back at him. 

Quiet Inside. When Hà gets home, Brother Khôi is there, sitting silently. Hà joins him, and they shell peanuts in silence. Mother gets home later with two of her fingers bandaged—the electric machines sew very fast. When Brother Quang gets home, he throws down his shirt and showers. His nails are still edged in black oil by dinnertime. Brother Vū, though, comes home whistling, and he eats four pork chops at dinner. Hà only eats two. She suspects having muscles makes it easier to whistle.

Fly Kick. Hà sneaks into her brothers’ room and shakes Brother Vū awake. Outside, she tells him that kids pulled her arm hair, threw rocks, and threatened to step on her chest. Brother Vū yawns and tells Hà to ignore them.

Hà asks Brother Vū why he was whistling earlier. Brother Vū explains that someone called him “Ching Chong” today. He doesn’t know what it means, but it didn’t sound nice. So, when the boy tripped Brother Vū, Brother Vū almost scissor-kicked him in the face. He missed on purpose; he just wanted the boy to stop, not to hurt him. Hà says she would’ve kicked the boy and asks Brother Vū to teach her to fly-kick. He refuses—Hà has too much of a temper. Hà shouts that she’s so mad and that she shouldn’t have to run away. When she starts to cry, Brother Vū offers to teach her defense. He won’t explain how this will help.

Chin Nod. When Hà is halfway down the block the next morning, she hears Brother Khôi’s bicycle. He pats the upper bar of the frame and Hà climbs on sidesaddle. She asks, “Every day?” and he nods into the top of her head. He nods again when Hà asks if he’ll pick her up after school too. Hà feels like she’s floating.

Feel Dumb. MiSSS SScott points to Hà and then to the English alphabet. Hà recites the alphabet, and then MiSSS SScott motions for the class to clap. Hà then counts to 20 in English. When the class claps, Hà is furious. She can’t explain to anyone that she already knows fractions. This must be what “dumb” feels like. Hà hates it.

Wishes. Hà wishes that Brother Khôi wouldn’t stay silent about what he goes through every day, that Mother would stop hiding her bloody fingers, and that Brother Quang wasn’t so angry after work. She wishes the cowboy would buy a horse. Hà wishes she could be invisible until she could speak, and that she could learn English without all the rules. She also wishes Father would show up in her class, speaking his beautiful English, French, and Chinese. But mostly, Hà wishes she was still smart. 

Hiding. These days, Brother Vū makes everyone call him Vu Lee. Hà has to say it without giggling in order to get her defense lessons. At school, Hà hides. She stares at her shoes during class and sits in the bathroom eating saved dinner rolls during lunch. She stays in the bathroom while everyone else goes outside. After school, Hà hides until Brother Khôi arrives on his bike. But when Hà is with Vu Lee, practicing her squat and learning to see everything at once, she feels like she’s “practicing / to be seen.”

Neighbors. When someone throws eggs at Hà’s front door, the cowboy says it’s “Just dumb kids.” He says the same when people hang toilet paper from the window. But when someone throws a brick with a note tied around it through the front window, Brother Quang refuses to translate the note. The cowboy calls the police as Vu Lee “pops” his muscles. The police say to stay inside, but the cowboy says “Hogwash” in response. Hà repeats the word. Mother decides they should meet the neighbors, so the cowboy gives everyone a cowboy hat. Hà is the only one who wears her hat.

The bald man who lives to the family’s right closes his door on them, and the woman next to him slams her door. As more people don’t open their doors, Brother Quang, Vu Lee, and Brother Khôi’s faces turn red. But when the cowboy leads them to the house to their left, the older woman there hugs everyone. She introduces herself as MiSSSisss WaSShington and then hugs and kisses the cowboy. It turns out that MiSSSisss WaSShington is a widow and a retired teacher. She volunteers to tutor Hà and her brothers. Hà will visit right after school, but she’s afraid to tell the woman how much help she’s going to need.

New Word a Day. MiSSSisss WaSShington has rules of her own. Every day, she makes Hà memorize a word and practice it 10 times. Every time Hà remembers a word, MiSSSisss WaSShington hands over tiny bites of fruit or small cookies. Hà learns a lot of new rules, the most important being the one about a, an, and the. These are “little megaphones” that tell people who’s not a native English speaker. These words don’t exist in Vietnamese, and people get along just fine. MiSSSisss WaSShington insists that all languages have their own silly rules, but that they’re all beautiful. Just like Mother, MiSSSisss WaSShington always has an answer.

More Is Not Better. Now, Hà understands when kids shout “ha-ha-ha” to make fun of her name, or when they ask if she eats dogs. She knows what they’re saying when they ask if she used to live in the jungle with tigers. Hà knows this now because she asked Brother Khôi if he hears the same things at his school. He nodded. Now that Hà understands, she wishes she could go back in time and not understand.

HA LE LU DA. The cowboy says that the neighbors would be more polite if the family agrees to something at the local Baptist church. When Hà and her family arrive at the church, the cowboy and his wife (who isn’t smiling) are waiting for them in the first row. On stage, a plump man shouts and everyone shouts back “HA LE LU DA.” After a while, a woman leads Hà and her family away to change into white gowns. Then, they wait in the hallway. Finally, Mother steps forward. The plump man, who’s now in a small pool, pinches Mother’s nose and pushes her under the water. Hà is ready to leap in after Mother when Mother stands up again.

Hà watches her brothers “get[] dipped,” and then it’s her turn. Mother says nothing, even though Hà gives Mother a look begging her to stop it. Once Hà has had her turn, she and her family get dressed and line up next to the cowboy and his wife, who’s now smiling. She smiles bigger as people kiss Hà’s cheeks. Hà’s skin grows chilly as she realizes they’ll be back here every Sunday.

Can’t Help. When Mother taps her nails on the table to signal she wants to be alone to chant, Hà goes to their bedroom. However, she continues to listen to Mother as she chants. The tones of Mother’s chant are so quiet after the “HA LE LU DAs” today. Mother has to hit a spoon against a glass bowl, since she doesn’t have a brass gong. And instead of jasmine incense, Mother has to burn dried orange peels, which isn’t calming. Hà can’t fall asleep. She needs to twirl the amethyst ring and smell Mother’s lavender smell, since unlike Mother, Hà isn’t as good at making do.

When Mother comes in, she turns away from Hà; she wants to be alone longer. Hà sniffs quietly for lavender as Mother sighs and sniffles. Then, Mother asks someone where they are, and if they should keep hoping. She thinks Hà is asleep. Mother keeps sniffling quietly and tells Father to come home and see their children. Hà has spent her whole life wondering what it’s like to know someone one’s whole life, and then have that person disappear. Mother sighs that it’s harder here than she thought it would be. This is confirmation for Hà that no matter what Mother says, she can’t stop wishing for Father, just like Hà can’t stop tasting papaya in her dreams.

Spelling Rules. When adding an s to a word, the spelling sometimes changes. For instance, knife becomes knives. And sometimes, you use a c instead of a k, even if a k might make more sense. Similarly, y and e are sort of interchangeable. Hà thinks that whoever invented English should’ve learned to spell.

Cowboy’s Gifts. The cowboy likes to bring gifts. Mother loved the live catfish the best, and it tasted wonderful when Vu Lee cooked it. Now, since Hà and her family were dipped at church, the cowboy brings gifts more often. Vu Lee likes beef jerky, while Hà prefers grapes. Today, the cowboy brings over chips and chocolate. Hà and her brothers finish the chips quickly, but Mother throws away the candy bars. Once Mother is asleep, Hà picks the bars out of the trash. They’ll make a better lunch than bread tomorrow.

Someone Knows. Today, Hà learns the word delicious. MiSSSisss WaSShington asks if Hà’s lunch was delicious. She waits patiently while Hà translates in her head and then responds that she “eat candy in toilet.” MiSSSisss WaSShington looks panicked at this, and Hà amends that she ate in the toilet. This doesn’t make MiSSSisss WaSShington look any happier, so Hà says she doesn’t eat candy all the time.

Hà admits she always eats in the bathroom, but she can’t explain why. She doesn’t know how to describe how nervous she is whenever she thinks about all her classmates happily eating in the big, noisy room. Before Hà can speak, MiSSSisss WaSShington says she’ll pack Hà a lunch so she can eat in class, even though it’s against the rules. She promises things will get better. Hà doesn’t believe this, but it does feel good that someone knows what’s going on.

Most Relieved Day. Hà stays in class during lunch the next day, and MiSSS SScott only nods. This is too easy. Inside Hà’s bag is a sandwich, an apple, salty “crunchy curly things,” and a cookie. She hears footsteps coming, and two students run into class, laughing. Hà prepares to fight, but the kids smile. The girl, who has long red hair and a long skirt, introduces herself as Pam. To Hà, this sounds like “Pem.” The boy has “coconut-shell skin” and is dressed fancily. He introduces himself as Steven, which sounds like SSsì-Ti-Vân. Hà hasn’t seen these two in class, but she does mostly look at her shoes. When she gets home, Hà will write that October 14 is her “Most Relieved Day.” She was saving that for Father’s return, but the day he returns can be her “Life’s Best Day.”

Smart Again. Pink Boy is at the board, struggling to multiply 18 by 42. Hà goes to the board and works it out quickly. She smiles—until she sees the horrified looks from Pem and SSsì-Ti-Vân. Pink Boy’s pink face is now bright red. MiSSS SScott pushes Hà back toward her seat and Pem takes Hà’s hand. Pem’s hand is trembling. Ha knows Pink Boy will get revenge, but for now, Hà feels smart.

Hair. One day, a girl with honey-colored hair ties her pink ribbons into Hà’s hair but then pulls the ribbons off—pink doesn’t look good on Hà. Next, three girls with dark skin take bright barrettes out of their hair and twist Hà’s hair into braids. Since Pem and SSsì-Ti-Vân nod, Hà holds still. As Hà walks home later, her shadow looks like she has eels on her head. Mother notices but says nothing. Hà sleeps uncomfortably on the barrettes, and the next morning, the girls pull out the barrettes. Hà’s hair immediately goes back to being straight, so the girls pull Hà’s hair and walk away. This is what Hà gets for wishing for long hair.

The Busy One. These days, Vu Lee can’t dedicate his time only to Hà. In the mornings he delivers newspapers, and in the afternoons he flips burgers. At sunset, he teaches lots of people “Bruce Lee moves” in the yard. So far, he’s only taught them to squat and shift. Hà always gets a spot in the front row. She practices with boys, giggling girls, and curious neighbors. These days, the neighbors are friendly and sometimes bring bright food to Hà’s house. All Vu Lee’s students wear yellow, and some wear suits like Bruce Lee wears. Brother Quang and Brother Khôi join in, and once, Hà spots Mother smiling from inside.

War and Peace. At the end of October, MiSSS SScott shows photographs of a naked girl with burns running on a dirt road. There are pictures of people screaming as they try to board the last helicopter leaving Saigon. She shows pictures of emaciated refugees on fishing boats, and pictures of piles of boots once worn by soldiers “of the losing side.” In theory, MiSSS SScott is showing the class where Hà is from, but she should’ve chosen pictures of papayas, or of Tet. It seems unbelievable, but sometimes Hà would rather be in Saigon during the war than here in peaceful Alabama.

Pancake Face. Today, Pem is wearing a long skirt that looks like a pioneer woman’s skirt. SSsì-Ti-Vân is wearing a beard—apparently today is “pretend day.” Pink Boy keeps asking Hà what she is. After school, Pink Boy shouts that Hà should be a pancake, since she “has a pancake face.” It takes a minute for Hà to understand, and when she does, she runs from her classmates’ laughter. She can still hear them laughing when Mother gets home, and Hà breaks down and tells Mother about what happened. Mother doesn’t know what a pancake is. Hà just sobs—she can’t explain to Mother that pancakes are extremely flat.

Mother’s Response. Mother strokes Hà’s hair and walks her through chanting and breathing peacefully in and out. Hà chants as Mother rubs Hà’s back and arm. She doesn’t want Mother to stop stroking, and she wants to be as calm as Mother.

MiSSSisss WaSShington’s Response. Hà is quiet during her tutoring session with MiSSSisss WaSShington. She looks around the room until she notices a framed picture of a boy. The boy is MiSSSisss WaSShington’s son, Tom, who died at age 20 in Vietnam. Hà had no idea that “Vietnam” could sound so sad. Afraid to look up, Hà asks if MiSSSisss WaSShington hates her, but the woman just hugs Hà. Hà tells her about the pancake incident, and then MiSSSisss WaSShington pulls out a book of pictures that Tom took in Vietnam. There are pictures of Tet, temples, and schoolgirls. Tom both loved and hated Vietnam.

Hà gasps when she sees a picture of a papaya tree heavy with ripe papayas. Excited, she shouts, “Du du!” and says, “best food.” She teaches MiSSSisss WaSShington du du, and MiSSSisss WaSShington teaches Hà doo-doo, and they laugh uproariously. MiSSSisss WaSShington lets Hà take the book home.

Cowboy’s Response. Just before school, the cowboy arrives at Hà’s house—MiSSSisss WaSShington told him about the pancake incident. Now, the cowboy, MiSSSisss WaSShington, Mother, and Brother Quang are going to school with Hà, which just makes Hà nervous. They enter the principal’s office, where Pink Boy is sitting with his mother. After the adults speak angrily for a bit, Pink Boy manages to say he’s sorry. Hà wants to vomit—and she feels even worse when Mother kindly says that Pink Boy is “from a proper family” and must not have known how insulting his words were. Pink Boy stares hatefully at Hà.

Boo-Da, Boo-Da. Today, MiSSS SScott shows maps and photographs of Vietnam. This time, she shows landscape photos and one of the Buddha. She asks Hà if she’d like to say anything, and Hà offers that she knows Buddha. Kids laugh and start to mutter “Boo-Da.” Students continue to say “Boo-Da” all day. When the final bell rings, Hà runs. Pink Boy and his friends follow, shouting “Boo-Da” at her. When Hà takes a wrong turn and finds herself heading away from where Brother Khôi will be, she races even faster. She can barely see through her tears. Finally, the boys catch Hà, pull her hair, and shout “Boo-Da Girl” in her face. Hà runs again, feeling angry, lonely, confused, and ashamed.

Hate It. Hà is too angry to go inside when she gets home. She digs a hole by the willow tree and screams “I hate everyone!!!!” into it, again and again. MiSSSisss WaSShington appears, speaks comfortingly to Hà, and then drags Hà up and across the yard. The woman asks Hà to tell her what happened as Hà stops screaming, but Hà keeps thrashing. MiSSSisss WaSShington holds Hà down once they get into the MiSSSisss WaSShington’s house. She repeats “Hush, hush,” over and over again, like a chant. Finally, Hà’s mind calms down, and she says she hates everyone. MiSSSisss WaSShington asks if Hà really hates Mother, and Hà has to stop herself from giggling. When MiSSSisss WaSShington pats Hà’s head, Hà’s hatred disappears.

Brother Quang’s Turn. A few days later, Brother Quang comes home extremely happy because he repaired a car nobody else could fix. Going forward, he’s going to only work on engines. Mother is so happy that she cries, but Hà pouts. Is she ever going to get a turn to be happy?

Confessions. Hà decides it’s time to tell Mother why she’s been so miserable, so she admits that she used to buy less pork so she could buy sweets. Mother says she already knows, surprising Hà, and then asks what else Hà has to share. Hà admits that she used to like making Tram cry—and now kids make Hà cry. She asks if she’ll be punished forever, and then says she has one more big confession: she was the first one to touch the floor on Tet. Mother’s eyes go wide, but Hà shouts that she hates being told she can’t do things because she’s female. Hà asks if she ruined the whole family’s luck, and if that’s why they’re in Alabama.

Mother assures Hà that she’s taking on too much. Mother says she’s just superstitious; if Hà did anything, she gave the family the luck they needed to get out and end up in Alabama. Hà is incredulous; it doesn’t feel like a good thing to be here. Mother encourages Hà to wait and see, but Hà says it’s awful right now. Kids chase her, shout at her and call her names, and pull her arm hair. Hà asks if she can hit her classmates. Mother says that sometimes, Hà will have to fight—but she should ideally not fight with her fists.

NOW! Hà accompanies Mother and Brother Quang to the grocery store, where Mother buys ingredients for egg rolls. An American holiday is coming up where Americans eat a turkey “the size of a baby.” Mother asks Hà to ask the butcher to grind the pork, but the butcher slams the pork down and waves Hà’s family away. Mother’s brow furrows and then she rings the bell and asks the butcher herself to grind the pork. The butcher walks away. Mother presses the bell again and then sternly speaks to the butcher in Vietnamese. She ends with, “NOW!” The butcher grinds the meat.

Du Du Face. Once again, boys are chasing Hà and yelling “Boo-Da” at her. Hà runs toward Brother Khôi, but she still has to listen to their taunts. But this time, Hà turns arounds and yells, “Gee-sus” at them, which makes the boys stop and stare. Suddenly happy, Hà runs and shouts words she learned from the boys, like “Bully,” “Coward,” and “Pink Snot Face.” When Hà turns around, Pink Boy is very close, and his face is red. She shouts, “Du Du Face” at him. His friends, of course, hear “Doo-doo Face” and laugh at him, but this isn’t Hà’s fault. Hà jumps on Brother Khôi’s bike.

Rumor. On Friday, rumors fly: apparently, Pink Boy is getting his cousin, a sixth-grade girl who’s extremely muscular, to beat Hà up on Monday.

A Plan. Hà doesn’t even have to tell Brother Khôi about the threat, since he heard that Hà’s face “is to be flattened / flatter” on Monday. He says that Hà doesn’t have a flat face, and that he has a plan.

Run. With five minutes to go, Hà gets ready to run. She races out the door as soon as the final bell rings and switches coats with Pem. Pem takes Hà’s usual path while Hà turns left, and SSsì-Ti-Vân blocks the door. Hà runs as fast as she can. She’s all alone—the boys must have followed Pem. Hà stops where Brother Khôi told her to wait, but Brother Khôi isn’t there. Suddenly, Hà sees Pink Boy racing around the corner toward her.

A Shift. Pink Boy runs toward Hà, and Hà squats so she’s ready. Pink Boy puts his fist out and when he’s close enough to Hà that she can see his arm hair, she shifts away. He flies past her and thuds on the pavement, writhing in pain. Hà thought she’d like seeing him in pain, but instead, he just looks defeated and helpless. But now he’s getting up. If Hà is going to kick him, she has to do it now.

WOW! Hà hears a roar, and both she and Pink Boy turn toward the sound. A huge motorcycle pulls up and stops. When the rider takes his helmet off, it turns out to be Vu Lee. Pink Boy hurries away just as Brother Khôi runs up pushing his bike, which has a flat tire. At Vu Lee’s signal, Hà climbs on behind him and Brother Khôi climbs on behind her. Brother Khôi keeps ahold of his bike as they ride home.

The Vu Lee Effect. Now, Vu Lee always picks Hà up after school. This means that people always want Pem, Hà, and SSsì-Ti-Vân to sit with them at lunch, and they’re constantly getting party invitations. Girls hope that Vu Lee will give them rides—he gave a ride to Pink Boy’s muscular cousin, who smiles and waves at Hà these days. Fortunately, Pink Boy avoids Hà and her friends.

Early Christmas. Mother invites the cowboy and MiSSSisss WaSShington for egg rolls a few days before Christmas. The guests don’t want to embarrass their hosts, but they bring early Christmas gifts anyway. The cowboy gives Mother catfish, Brother Quang money to attend night college, Vu Lee jerky, Brother Khoi two fighting fish, and Hà a new coat. MiSSSisss WaSShington gives a gong and jasmine incense to Mother, an engineering textbook to Brother Quang, more jerky to Vu Lee, a hamster to Brother Khôi, and a package of dried orange stuff to Hà. Everyone else says the gifts are perfect, but Hà frowns.

Not the Same. The package MiSSSisss WaSShington gave Hà contains dried papaya. This papaya is chewy, waxy, and sticky—it’s not like papaya at all. Hà is so mad that she throws all of it away.

But Not Bad. Mother slaps Hà’s hand and tells her to compromise, but Hà refuses. Instead, she goes to bed and stares at the picture of a real papaya tree. Will she ever get to eat a fresh papaya again? Mother’s gong rings out, soothing Hà, and the incense smell seems to surround Hà like a blanket. Hà wakes up early in the morning feeling guilty. But when she heads for the trash, she finds that her dried papaya isn’t there. Instead, she finds the papaya on the table—the pieces have been sitting in hot water, and this has melted the sugar off. The papaya still doesn’t taste the same, but it’s not bad.