project, when Samantha Collins kept bragging about her momâs relatives being linked to some of the first Pilgrims, I thought about how my third-grade teacher had answered Brandonâs question. âOf course there were no Asians on the Mayflower. The ship came from England.â
People like Brandon and Samantha were the reason I had decided that besides my Asian heritage, I would borrow Mom and Dadâs Irish and Italian heritage too.
10
The arts-and-crafts room was in the basement of the mess hall, and it looked a lot like the park district craft roomâwooden tables and metal folding chairs covered with different-colored drips of paint, wooden shelves with plastic bins full of glue, scissors, paint, and other supplies, and a big, ugly paint-and-plaster-splattered sink in the corner.
On the long tables at the front of the room lay six envelopes. Each with one of our names on it.
âIâm Jen,â said the counselor who was waiting for us when we got there. âFind your name and take a seat where your envelope is, and weâll get started.â
Ginaâs and my envelopes were at the same table, so we sat next to each other.
âWhy donât you all open your envelopes and see whatâs inside?â Jen asked.
We all did and were surprised to see photos of ourselves.
âAhhhh,â Vanessa said. âLook at how cute these are!â
âHereâs me getting my first soccer trophy!â Becca said, holding up a picture of herself with a trophy bigger than she was.
âLook at this one!â Meredith said, showing us a photo of herself wearing shorts, snow boots, and a cowboy hat. It looked like she was about three.
âHow about me pushing this doll stroller with our dog, Toodles, in it,â Avery said, smiling.
We all kept shuffling through our photos, reliving fun memories from when we were younger and showing off pictures of our past accomplishments.
But then Vanessa changed the mood in the room. âI canât believe it,â she said in a voice that didnât sound at all like her usual bossy one. She stared at a photo she held in her hand. âItâs my tenth birthday. Of me with my dad. When we spent the whole day together.â
She didnât sound like Vanessa anymore, and her quietness made us all quiet. We looked at her while she stared at the photo. She seemed both happy and sad to see it.
âCheck me outâgetting MVP in a soccer tournament when I was only six!â Becca yelled, interrupting whatever touching moment Vanessa was having.
While Becca described in detail each goal she had scored to get that beloved MVP award, I kept watching Vanessa. As she continued to look at the photo, her happy-sad feeling seemed to harden into hurt.
âLook, Becca!â Avery said, pulling my attention away from Vanessa. âHereâs you, me, and Julia at the Chinese New Year Parade. Look at the adorable Chinese outfits we have on,â she said, holding up the photo so I could see it. âI loved wearing those clothes. I wish they still fit me.â
I hated those clothes and was glad they didnât still fit me.
Those Chinese costumes always itched and smelled funny, and the collars always felt like they were choking me.
âYou guys look so Chinese in that photo,â Vanessa said, peering across the aisle to look at the photo as Avery held it up.
âOf course we look Chinese!â Becca said. âWe are!â
âI know, but you just look more Chinese in that picture,â Vanessa said.
âSheâs right,â Meredith said. âYou do.â
Maybe I had been wrong about the arts-and-crafts room. Maybe it wouldâve been better to be out in the field playing some game while Vanessa yelled at us instead of in here listening to everyone talk about how âChineseâ Avery, Becca, and I looked.
âThese photos will give us lots of things to talk about for our Ms. Marcia