Front Desk

The Tang family is shown their duties at the motel by Yao. He points out the bullet-proof glass surrounding the office and an emergency buzzer under the counter to lock out bad people. Later, Mia meets one of the weekly renters—a middle-aged African American man named Hank Caleb. She likes him and confides that Yao seems all right, too. Hank disagrees and says, “Trust me, he’s anything but all right” (11). 

The next day, Yao has Mia’s parents sign a six-page contract with many restrictions. Mia isn’t allowed to use the motel pool, and someone in the family must remain at the motel at all times. This means the three can never all go out together. Despite these limitations, the Tangs are happy with the new arrangement and celebrate by drinking some special jasmine tea they brought with them from China. Mia takes a cup of the tea to share with Hank, and he introduces her to the rest of the weekly guests: Billy Bob, Fred, Mrs. Q, and Mrs. T. They all welcome Mia and invite her to join them in a game of Monopoly.

The following day, Mia and her mother take a tour of Dale Elementary School. Mia says, “Another grade, another year as the new girl. When you’ve moved as much as I have, checking out schools is like checking out shoe polish” (17). Mia’s mother tells the principal that Mia has just arrived in America. Mia is annoyed because they’ve been in the country for two years, but her mother says that her teachers won’t expect as much from her if they think she’s a new immigrant. 

Mia’s parents have trouble keeping up with all the cleaning, so Mia takes over the job of guarding the front desk. Rather than disturb her parents every time someone walks into the office, she puts up a sign that reads, “Mia Tang, Manager.” She also has a way of dealing with new guests. Mia says, “The next time a customer came in and asked to see the manager, I pointed to the sign. And I stared really hard at him” (21). Her staring routine works, and soon everyone accepts that she’s in charge. 

Mia is proud of her new motel management skills until she accidentally gives a wake-up call to the wrong guest and disturbs a guest who never wanted a wake-up call. Her parents are forced to issue two refunds as a result. When Yao and his son Jason stop by the motel to see how things are going, Yao is angry with the Tangs and says the refunds will be deducted from their pay. Jason is no better than his father because he can’t resist making a snide comment to Mia: “On their way out, Jason leaned over. He had a smug look on his face. ‘Two refunds, huh? I thought you said it went super well yesterday.’ I felt my ears boil” (28).

The next morning, one of the guests checks out without leaving his room key. Yao is angry that no one charged a key deposit. Mia and her mother find an ancient manual key machine in the office to make a copy. Mia files a new key and cuts her finger in the process. When she gives the key to a new guest, it doesn’t work. The man is irritated and demands a better room. He and Mia get into an argument until he takes pity on a 10-year-old who is working instead of playing outside. Mia would never consider play as important and recalls how structured her life was in China. She thinks to herself, “Except for family get-togethers, every minute after school was packed with homework, drilling, revision, and dictation” (35). 

On her first day at school, Mia meets her classmates and new teacher, Mrs. Douglas. The teacher tells everyone to introduce themselves and say something interesting about their lives. Mia is bursting to tell the class that she manages a motel until Jason walks into the room. He is also a student in her class and shoots her a warning look not to talk about her work at the motel. Instead, Mia invents a story about a golden retriever. After school, Jason says he doesn’t want to hang out with Mia just because they’re the only Chinese kids in the class. As she’s walking to the library later, Mia sees Jason being bullied by some white sixth graders. She thinks, “I wanted to ask him if he was okay, but then I thought about all the horrible things he and his dad said the day before, and I didn’t” (43).

Shortly after the Tangs assume management of the motel, the washing machine breaks down. When Mia’s father informs the owner, Yao accuses Tang of breaking it and says the cost of a new machine is coming out of the manager’s pay. Because a new washer can’t be delivered for a week, the family struggles to hand wash the mountain of dirty guest towels. Mia has a brainstorm and climbs into a bathtub filled with detergent to stomp the towels clean. She recalls, “That afternoon, my parents and I hopped and hopped and hopped, laughing so hard, we soon forgot we were washing towels” (48).

The Tang family receives a visit from Uncle Ming. Though not a biological uncle, he worked in the same Chinese restaurant as Mia’s father. Ming is on the run from loan sharks. Because no one will tell Mia what a loan shark is, she asks Hank, “‘And what happens if they don’t pay them back?’ Hank sucked in air. ‘You don’t want to know,’ he said’” (51).

Ming stays with the family for three days while he’s getting his car radiator repaired. When the job is done, Ming can’t afford the entire cost, so he offers to pay the garage partially in coupons. Even though the owner protests, the mechanics are eager to receive the coupons. Mia’s father lends Ming $50 and sends him on his way. Back at school, Mia makes a friend named Lupe Garcia. Both girls hate their physical education class. Mia’s mother has cautioned her daughter not to play sports because she might get injured, and the family can’t afford a doctor. Mia notes, “Today, we were so busy chatting we didn’t even notice when the softball landed right next to us. Lupe glanced at the ball and went right back to chatting. She didn’t even pick it up. She must really hate sports” (56).

After school that same day, Mia is staffing the front desk and buzzes a guest inside, only to realize that he’s drunk. Mia wants to run and get her parents but is afraid the man might rob the cash register while she’s gone. She asks him to wait outside, hoping to lock the door behind him. He refuses and grabs her by the shirt collar, shaking her. Hank arrives just in time to eject the drunk. Mia realizes, “One wrong buzz and it was all over. This was not just fun and games. This was dangerous” (59).