Girl In Translation

Tammy leaves Kim an apology note in her locker, but then avoids her. Kim is sick with anxiety over the test results, but when Mrs. Reynolds hands back the tests the next day, Kim's earned a 96.

Ma and Kim finally get a home phone because Kim is afraid that being "the one omission in the stapled school telephone directory everyone received" would be "a public declaration of poverty" (155). Kim continues to act as Ma's interpreter for any kind of interaction that involves speaking English, as Ma, secluded in the factory or at home, has not learned much English. More than any other interaction, Kim hates bargaining with store clerks for Ma. They continue to live in their rundown, pest-infested building without heat, but Kim "[stops] allowing [herself] to be conscious of [her] own unhappiness" (157).

One afternoon, Kim slips away from the factory for a few hours to go see Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with Annette at a theater by Annette's house. She brings her makeup, which neither of the girls is allowed to wear, and they do themselves up in the theater bathroom. When the movie is over, they wash their faces together.

During the summer after eighth grade, Kim works full-time at the factory. Her main task is bagging the clothes, the last step in the finishing process. The workers get paid per finished garment, earning "one and a half cents per skirt, two cents per pair of pants with a belt, and one cent for an upper garment" (160). Kim calculates that at the rate that she works, Ma earns well under two dollars per hour. She decides to experiment with faster methods to get the garments bagged and soon bags nearly five hundred skirts in an hour.

On the day the shipment is supposed to go out, the busiest day at the factory, a man gets his hand crushed in the steamer he's operating. Aunt Paula says not to worry, they will take him to the factory doctor, whom Matt reveals to Kim is just a friend of Aunt Paula's. After the incident, Aunt Paula approaches Ma and Kim to tell them that "'due to bad economic conditions, after this shipment goes out, the rate for skirts will have to drop to one cent a skirt" (164). Kim exclaims that it's unfair and Aunt Paula says they're free to work where they please. Matt, who's been standing with them the whole time, makes a joke to Aunt Paula in an effort break the tension of their conversation. Ma scolds Kim after Aunt Paula walks away, saying that they can't work wherever they please because all of the Chinatown garment industry is owned by friends and family.

Matt gets moved to the steamer because of his joke. When Kim goes to see him at his new station, he hands her a gold necklace with a jade Kuan Yin, "the goddess with an infinite number of arms to help all those in need" (167). Chinese parents often give their children jade and gold jewelry to wear under their clothes for protection from evil. The steam from the machine makes it too hot for Matt to wear metal around his neck. Kim brings the necklace to his mother, Mrs. Wu, who regards Kim with contempt, as she believes Kim "was responsible for Matt's being at the steamers" (168).

Matt offers to take Kim and Ma out on Sunday to show them the Statue of Liberty, which neither of them have seen since moving to New York City. Ma and Kim meet Matt in Times Square, or Tay Um See Arena, as it’s called in Chinese, on Sunday. They stop into a music store and Kim urges Ma to play one of the pianos out on the sales floor. She plays a Chopin nocturne and Matt can't believe how good she is. Kim explains that she used to be a music teacher back in Hong Kong. Matt pays for the three of them to take the subway to the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, which they call the Liberty Goddess. The statue reminds them all of the Buddhist goddess, Kuan Yin. Looking at it, Ma says "'How long we've dreamed of this'" (173). When they get home, Ma comments to Kim about what a handsome and compassionate young man Matt has become.

In anticipation of the upcoming school year, each of the incoming ninth grade students must take placement tests. Kim does so well on her tests that Dr. Copeland calls her into the office because Kim is "doing a bit too well" in her accelerated math and science classes (174). Dr. Copeland says that the science and math faculty will give Kim an oral exam to make sure that she is doing this well without cheating.

Kim realizes that though she has many acquaintances at school, Annette is her only true friend. In ninth grade, Annette becomes more politically involved, starting an anti-racism newsletter at Harrison. She begins calling herself a Communist, which makes Kim a bit uncomfortable, given her family's history with Mao's Communist China.

Annette also begins to ask Kim more direct questions about her personal life, like why she's never been invited to Kim's house, or why she never answers her home phone until late at night. Kim feels pressured to tell her the truth about working in the factory. Annette promises that she won't say anything to anyone, but shows concern for Kim. This makes Kim feel comfortable enough to confide in Annette about the incident with Tammy and how it got the math and science faculty thinking that she might be cheating. In a gesture of friendship, Annette invites Kim to window-shop with her at Macy's to relax before her oral exam. They try on a bunch of perfumes at the makeup counter. Ma notices the perfume when Kim returns to the factory, but Kim doesn't let her know about the Macy's trip.

Ma begins to study for her naturalization test using a study book and cassette at home after work. She memorizes the sounds, but when Kim tries to help her with grammar and meaning, Ma doesn't seem to understand. Kim tells Ma about the situation with her upcoming oral exam at school, and Ma offers to talk to Dr. Copeland in Kim's defense, but Kim turns her down.

Mr. Jamali gives Kim old magazines and books that the library is throwing out. She particularly enjoys the car and motorcycle magazines, which offer her a kind of escape from the drudgery of her life. In one of them, she finds an article on Indian Motorcycles, the same kind as the toy that belongs to Matt's younger brother, Park. She brings the magazine with her to the factory and reads the article to him. One of the women working nearby refers to Park with a derogatory word for a person with a developmental disability. Matt had always told Kim that Park was deaf, but she realizes that his disability may be more extensive than that. When she brings it up to Matt, he denies that. Kim understands, saying that "in Chinese culture then, having a disability in the family tainted the entire group, as if it were contagious" (187). For this reason, she doesn't push Matt any further about his brother.

Ma and Kim stay at the factory until two a.m. the night before Kim's oral exam, getting a shipment out. She stays up studying all night in the cold, wearing her "robe of stuffed animal material, which Ma continued to recycle" (187). In the morning, Kim begins her exam in front of the entire math and science faculty. She shakes with nervousness, but does so well on the exam that at the end, the teachers all applaud her. They explain that they had misjudged her and allow her to move up two grades in the accelerated math and science program.

That afternoon, Matt tells Kim he has to give something to his father and invites her to go along with him. Kim remembered Matt telling her that his father had passed away, but she agrees to join him, if only to spend time alone with him. He has a bike with an "Antonio's Pizza" delivery box attached to the back. Kim realizes that Matt has been skipping school to moonlight as a pizza delivery boy. They fly through Chinatown and Kim gets to experience the feeling of speed and freedom she's been dreaming of while looking through the car and motorcycle magazines. They end up in a neighborhood of dilapidated buildings that stinks of urine. It reminds Kim of her own neighborhood.

Matt leads Kim to an abandoned storefront where he taps on the door using a coded knock. Inside, a man takes them down a hallway into what looks like an old bar. There are a few Chinese men sitting around a table, playing cards for money. Matt's dad is among them. Matt gives his dad an envelope stuffed with money, which his dad dumps into the pot. One of the men gives Matt and Kim a beer each, Kim's first, but not Matt's. Kim understands that Matt has brought her there to share this secret with her. Matt's dad shows Kim his hand and asks her which cards he should play. Using "statistical probabilities" (195), Kim chooses two cards that win the hand. The men ask her to come sit with them, but Matt insists that "she stays with me" (195). This protective gesture, and Matt's invitation to see how his father lives, make Kim feel as though their relationship may be becoming more serious.

Kim realizes that she has feelings for Matt around the same time that he starts dating a girl named Vivian. Kim tries to dislike her, admitting that she wants to "remember her as a feminine doll…but the truth is that Vivian used to smile with genuine warmth whenever she saw me" (202). She starts to regret not telling Matt of her feelings for him sooner.

Over winter break in the tenth grade, Curt breaks his leg while skiing. He calls Kim at home and asks for her help with his schoolwork. He can't leave bed for a month, and is already in danger of flunking. Kim agrees to give him her notes from the classes they have together, and they talk about them at night on the phone. When he returns to school after his recovery, he is friendly with Kim, saving "the most central spot" (204) on his cast for her to sign. Through Curt's friendship, Kim enters the popular circle, and gains the attention of several boys. They begin calling her at home in the evening, to Ma's chagrin.

Kim continues to help Curt with his schoolwork by tutoring him once a week. Harrison counts this towards the hours Kim must work to fulfill the conditions of her scholarship. However, Curt doesn't seem to take the tutoring seriously, coming to the meeting unprepared or stoned, and consistently flirting with Kim. She confronts him about this, suggesting that he find another tutor. After this, Curt starts to take their meetings more seriously. Kim realizes that Curt is intelligent, but cares more about his budding artistic practice than about schoolwork.

Mr. Jamali encourages Annette to channel the physical expression of her passion about social issues in the theater department. Kim gets to watch Annette rehearse at school, but because the performances take place in the evening when she works, she has to miss them.

Nelson participates in a debate at his private school, and Aunt Paula and Uncle Bob invite Kim and Ma to come watch him. Uncle Bob dresses in his nicest silk shirt, which both of his sons ridicule. Nelson is going to tease Ma about her "simple clothes" (212), but Kim stands up to her cousin. Kim and Ma have decided to keep her success at Harrison a secret from Aunt Paula to prevent her anger and jealousy.

After years of use for both cooking and heating, Kim and Ma's oven breaks down. One of the women who works in the factory recommends a repairman who had certification in China, but not the States. He tells Ma that the repair will cost them $100. Ma explains that she doesn't have that much money at the house, and Kim, suspecting that he's trying to rip them off, stands up to him. As Kim explains, she has "the confidence…of a teenager who'd had to act like an adult for too long" (213). She demands to see the repairman's passport before they give him the money. When he doesn't produce one, she dials Annette's number, pretending that she is calling the police. The man leaves without fixing the oven.