The Refugees

The narrator’s mother is a predictable woman until Mrs. Hoa enters their lives. The narrator’s parents run a Vietnamese grocery store, and the narrator, who goes to summer school to learn English, is dissatisfied with being surrounded by Vietnamese culture while living in America. Mrs. Hoa enters the store one day while the narrator is pricing cans. She is collecting funds for anti-communist forces in Vietnam. The narrator’s mother declines and tries to change the subject. Mrs. Hoa brings up her neighbor, who people think is a communist sympathizer because she refuses to donate to the cause. After Mrs. Hoa leaves, the narrator’s mother calls her an idiot.

The narrator imagines the anti-communist forces as gritty yet heroic. He is outraged on the drive home that evening when his mother says she will not donate because the war is over. He is doubly disgusted at his father’s suggestion that they should pay Mrs. Hoa “‘hush money’” to make their lives easier. The narrator knows his mother will have her way. That night, he hears his mother tell his father, “I’ve dealt with worse than her” (44). The narrator remembers his mother telling him about the famine she experienced as a girl in Vietnam following World War II.

While checking the ledgers that night, the narrator’s mother says she thinks it might be a good idea to make peace with the communists. The narrator is ashamed of the nightgown his mother wears; he can see her dark nipples through the fabric, and he contrasts it with his classmate Emily Tsuchida’s nipple, which he caught a glimpse of accidentally. The narrator asks why make peace if the communists are evil; his mother agrees that they are evil but says the anti-communist cause is hopeless. She says, “I hate the Com­mun­ists as much as Mrs. Hoa, but she’s fight­ing a war that can’t be won. I’m not throw­ing away my mon­ey on a lost cause” (47).

The narrator’s always parents deposit some of their profits in the bank, donate some to their church, and send some back to relatives in Vietnam who write letters describing their plights under the communist regime. Accustomed to misfortune, and fearing robbery, the narrator’s mother also stashes cash and other valuables in secret places throughout their house, using decoys to distract would-be thieves. Her fears prove justified when the narrator answers the door for a strange white man. The narrator reflects, “If he had spo­ken in Vi­et­nam­ese or Span­ish, I nev­er would have un­locked the door, but be­cause he spoke Eng­lish, I did” (47). The man demands they get on their knees. Seeing his father kneel and his mother shake, he feels pity for his parents’ humiliation. The narrator’s mother screams and runs, knocking over a decoy jar of coins. The narrator’s father tackles the intruder, shoves him outside, and locks the door behind him. Later, the narrator’s mother berates his father, saying she saved him, and she yells at the narrator for answering the door to a stranger.

After church, Mrs. Hoa greets the family and asks after the narrator’s older sister, Loan, who is away studying philosophy at Bryn Mawr University. The narrator’s mother wants to follow Mrs. Hoa home to see where she lives. To his father’s chagrin, the narrator goes with her. Along the way, the narrator thinks of an old photo of his parents, and he is saddened by the way his mother has grown out of touch with her youth. The narrator’s mother is satisfied to know where Mrs. Hoa lives, in a house partially converted into a run-down tailor shop.

The next time Mrs. Hoa enters the shop, the narrator’s mother confronts her in front of the customers, saying she will not contribute to the cause and that Mrs. Hoa is a thief. Mrs. Hoa announces to all in earshot that the narrator’s mother is a communist.

That evening, the narrator’s mother plots revenge and takes the narrator with her to Mrs. Hoa’s house. The narrator is struck by the poor conditions in Mrs. Hoa’s house, which is crowded with family members. Without her makeup, Mrs. Hoa looks much older. Mrs. Hoa makes uniforms for the secret anti-communist forces. She tells them that her husband is a soldier who disappeared in northern Vietnam in 1963. The Americans sent her youngest son’s division to Laos, and her eldest son was killed in combat. She buried him, but the communists desecrated his grave. She is adamant that her husband and youngest son are alive. The narrator’s mother, now understanding Mrs. Hoa’s zeal, gives her $200. The narrator apologizes to Mrs. Hoa.

On the way home, the narrator’s mother, in an uncharacteristic gesture, takes him to 7-11 to buy a treat with a $5 bill. Inside, he is unable to choose, wanting to take everything home.