Mam and the Paper Menagerie

If mam spoke to me in chinese, i refused to answer her. After a while, she tried to use more english, but her accent and broken sentences embarrassed me. Eventually she stopped speaking altogether. Mam learned to cook american style. I played video games and studied french. Later, a new paper animal would appear on my night stand and try to cuddle up to me. I caught them, squeezed them until the air went out of them and then stuffed them away in the box in the attic. You shouldn't treat your mother that way, dad said. But he couldn't look me in the eyes as he said it. Deep in his heart, he must have realized