American Girl

California

Li Xiu pressed her back against the wall. She tried to make herself invisible in the crowded room. The room was small; women and girls pressed against each other. Li Xiu could barely breathe. Sweat beaded on her brow, and she felt she might suffocate.

Li Xiu never knew a happy life. The youngest child of a rice farmer, she lived in a tiny hovel with her father, mother, and two older brothers. Her father wanted another son, but she was born an unworthy girl.

At mealtimes, her father and brothers ate first. They gobbled their meal, stuffing their faces with pork and rice. Li Xiu ate what was left over, tiny portions unfit for nourishment. When she was four years old, her mother broke all her toes except the large ones. They were bound tightly in cloth in the Chinese tradition. She lived under excruciating pain. If she cried, her mother chastised her and ordered her to stop. From then on, she wore lotus shoes and hobbled around with tiny footsteps.

Li Xiu did her chores silently and stayed out of the way. Her father never spoke to her, and her mother remained too busy to notice. One day, she discovered her father talking to a tall, thin man outside their hovel. When he beckoned toward her, she was unsure if he wanted her. Li Xiu hesitated until her father waved at her urgently.

"Yes, Honorable Father," Li Xiu stated, bowing her head.

"This is Wu Deng," he introduced. "You will pack your belongings into a small knapsack and go with Wu Deng."

Li Xiu eyed the man. He had an ugly, mean face with snarling lips. His heavy black brows looked like exclamation points above his slanted, black eyes. She stepped back involuntarily, but her father grasped her arm.

"Go, now." Her father thrust her away.

Li Xiu bowed her head and backed away. Wu Deng gave her father a wad of money. It looked like a lot more money than she had ever seen. When she hesitated, her father shooed her away. He made urgent guttural sounds in his throat. She knew she had to obey.

Her mother barely looked at her when Li Xiu entered the hovel. She knew her mother wouldn't help her. Li Xiu found a small knapsack and filled it. She didn't have many possessions—a change of clothes and a hairbrush.

Wu Deng took her away from her family. She followed behind him on the path until they reached a larger village. More girls joined them, and they walked on. Finally, they reached Shanghai. There, they boarded a large ship. The girls packed into the hold like sardines. They were considered cargo, not humans.

Word spread that they headed to San Francisco. The girls chattered among themselves. Some were excited; others, like Li Xiu, were terrified.

Li Xiu crouched in the hold, which smelled of human sweat and excrement. It seemed forever since she saw daylight and breathed clean air. The journey continued through calm and rough seas. Finally, it stopped, but the girls languished in the hold.

Wu Deng came into the hold and ordered the cargo out. They clustered together on deck and filed down the gangplank. He walked them along narrow, cluttered streets into Chinatown. The tall, wooden buildings loomed around Li Xiu. The tiny shops looked airless and cramped. As miserable as her life was in China, she wanted to go back.

Slowly, Li Xiu realized the significance of the crowded room. Men walked among the girls, looking them over carefully. Their captors led them into small cubicles, where they removed their clothes, washed their hair, and cleansed their bodies. Wrapped in silk kimonos, they painted their faces white, their lips ruby red, and styled their hair with feathers and baubles. Suddenly, Li Xiu became a prostitute in a Chinatown brothel. Her heart sank.

"Why did you do this to me, Father?" she moaned, looking at her transformed self in a large mirror. "Because I am an unworthy girl," she answered herself.