The Bonesetter's Daughter

  This is not fair, Ruth wanted to shout. She has to convert the numbers into Chinese to do the calculations, then remember that, and put the answer back into English. Ruth’s mind raced ahead. She wished she could lay out the answers for her mother telephatically. Eighty-six! Seventy-nine!

  “Eighty… Eighty…” LuLing was stuck.

  “Take your time, Mrs. Young.”

  “Eighty,” she said at last. “After that, eighty-seven.”

  “Fine,” Dr. Huey declared, with no change of expression. “Now I want you to name the last five presidents in reverse order.”

  Ruth wanted to protest: Even I can’t do that!

  LuLing’s eyebrows bunched in thought. “Clinton,” she said after a pause. “Last five year still Clinton.” Her mother had not even understood the question! Of course she hadn’t. She had always depended on Ruth to tell her what people meant, to give her what they said from another angle. “Reverse order” means “go backward,” she would have told LuLing. If Dr. Huey could ask that same question in fluent Mandarin, it would be no problem for LuLing to give the right answer. “This president, that president,” her mother would have said without hesitation, “no difference, all liar. No tax before election, more tax after. No crime before, more crime after. And always don’t cut welfare. I come this country, I don’t get welfare. What so fair? No fair. Only make people lazy to work!”

  More ridiculous questions followed.

  “Do you know today’s date?”

  “Monday.” Date and day always sound the same to her.

  “What was the date five months ago?”

  “Still Monday.” When you stop to think about it, she’s right.

  “How many grandchildren do you have?”

  “Don’t now. She not married yet.” He doesn’t see that she’s joking!

  LuLing was like the losing contestant on Jeopardy! Total for LuLing Young: minus five hundred points. And now for our final Jeopardy/ round…

  “How old is your daughter?”

  LuLing hesitated. “Forty, maybe forty-one.” To her mother, she was always younger than she really was.

  “What year was she born?”

  “Same as me. Dragon year.” She looked at Ruth for confirmation. Her mother was a Rooster.

  “What month?” Dr. Huey asked.

  “What month?” LuLing asked Ruth. Ruth shrugged helplessly. “She don’t know.”

  “What year is it now?”

  “Nineteen ninety-eight!” She looked at the doctor as if he were an idiot not to know that. Ruth was relieved that her mother had answered one question right.

  “Mrs. Young, could you wait here while your daughter and I go outside to schedule another appointment? “

  “Sure-sure. I not go anywhere.”

  As Dr. Huey turned for the door, he stopped. “And thank you for answering all the questions. I’m sure you must have felt like you were on the witness stand.”

  “Like O.J.”

  Dr. Huey laughed. “I guess everyone watched that trial on TV.”

  LuLing shook her head. “Oh no, not just watch TV, I there when it happen. He kill wife and that friend, bring her glasses. Everything I see.”

  Ruth’s heart started to thump. “You saw a documentary,” she said for Dr. Huey’s benefit, “a reenactment of what might have happened, and it was like watching the real thing. Is that what you’re saying?”

  LuLing waved to dismiss this simple answer. “Maybe you see document. / see real thing.” She demonstrated with motions. “He grab her like this, cut neck here—very deep, so much blood. Awful.”

  “So you were in Los Angeles that day?” Dr. Huey asked.

  LuLing nodded.

  Ruth was flailing for logic. “I don’t remember you ever going to L.A.”

  “How I go, don’t know. But I there. This true! I follow that man, oh he sneaky. O.J. hide in bush. Later, I go his house too. Watch him take glove, stick in garden, go back inside change clothes—” LuLing caught herself, embarrassed. “Well, he change clothes, course I don’t look, turn my eyes. Later he run to airport, almost late, jump on plane. I see whole thing.”

  “You saw this and didn’t tell anyone?”

  “I scared!”

  “The murder must have been an awful thing for you to see,” Dr. Huey said.

  LuLing nodded bravely.

  “Thank you for sharing that. Now, if you’ll just wait here a few minutes, your daughter and I are going to step into another room and schedule your next appointment.”

  “No hurry.”

  Ruth followed the doctor into another room. “How long have you noticed this kind of confusion?” Dr. Huey asked right away.

  Ruth sighed. “It’s been a little worse in the last six months, maybe longer than that. But today she seems worse than usual. Except for the last thing she said, she hasn’t been that weird or forgetful. It’s more like mix-ups, and most of it is due to her not speaking English that well, as you may have noticed. The story about O. J. Simpson—you know, that may be another language problem. She’s never been good at expressing herself—”

  “It sounded pretty clear to me that she thought she was there,” Dr. Huey said gently.

  Ruth looked away.

  “You mentioned to the nurse that she had a car accident. Was there a head injury? “

  “She did bump her head on the steering wheel.” Ruth was suddenly hopeful that this was the missing piece to the puzzle.

  “Does her personality seem to be changing? Is she depressed, more argumentative?”

  Ruth tried to guess what an affirmative response might indicate. “My mother’s always gotten into arguments, all her life. She has a terrible temper. And as long as I’ve known her, she’s been depressed. Her husband, my father, was killed forty-four years ago. Hit-and-run. She never got over it. Maybe the depression is becoming worse, but I’m so used to it I’d be the last one to notice. As for her confusion, I was wondering if it was a concussion from the car accident or if she might have had a mini-stroke.” Ruth tried to remember the correct medical term. “You know, a TIA.”

  “So far I don’t see any evidence of that. Her motor movements are good, reflexes are fine. Blood pressure is excellent. But we’ll want to run a few more tests, also make sure she’s not diabetic or anemic, for instance.”

  “Those could cause problems like this?”

  “They could, as could Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.”

  Ruth felt her stomach had been punched. Her mother wasn’t that bad off. He was talking about a horrible terminal illness. Thank God she had not told the doctor about the other things she had tabulated: the argument her mother had had with Francine over the rent; the ten-million-dollar check from the magazine sweepstakes; her forgetting that Fu-Fu had died. “So it could be depression,” Ruth said.

  “We haven’t ruled out anything yet.”

  “Well, if it is, you’ll have to tell her the antidepressants are ginseng or po chat pills.”

  Dr. Huey laughed. “Resistance to Western medication is common among our elderly patients here. And as soon as they feel better, they stop taking it to save money.” He handed her a form. “Give this to Lorraine at the computer station around the corner. Let’s schedule your mother to see the folks in Psychiatry and Neurology, then have her come back to see me again in a month.”

  “Around the Full Moon Festival.”

  Dr. Huey looked up. “Is that when it is? I can never keep track.”

  “I only know because I’m hosting this year’s family reunion dinner.”

  That evening, as Ruth steamed the sea bass, she told Art in an offhanded way, “I took my mom to see the doctor. She may have depression.”

  And Art said, “So what else is new?”

  At dinner, LuLing sat next to Ruth. “Too salty,” she remarked in Chinese, poking at her portion of fish. And then she added: “Tell those girls to finish their fish. Don’t let them waste food.”

  “Fia, Dory, why aren’t you ea
ting?” Ruth said.

  “I’m full,” Dory answered. “We stopped at Burger King in the Presidio and ate a bunch of fries before we came home.”

  “You shouldn’t let them eat those things!” LuLing scolded, continuing in Mandarin. “Tell them you don’t allow this anymore.”

  “Girls, I wish you wouldn’t ruin your appetites with junk food.”

  “And I wish you two would stop talking like spies in Chinese,” Fia said. “It’s like really rude.”

  LuLing glared at Ruth, and Ruth glanced at Art, but he was looking down at his plate. “Waipo speaks Chinese,” Ruth said, “because that’s the language she’s used to.” Ruth had told them to call LuLing “Waipo,” the Chinese honorific for “Grandmother,” and at least they did that, but then again, they thought it was just a nickname.

  “She can speak English too,” Dory said.

  “Tst!” LuLing grumbled to Ruth. “Why doesn’t their father scold them? He should tell them to listen to you. Why doesn’t he have more concern for you? No wonder he never married you. No respect for you. Say something to him. Why don’t you tell him to be nicer to you? . . .”

  Ruth wished she could go back to being mute. She wanted to shout for her mother to stop complaining about things she could not change. Yet she also wanted to defend her to the girls, especially now that something was wrong with her. LuLing acted eternally strong, but she was also fragile. Why couldn’t Fia and Dory understand that and act a little kinder?

  Ruth remembered how she felt when she was their age. She too had resented LuLing’s speaking Chinese in front of others, knowing they couldn’t understand her covert remarks. “Look how fat that lady is,” LuLing might say. Or, “Luyi, go ask that man to give us a better price.” If Ruth obeyed, she was mortified. And if she didn’t, as she now recalled, even more dire consequences followed.

  By using Chinese words, LuLing could put all kinds of wisdom in Ruth’s mind. She could warn her away from danger, disease, and death.

  “Don’t play with her, too many germs,” LuLing told six-year-old Ruth one day, nodding toward the girl from across the street. The girl’s name was Teresa, and she had two front teeth missing, a scab on one knee, and a dress smeared with handprints. “I saw her pick up old candy off the sidewalk and eat it. And look at her nose, sickness pouring out all over the place.”

  Ruth liked Teresa. She laughed a lot and always kept in her pockets things she had found: balls of foil, broken marbles, flower heads. Ruth had just started at another new school, and Teresa was the only girl who played with her. Neither of them was very popular.

  “Did you hear me?” LuLing said.

  “Yes,” Ruth answered.

  The next day, Ruth was playing in the schoolyard. Her mother was on the other side of the yard, monitoring other kids. Ruth climbed up the slide, eager to tumble down the silver curl into cool, dark sand. She had done this with Teresa a dozen times without her mother’s seeing.

  But then a familiar voice, loud and shrill, rang across the playground: “No! Luyi, stop! What are you doing? You want to break your body in half?”

  Ruth stood at the top of the slide, frozen with shame. Her mother was the busybody watcher of kindergartners, whereas Ruth was in the first grade! Some of the other first-graders were laughing down below. “Is that your mother?” they shouted. “What’s that gobbledy-gook-gook she’s saying?”

  “She’s not my mother!” Ruth shouted back. “I don’t know who she is!” Her mother’s eyes locked on hers. Although she was clear across the playground, she heard everything, saw everything. She had magic eyes on the back of her head.

  You can’t stop me, Ruth thought fiercely. She threw herself down the slide, head first, arms straight out—the position that only the bravest and wildest boys would take—fast, fast, fast into the sand. And then she crashed face first, with such force that she bit her lip, bumped her nose, bent her glasses, and broke her arm. She lay still. The world was burning, shot full of red lightning.

  “Ruthie’s dead!” a boy yelled. Girls began screaming.

  I’m not dead, Ruth tried to cry out, but it was like speaking in a dream. Nothing came from her lips the way she wanted. Or was she truly dead? Was that how it felt, this oozing from her nose, the pain in her head and arm, the way she moved, as slowly and heavily as an elephant in water? Soon she felt familiar hands brushing over her head and neck. Her mother was lifting her, murmuring tenderly, “Ai-ya, how could you be so foolish? Look at you.”

  Blood ran from Ruth’s nose and dripped onto the front of her white blouse, staining the broad lace-trimmed collar. She lay limply in her mother’s lap, looking up at Teresa and the faces of the other children. She saw their fright, but also their awe. If she could have moved, she would have smiled. At last they were paying attention to her, the new girl at school. She then saw her mother’s face, the tears streaming down her cheeks, falling on her own face like wet kisses. Her mother wasn’t angry, she was worried, full of love. And in her amazement, Ruth forgot her pain.

  Later she lay on a cot in the nurse’s office. Her nosebleed was stanched with gauze, her punctured lip was cleansed. A cold washcloth covered her forehead, and her arm was elevated on a bag of ice.

  “She may have fractured her arm,” the nurse told LuLing. “And her nerves might be torn. There’s a great deal of swelling, but she’s not complaining of too much pain.”

  “She good, never complain.”

  “You need to take her to the doctor. Do you understand? Go see a doctor.”

  “Okay, okay, go see doctor.”

  As LuLing led her out, a teacher said, “Look how brave she is! She’s not even crying.” Two popular girls gave Ruth big smiles of admiration. They waved. Teresa was also there, and Ruth gave her a quick, secret smile.

  In the car on the way to the doctor’s office, Ruth noticed that her mother was strangely quiet. She kept looking at Ruth, who expected harsh words to start any moment: I told you that big slide was dangerous. Why didn’t you listen to me? You could have cracked open your brain like a watermelon! Now I have to work overtime to pay for this. Ruth waited, but her mother only asked every now and then if she was hurting. Each time Ruth shook her head.

  As the doctor examined Ruth’s arm, LuLing sucked air between her teeth in agony and moaned: “Ai-ya! Careful, careful, careful. She hurt real bad.” When the cast was put on, LuLing said proudly, “Teacher, children, all very impress. Lootie no cry, no complain, nothing, just quiet.”

  By the time they arrived home, the excitement had worn off, and Ruth felt a throbbing pain in her arm and head. She tried not to cry. LuLing put her in her vinyl La-Z-Boy and made her as comfortable as possible. “You want me to cook you rice porridge? Eat. That will help you get well. How about spicy turnips? You want some now, while I cook dinner? “

  The less Ruth said, the more her mother tried to guess what she might want. As she lay in the recliner, she heard LuLing talking to Auntie Gal on the phone.

  “She was almost killed! Scared me to death. Really! I’m not exaggerating. She was nearly yanked from this life and on her way to the yellow springs… . I just about cracked my own teeth to see how much pain she was in… . No, no tears, she must have inherited the strength of her grandmother. Well, she’s eating a little bit now. She can’t talk, and I thought at first she bit off her tongue, but I think it’s only the fright. Come over to visit? Fine, fine, but tell your kids to be careful. I don’t want her arm to fall off.”

  They came bearing gifts. Auntie Gal brought a bottle of eau de toilette. Uncle Edmund gave Ruth a new toothbrush and matching plastic cup. Her cousins handed her coloring books, crayons, and a stuffed dog. LuLing had pushed the television set close to the La-Z-Boy, since Ruth had a hard time seeing without her glasses.

  “Does it hurt?” her younger cousin, Sally, asked.

  Ruth shrugged, though her arm was now aching.

  “Man oh man, I wish I had a cast,” Billy said. He was the same age as Ruth. “Daddy, can I have
one too?”

  “Don’t say such bad-luck things!” Auntie Gal warned.

  When Billy tried to change the television channel, Uncle Edmund sternly ordered him to put it back to the program Ruth had been watching. She had never heard her uncle be strict with her cousins. Billy was a spoiled brat.

  “Why aren’t you talking?” Sally asked. “Did you break your mouth too?”

  “Yeah,” Billy said. “Did the fall make you stupid or something?”

  “Billy, stop teasing,” Auntie Gal said. “She’s resting. She has too much pain to talk.”

  Ruth wondered whether this was true. She thought about making a little sound so small no one would even hear. But if she did, then all the good things that were happening might disappear. They would decide she was fine, and everything would go back to normal. Her mother would start scolding her for being careless and disobedient.

  For two days after the fall, Ruth was helpless; her mother had to feed, dress, and bathe her. LuLing would tell her what to do: “Open your mouth. Eat a little more. Put your arm in here. Try to keep your head still while I brush your hair.” It was comforting to be a baby again, well loved, blameless.

  When she returned to school, Ruth found a big streamer of butcher paper hanging at the front of the classroom. “Welcome Back, Ruth!” it said. Miss Sondegard, the teacher, announced that every single boy and girl had helped make it. She led the classroom in clapping for Ruth’s bravery. Ruth smiled shyly. Her heart was about to burst. She had never been as proud and happy. She wished she had broken her arm a long time before.

  During lunch, girls vied with one another to present her with imaginary trinkets and serve as her maiden-in-waiting. She was invited to step into the “secret castle,” a rock-bordered area near a tree at the edge of the sandbox. Only the most popular girls could be princesses. The princesses now took turns drawing on Ruth’s cast. One of them gingerly asked, “Is it still broken?” Ruth nodded, and another girl whispered loudly: “Let’s bring her magic potions.” The princesses scampered off in search of bottle caps, broken glass, and fairy-sized clover.

  At the end of the day, Ruth’s mother went to her classroom to pick her up. Miss Sondegard took LuLing aside, and Ruth had to act as though she were not listening.