Making a Scene

by Constance Wu

This story is not that unusual or especially traumatic. Everyone gets bullied or hurt in some way during their childhood. Kids can be cruel. It’s a normal part of life. Childhood is a testing ground for what type of person you want to be, and part of that is trying things out, including cruelty, and seeing how it feels. Does it make you feel better? Or worse? Powerful? Or full of regret?

I know what they want me to say. The non-Asian journalists want a tidy, familiar trope. The Asian journalists want a warm mirror of communal experience. And everybody wants it in a sound bite. But the story of my mom doesn’t fit in a sound bite.

“Oh yes, that is true.” She nodded brightly, smiling with that very specific smile moms have—chin tucked down, eyes tilted up, lips pursed with restraint as if holding back a burst of love. “I loved being a mom.”