Prairie Lotus

In LaForge, Hanna hides her face within her bonnet and behind an armload of supplies until she and Papa enter the hotel room. While Papa goes to the livery to board the horses, Hanna organizes Mama’s button collection in the button box by size and color. The box has a lotus flower engraved on the lid, the same flower that Mama stitched as a signature on every piece of clothing she sewed. Hanna keeps a scrap of muslin with Mama’s lotus sewn onto it as a pattern; Hanna used to practice stitches on the muslin when she was young. When Papa returns, he tells Hanna the town has no dress shop and that he plans to set up a shop with dress goods for sale. Hanna immediately says they can make dresses as well, though Papa said in the past she is too young for that responsibility. Papa tells Hanna he purchased a lot for the dress goods shop, intending to settle there permanently because he knows that the justice of the peace, Mr. Harris, is a fair and kind man.

Hanna’s mama, Mei Li, was an orphan raised by American missionaries in China, who called her May. They taught her to read, write, and sew. When she was 18, she traveled to Los Angeles alone as a seamstress and house cleaner, where Papa met her. They married and had Hanna. When Hanna was five, riots and violence against Chinese immigrants in the city led to the lynching of 15 Chinese men. Mama’s lungs were badly damaged in the smoke of burned Chinese homes and businesses as she tried to help friends who owned a noodle shop. Her health was never the same after the riots, and just before Hanna turned 12, Mama died. Papa was bitter and resentful that he lost his love to riots and discord. Three weeks after Mama died, Hanna and Papa left Los Angeles to find a new home.

The next day, Hanna and Papa leave the hotel for rented rooms. Hanging curtains in the rental is a priority so that no one sees in. Hanna can see out, however, and she notices young people her age going down the street in a group and surmises that LaForge must have a school. She recalls how much Mama wanted her to get a graduation diploma. When Papa comes home, she asks about school. He tells her a diploma is not worth the potential trouble and offers no sympathy when she rationalizes that Mr. Harris could stop potential conflict: “That’s what I’m talking about! You cause trouble and we’ll never be able to make a success in this town, you know that!” (27-28). Hanna reminds Papa that Mama wanted her to have a proper education. Papa finally agrees to talk to Mr. Harris, who is also on the school board.

Hanna tries to busy herself with chores like making new bedsheets and sifting bugs out of the flour until Papa finally talks to Mr. Harris. When he comes to call, he notices Hanna’s polite offer of coffee or tea, and eventually tells Papa that he will tell the teacher, Miss Walters, to expect a new student. He also warns that if any “trouble” arises, Miss Walters will be the decision-maker regarding Hanna staying or leaving. Papa says this is fair, but Hanna must bite her tongue at the unfairness; how is she to have any control over what other students might say or do?

As she approaches the school for her first day, Hanna nervously recalls previous attempts to attend school when students bullied or harassed her. She almost turns to go home but remembers Mama’s emphasis on finishing a garment with a strong, secure stitch: “Good work is no good if you don’t finish” (36). The teacher greets her kindly and instructs her to sit with Dolly Swenson, a pale blond girl who keeps to herself. Hanna wonders if Dolly is spoiled. Miss Walters does not call on Hanna and allows her to keep her bonnet on. Hanna stays in the schoolroom for lunch and notices that the other girls do not seem to accept Dolly. After lunch, a girl named Bess reads a poem with excellent dramatic skills, and a boy named Sam reads a comical poem. He smiles at her on his way back to his seat, but Hanna hides within her bonnet.

Hanna is exhausted from worrying about her school day but still makes Papa’s favorite meal that night: sourdough pancakes and salt pork. Papa asks if there was any trouble at her school, and Hanna knows what he means: the kind of trouble “that came about because she wasn’t white” (47). Hanna recalls when she was four and pretended once that she had blonde hair, playing with a skein of yellow yarn in the mirror. Mama responded by braiding her long, black hair with a red cord of silk, showing her its beauty. Hanna never wanted blond hair after that.

Hanna also recalls how Mama told her a secret just weeks before she died: “I’m half-half too” (48). Hanna grew up in Los Angeles understanding that being “half-Chinese and half-white” was “special in a hurtful way”(49). Speaking two languages and enjoying food and tea from both cultures was never a problem, but white people did not accept her, and Chinese people did not accept Papa. Mama told Hanna before she died about the varied people from different regions of China, and how her own mother was from China, but her father was from a different country altogether—“A beautiful place, a secret place. Called Korea. Americans don’t know that place” (51). Mama also said that Papa’s mother’s name was Hannah, ha-na in Chinese means “first daughter,” and that Hanna was Mama’s “double happiness” (52).

When Hanna arrives at the school the next morning, she overhears the girls speculating on reasons why she left her bonnet on all day. Hanna bravely takes off the bonnet. The other girls stare, astonished, especially Dolly. Miss Walters greets Hanna and calls for the other students to come in. The younger ones take no notice but the older boys whisper. Miss Walters does not require the Fifth Reader class to come to the front, so Hanna gets to keep her seat; she is grateful that Miss Walters understands her desire to avoid display.