Chapter 1

“Dianne, get your little fanny in here right now!”

I knew I was in trouble, that was the only time she called me “Dianne”. To most of my friends and family, I as “Di”. When it was formal, I was Dianna. And I knew why I was in trouble. I was in my nice dress because we were going to see Grandma and Grandpa Song. She wanted to show me off to the clan, having won an award in the dance competition that weekend.

And the thing is, I loved dancing. I just did not like the formal staged dances she made me learn. 3 nights a week I was made to go to the Cultural Center and learn all these dances. Dances with fans, dances with scarves, even dances with plates. It was all so silly, all so stupid. I loved the pretty costumes we wore, but I hated the fact we all had to dance the same way, stupid dances that did not matter here because we were Americans!

Nobody dances that way here. This is America, not China! But we and I had won an award, and she wanted to show me off. This meant driving to Chinatown. It meant having to put up with my cousins, most of which I hated. It meant having to pretend to be a proper lady. Instead of hanging out in the back playing with the neighbor’s cat.

We did not live in the city, we lived in the suburbs, in Creekside. My dad insisted on it, saying that for the same money a small apartment in town would cost we could own a home. On an acre of land, with trees and grass and room to stretch out in. So here we lived, and I loved it. But my mom hated cats and dogs. And the fact that whenever I saw the one next door we had to play together.

So she scolded me as she brushed off all of the fur, then telling me to go and wash my hands and face. I did so, and once I was done she collected my brother and I and got in the car. Dad was already waiting there, listening to the Wildcats football game on the radio.

He and John talked about the game as we drove, dad saying how that Carl Davis was sure to get an MVP this year. “Best damned lineman in the league!” he said. John laughed, saying that there is no chance since the Wildcats were near the bottom in the standings.

They were still arguing back and forth, and I was watching the buildings pass by in the Downtown area. Dad was right, I would have hated to live here. I love seeing trees, grass, the horses and cows a little further north where the city turns into farms. I was even hoping to join 4H soon, so I could work with the animals. My dream was to become a veterinarian, but my mom told me I should become a “Real Doctor”. Not an “Animal Doctor”.

I heard the siren and looked around to see where it came from. Dad was going 30 and almost at the intersection, but he was slowing down to pull over as soon as he crossed it. Then I looked out my window and saw the big white SUV coming right at us.

I woke up sometime later and hurt everywhere. My woo-woo hurt, my head hurt, my face hurt, and my arm and leg hurt. I started to cry and heard a noise to the side. I tried to turn and look, but could see nothing! But I felt my mother grab my hand in hers, and could tell she was crying. “Oh baby, you are awake! It’s alright, you are going to be alright! Hush Tang-Tang, I am here, it will be alright.”

I tried to reach up, but could not move my left arm. So I reached to wipe away what had to be tears and found my face was covered with bandages. She tried to calm me down, saying we had been in an accident. “Your daddy has a broken leg, John broke an arm. I am OK, but bruised a lot. A guy running from police ran into us on the way to Grandma’s. But you are going to be OK.”

I asked her how bad I was hurt. Arm, broken. Lower leg, broken. Spleen removed. Glass cuts all over my face and eyes. “But we have the best doctors working on you. Before you know it my little Tang-Tang, you will be dancing again!”

That was a lie, of course, I did not dance again for years.

I did learn some things though. Like the reason my woo-woo hurt was that they had shoved a tube inside of me so I could tinkle through it. And I had to lift my bottom and poop in some cold metal thing because I could not get to the toilet. And it was either my mom or nurses that had to feed me because it was suddenly like I did not know how.