Who stole Bud is still a mystery. It could have been a visitor, like those men who shot at Lucky and hit Bud instead. Or…it could be a local, like the Mean Girls or Erik. I’m at the school library looking up the townspeople to see if I can find any motives. It’s kind of fun. Principal Holmes was once a member of a Minneapolis barbershop quartet. Eva’s strawberry pie won a ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair. And from Mayor Whitlock’s Dontcha Know article, I learn that a real cow weighs about a thousand pounds and a butter cow weighs six hundred.

I’m about to log off the computer when I get an email response from Emmy. I had told her about Bud’s kidnapping and asked her a bunch of questions.

Hi, Maizy,

I can see why you find the laws surrounding Chinese immigration to America confusing.

During WWII, China and America were on the same side. It would have been awkward if the US was banning Chinese immigrants, so in 1943 the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed. But even then, only about a hundred Chinese were allowed into the country each year.

In 1965 all quota systems were abolished. Chinese could finally enter America together as families. Still, many paper sons and their descendants worried they’d get sent back to China if anyone found out about their past. Today, though, younger generations are trying to find information about their families, wanting to learn about, share, and celebrate their stories.

Maizy, in your email you said that the laws didn’t seem fair. I agree! Just because there are laws doesn’t mean they are right. In 2017, the president banned many Muslims and stopped thousands of refugees—people who are forced to leave their country because they were being unfairly punished—from coming to the United States. During the Holocaust, it was illegal to hide Jews. Slavery was legal in America, and entire Native American communities were slaughtered in the name of patriotism. We should never forget these wrongs.

I know that anti-immigrant rhetoric and anti-Asian crimes are scary. That’s why it’s so important to talk about them. We can’t pretend that bad things didn’t happen in the past and aren’t happening now. But we can address them and shine a light on the problems while looking for solutions. I am so sorry to hear about Bud the Bear, and, yes, the threatening note makes it a hate crime. I hope he’ll be found soon, along with the coward who left the anoymous note.

—Emmy

P.S. Keep those questions coming. In return, I look forward to hearing more about the Golden Palace and Lucky.

I write back to Emmy about Lucky and include a list of paper son names that were on the photos and in the letters. From my research, I learned that people took on new names to match the immigration documents. Lots of families lost track of relatives who gave up one name and life for another.

Is finding Last Chance’s paper sons an impossible dream?

When I get home, I ask, “Opa, why did Lucky return to San Francisco? Why do people go back to places when they don’t know if they’ll be welcomed?”

When we drove to Last Chance, the closer we got, the harder Mom gripped the steering wheel. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“I guess we’ll find out,” she said.

Opa mutes the television. “Like in poker, people weigh their odds and take risks. They want to know how the game will play out.”