Chapter 10

Everyone Loves Spring Rolls

“I’m so stupid. Dad and Mom hate me. Liz won’t talk to me. Sophie doesn’t get me. Everything’s bad.” I’m lying on my bed while playing with the green jade bangle. Grandma Nội shimmers beside me.

“Precious granddaughter, your mom and dad love you. Promise them you will work harder to raise your marks. You will feel better if we cook something. What do you want to bring to ballet?” Grandma Nội says.

“It’s a holiday party, so holiday foods. Something everyone likes.” I smile. “Chả giò. Everyone loves spring rolls. Always at parties, they’re gone quickly. They’re Grandpa Nội’s favourite. Even Jacob eats a ton,” I say, sitting up now.

“Chả giò it is. Apologize to your parents for being disrespectful. Then ask them to buy the ingredients.”

The day before the ballet holiday party, it’s snowing hard and there is a wind-chill warning. Liz is avoiding me and got Jacob to side with her. That hurt.

“Mix the filling of ground pork, noodles, carrots, and mushrooms,” Grandma Nội instructs.

I lay out the square spring roll wrapper so it looks like a diamond.

“Now add a spoonful of filling near the bottom in the shape of a log,” Grandma Nội says. Pull the bottom corner of the wrapper over the filling. Roll to the middle. Fold in one side and then the other side. Then roll up the whole thing, tight and round.”

My first ten rolls look sloppy. I stomp my feet, so mad at myself. These have to be perfect. For

Grandma Noi directs Anne to make spring rolls at the kitchen counter. Seen from above, the sheets, filling, and finished rolls are each set up in their own section.

Mrs. Smith to like me. For Mom to be proud. For the ancestors to grant us good fortune. For everything to be better.

“Anne, don’t give up. We are making chả giò the same way I made them with my mother and she made them with her parent. A long line of our ancestors,” Grandma Nội says. “I broke that line with your dad but am fixing it now. You are our future.”

I cry suddenly. All the pressure inside me bursts out.

“What’s wrong, precious granddaughter?” Grandma Nội asks.

“But I don’t know who I am,” I sob. “How can I be the future?”

Anne cries with her fist clenched. She wears the jade bangle on her wrist. Grandma Noi's spirit gives Anne a hug.

“You are our hope in this country. You are our dream woven together by breath and blood. All of your ancestors are in you, Anne.” I feel her hand over my chest, over my heart. It makes me feel strong.

“I miss you,” I whisper.

“I am with you always. Who are you?” Grandma Nội asks.

“I am Anne Nguyen,” I say.

Even though I’m still wearing the green jade bangle, Grandma Nội begins to shimmer softly. I no longer need her in the same way I did before. She disappears into darkness.