We didn' t immediately pick the right kind of prodigy. At first my mother thought I could be a Chinese Shirley
Temple. We' d watch Shirley' s old movies on TV as though they were training films. My mother would poke
my arm and say, "Ni kan"—You watch. And I would see Shirley tapping her feet, or singing a sailor song, or
pursing her lips into a very round 0 while saying, "Oh my goodness. "
"Ni kan, ""said my mother as Shirley' s eyes flooded with tears. "You already know how. Don't need talent
for crying!"
Soon after my mother got this idea about Shirley Temple, she took me to a beauty training school in the
Mission district and put me in the hands of a student who could barely hold the scissors without shaking.
Instead of getting big fat curls, I emerged with an uneven mass of crinkly black fuzz. My mother dragged me
off to the bathroom and tried to wet down my hair.
"You look like Negro Chinese," she lamented, as if I had done this on purpose.
The instructor of the beauty training school had to lop off these soggy clumps to make my hair even again.
"Peter Pan is very popular these days," the instructor assured my mother. I now had hair the length of a boy' s,
with straightacross
bangs that hung at a slant two inches above my eyebrows. I liked the haircut and it made
me actually look forward to my future fame.
We didn' t immediately pick the right kind of prodigy. At first my mother thought I could be a Chinese ShirleyTemple. We' d watch Shirley' s old movies on TV as though they were training films. My mother would pokemy arm and say, "Ni kan"—You watch. And I would see Shirley tapping her feet, or singing a sailor song, orpursing her lips into a very round 0 while saying, "Oh my goodness. ""Ni kan, ""said my mother as Shirley' s eyes flooded with tears. "You already know how. Don't need talentfor crying!"Soon after my mother got this idea about Shirley Temple, she took me to a beauty training school in theMission district and put me in the hands of a student who could barely hold the scissors without shaking.Instead of getting big fat curls, I emerged with an uneven mass of crinkly black fuzz. My mother dragged meoff to the bathroom and tried to wet down my hair."You look like Negro Chinese," she lamented, as if I had done this on purpose.The instructor of the beauty training school had to lop off these soggy clumps to make my hair even again."Peter Pan is very popular these days," the instructor assured my mother. I now had hair the length of a boy' s,with straightacrossbangs that hung at a slant two inches above my eyebrows. I liked the haircut and it mademe actually look forward to my future fame.
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