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Back Parachutes Save as PDF
Chapters (93)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-One
  34. Thirty-Two
  35. Thirty-Three
  36. Thirty-Four
  37. Thirty-Five
  38. Thirty-Six
  39. Thirty-Seven
  40. Thirty-Eight
  41. Thirty-Nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-One
  44. Forty-Two
  45. Forty-Three
  46. Forty-Four
  47. Forty-Five
  48. Forty-Six
  49. Forty-Seven
  50. Forty-Eight
  51. Forty-Nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-One
  54. Fifty-Two
  55. Fifty-Three
  56. Fifty-Four
  57. Fifty-Five
  58. Fifty-Six
  59. Fifty-Seven
  60. Fifty-Eight
  61. Fifty-Nine
  62. Sixty
  63. Sixty-One
  64. Sixty-Two
  65. Sixty-Three
  66. Sixty-Four
  67. Sixty-Five
  68. Sixty-Six
  69. Sixty-Seven
  70. Sixty-Eight
  71. Sixty-Nine
  72. Seventy
  73. Seventy-One
  74. Seventy-Two
  75. Seventy-Three
  76. Seventy-Four
  77. Seventy-Five
  78. Seventy-Six
  79. Seventy-Seven
  80. Seventy-Eight
  81. Seventy-Nine
  82. Eighty
  83. Eighty-One
  84. Eighty-Two
  85. Eighty-Three
  86. Eighty-Four
  87. Eighty-Five
  88. Author’s Note
  89. Acknowledgments
  90. About the Author
  91. Books by Kelly Yang
  92. Back Ad
  93. About the Publisher

I nod, grateful. As Mrs. Mandalay gets up and walks around her desk to open the door for me, she offers me some advice. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. But there will be a lot of situations in life that make you uncomfortable. And the sooner you learn not to let them derail you, the better.”

I think about her words as I walk out.

After school, I meet up with Ming at Budget Maids and tell her what Mrs. Mandalay said.

“That’s wonderful!” Ming says, dragging the bucket of cleaning supplies out to Eduardo’s car. “I’m so glad she can help!”

“We’ll see,” I say, retying my hair in a bun. Now, every time I let my hair down, I think about Mr. Connelly and the awful night at the bar. I’ve even resorted to sleeping with my hair up. “I’m trying not to get my hopes up.”

“He’ll listen to her. She’s the boss,” Ming says. She closes the trunk door and makes a face. “Speaking of bosses, my boss at the host agency shot down my host-rating app idea.”

“What? But that’s such a great idea!”

“I know!” she says, as she grabs an extra pair of cleaning gloves from the office and stuffs it in her back pocket. Ming always wears several pairs of gloves when she cleans, to protect her violin hands. She tosses me a pair. “I literally know girls who are afraid to take a shower in their own houses and have to shower at school because they’re worried about their creepy host dads.”

I shake my head.

“But the boss says the app is unnecessary and will only create trouble,” she says. “I’m still going to make it. Florence is going to help me. We want to create a safe space to report issues.” She leans in closer so Eduardo and Rosa don’t overhear. “Especially for queer parachutes.”

Eduardo walks out of the office. “You girls ready?” he asks. Ming and I jump into the SUV, and Eduardo drives us over to nearby Diamond Bar, where we’re told we have to clean a five-bedroom house. In the car, Ming tells me about her weekend with Florence. When we get there, we realize it’s not a five-bedroom house. It’s actually a maternity hotel.

“What’s a maternity hotel?” I ask, looking around at the empty cribs and suitcases in the bedrooms.

A maternity hotel, Ming explains, is a house where mainland Chinese mothers hole up in America until they’re ready to give birth. This is the first time I’ve heard of such a phenomenon. I ask Ming why an expectant mother would want to leave her family and friends to come here and have her baby in a house full of strangers.