Kim said, “But my husband will hate it.”

He said, “Then your husband’s a fool, darling.”

She sat vigilant, watching her tresses falling to the floor. With each snip, she felt the stiffness in her shoulders loosening, the burden of heavy hair no longer straining her neck. She had worn it long since her school days. She could still feel the thick thumping of the braid against her back, skipping rope. She remembered how it would get in her way, scratch her eyes, cause her to trip up. She hated how the boys yanked at it. Later, she used the long layers as a shield, hid behind it when the boys grew into men and stared. On the red leather chair, Kim slowly began to admire the new cut. She liked the way it revealed the shape of her skull, its ability to capture her expressions with clarity, and most of all, how it forced her to be brave.

That evening, Kim felt shaky preparing dinner. She had the maid clean the house over and over. She put on Duc’s favorite traditional dress. When the brass doorknob rattled, she reached for the back of her bared neck. She greeted Duc at the door. He wore his ARVN officer’s uniform. She leaned in to hug him. He took a step back, hands to his side, and stared at her. She lunged to kiss him, but he turned, giving her only his strained jaw to look at. Under his breath he said, “You look like a whore,” and then tramped inside tracking red dirt on her polished floors.

“What’s wrong with you?” she screamed after him. “I’ve asked you to take your boots off in the house.”

From the bedroom he screamed back, “I guess neither of us listens.” He didn’t speak to her for two weeks. And for two weeks Kim forbade the maid from scrubbing those muddy footprints.

Inside the theater, Kim reached between her feet for the M&Ms inside her purse. She squeezed Sophia’s knee once she found the candy and held them out to her daughter. Sophia didn’t respond. Kim whispered, “Chocolate.” Sophia’s eyes stared straight ahead. Kim tapped her daughter’s hand. The little hands resisted, clutching the armrests.

Puzzled, Kim turned to the screen and in larger than life techno-color got her response. Ample breasts and bare butts jiggled in her face. The nurses were completely nude, slithering about on the floor. They had wild manes and smoky eyes. Their rhinestone collars glittered around their necks like leashes. They were crawling around, licking each other, cat-like. Kim slapped her hands over her daughter’s eyes. The candy flew.

“Stop it, I can’t see. Let go.” Sophia tried to pry her mother’s hands loose. The camera panned up. Before her, the man stood naked, his penis fully erect. Kim gasped.

When they began to do what they did Kim was unable to look away, unable to move. When they began making noises, she was shaken from her paralysis. She didn’t have enough hands to cover the child’s ears too. She gathered their jackets and rushed her daughter out. Sophia cried, digging her heels into the bald carpet of the cinema floor. A bearded man in an aisle seat cringed at them. Outside, beneath sunlight, the girl’s neck was still craned toward the movie screen, fighting each step home. She didn’t want to leave her first ever outing to a movie. As they crossed the street, Kim heard a cat-call followed by a slow steady whistle. She thanked God, Buddha, and every Bodhisattva she could recall, that Bao hadn’t come too.