The Joy Luck Club Page #6

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This is the most

important sacrifice...

a daughter can make

for her mother.

Mama, don't leave.

Mama, don't leave.

An-Mei, Mama's leaving.

Respect your uncle

and your aunties.

Remember, be obedient!

Don't forget your Mama.

If you take this child away...

she will become like you.

Never able to face anyone.

Never able to lift her head.

I lost her once before.

This time I took my chance

before it was too late.

- Ma! Ma!

- You are going to ruin her whole life!

Mom? Mom?

Let's go.

Jennifer,

give the soup to Mommy.

I'm afraid you'll spill it.

There you go.

Good girl.

Ted coming to dinner?

Why do you ask that?

Huh, you bought flour, egg...

bittersweet Hershey bar,

Skippy Chunky.

Good for only chocolate

peanut butter pie. Who else eat?

Well, i-it's not

a dinner exactly.

Just sort of a meeting

at the house tonight.

- Meeting?

- Yeah, well, we both thought it was time...

to settle all the property stuff.

- Both?

- Yeah, both. Absolutely.

What you going to ask for?

What are you talking about?

Talking about what you're worth.

That first afternoon

he introduced himself on campus...

he asked to borrow my notes.

I pretended

I didn't know who he was.

Um, this is so good.

It is.

People look at the newspaper,

and they see the articles--

I don't know why

I'm saying this.

I knew who you were

when you came up to me.

I-I've watched you for weeks,

like all the girls watch you...

and I was excited and flattered

when you came on to me.

So I baked you this pie

and, and we had dinner.

Only I don't know who you are.

I know who your family is

and what they do...

and suddenly I'm starting to wonder

whether I belong in this conversation.

I don't like feeling that way.

Well.

- Oh.

- I love you said that.

I didn't say it to impress you.

That's why it did.

His dad owned

a publishing empire.

His mom's family had wineries.

I'd never been around

people like this.

- Dad. Mom.

- Hi.

This is Rose Hsu,

my girlfriend.

The one word sent me

into total shock...

- from which, I'm afraid,

I've never quite recovered.

- How do you do?

- Hello. Hi.

- Hello.

Is this a private reverie

or can an old lady join you?

Sure.

You and Ted haven't known

each other long, have you?

- Actually, no.

- I've never heard him speak

of you until this morning.

But it's always a thrill for a mother

to hear that sort of excitement...

in her son's voice.

So I hope you

won't misunderstand...

what I have to say.

I want you to know, Rose, that

we're a very liberal family...

- I couldn't believe what she was telling me.

- and we know several very...

- charming Oriental people.

- It was straight out

of some awful racist movie...

- It's just that Ted

is going to be working...

- like The World of Suzie Wong.

with his father in the company,

and, uh, he's going to be...

judged by people

of a different standard:

publishers, authors,

critics and their wives.

And they won't be

as understanding as we are.

Mrs. Jordan, you sound as if

Ted and I are getting married.

That's hardly the case.

Oh, I know, dear, it's just that, well,

the way the world is.

How unpopular Vietnam was.

I'm not Vietnamese.

I'm American.

Of course you are.

It's just--

I understand you.

That's all I'm trying to say.

- Do you understand?

- Mom?

- Hello, darling.

We're having a wonderful visit.

- "Hello, darling"?

You know, you know,

I always knew you were a jerk.

But, sh*t, this is the first time

in my life I am ashamed of you.

How dare you

use that language.

I think you better

apologize right now.

I'm sorry, Mom, you made

a f***in' a**hole out of yourself...

in front of the woman I love.

We're outta here.

I wasn't sorry

what his mother did.

How else would I have known,

if he hadn't rescued me...

how wonderful he was?

That he loved me.

In six months,

we were married.

After the wedding,

the fears began to sink in...

take hold.-

Everything I had married into.

The pressure, the weight of it.

I promised myself

that I could handle it.

That nothing, nothing

could ever change me.

Or us.

Wayne, could you chop this up

into smaller slices?

Last time they were

way too big. Thanks.

Ah, also, could you dress

the deviled eggs...

- with tomatoes and watercress--

- At first, it was just

a bunch of little things...

loving things a wife would do behind

the scenes without him even knowing.

- You know, like paying

the household bills...

-Joe, last time these...

- deviled eggs were too salty.

- buying him special gifts

that showed my love.

That's still too salty.

The beautiful part was,

he never had to ask for any of this.

In fact, he never even knew.

I told myself that was

the selfless way, the loving way...

instead of the chicken sh*t way.

- I was offered a fellowship in fine arts...

- Hi.

- Oh, hi.

- to this school I admired in Idaho.

- Of course, that was out of the question.

- How are you?

The interesting part was,

I never asked the question...

not even of myself.

Sometimes I really don't

understand. I'm serious.

- He leaves his wife--

- He was running two of

his family's magazines now...

- and there were four or five

business affairs each week.

-...a 23-year-old girl.

-I was glad to help

and knew he appreciated it.

-It just doesn't make any sense.

I just don't understand

that at all. I don't--

I really don't. I mean,

if you can explain it to me.

- Because--

- Why does one cultivate their daughter?

I mean, they happen to

disagree with each other.

And, over time, I could see

that Ted was becoming bored.

We said less and less.

So I tried harder.

I got pregnant for the worst reason

imaginable, a last attempt to hang on.

Although, of course, I never thought of it

that way at the time.

The good news was,

he adored her.

Honey, should we eat

in or out tonight?

- You decide.

- Well, uh...

if we eat in,

I-I've got lamb chops.

Or I could call Ernie's

or Square One.

Whatever you want.

Really, it'll be great.

Okay. I didn't mean

to interrupt your work.

- I'll figure something out.

- You're not interrupting me.

Really, I meant what I said.

I want to hear what you want.

'Cause I could defrost a chicken

if the lamb chops are too heavy.

You've had a hard day.

I-I don't really care.

I-- I just want you to...

be happy.

Honey, what's wrong?

Did I say something wrong?

It's just that

once in a while...

I would like to hear

what you want.

- What do you mean?

- I mean, I'd like to hear your voice...

even if we disagree.

- You used to be different.

- Different?

- You used to have an opinion.

We used to argue.

- That's what you want?

- You want us to argue?

- I want you to be here.

Honey, I'm here.

I'm here for you. You just have to--

Just tell me what you want.

I told you,

I'll do the chicken.

Are you happy?

Of course I am.

What's her name?

Is she beautiful?

Look, I think that

we have to sell the house...

but anything that you want, any special

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