The Leavers

It has been five years since Polly sent Deming to live with her father. Now Polly has gotten used to New York, although English still presents difficulties for her. She still has to work grueling hours to pay off her debt and send money to her father. She calls China one night and learns her father has passed away. Distressed, she sends for Deming through a cousin, but before he arrives, she feels doubts over motherhood. She has just met Leon and wonders whether the relationship will continue when he finds out. Leon wants to meet Deming and the relationship deepens. With Deming, Polly overcomes the initial distance between them, even though she remains uncertain about motherhood, thinking: “Perhaps there was something wrong with me that I didn’t have infinite patience for children’s games” (186). Polly worries that “[Deming’s] faults reflected a deficiency in [her]” (197).

Polly remains with Leon, even though she recognizes that he can’t offer her a secure life. He and Deming get along, and “who else—beside [him]—had made [her] feel wanted, singular, different” (188). Polly and Deming move in with Vivian, Michael, and Leon to the Bronx from Chinatown. Polly offsets their rent by taking more hours at her nail salon and feels unsure of her future with Leon, “being without papers for the rest of [her life]” unable to drive or leave the country, stuck in “the worst jobs” (191). Working at the salon doesn’t cover Polly’s bills, and she yearns for a different life. Watching Deming with Leon, she wonders: “Maybe it wasn’t about moving to new places, but about the challenge of staying put” (196). Polly tries to advance in the salon hoping she’ll be made manager. Meanwhile, Leon’s back pain is affecting his job. Regardless of the financial insecurity, he asks Polly to marry him, and Polly can’t refuse. To celebrate, she and Leon go to Atlantic City, where Leon gambles Polly’s money away.

Back at home, her hours at the salon are capped. She hears that there might be a waitressing job available in Florida. She floats the idea to Deming, who refuses. Polly tells Leon, and he also objects. When Polly insists, to her anger and disappointment, he tells her a woman should sacrifice herself for her son. Nevertheless, she says she will stay. The next day, Leon concedes that he will think about it. Polly is at the nail salon when US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers come in and round up the women.

In Fuzhou, back in the present day, Polly is listening to Yong practice a speech for an awards dinner when she receives a call from Deming. She hasn’t returned his first phone call, and it has been five weeks. Despite feeling scared and anxious about Deming being angry, she still wants to speak to her son. She tells her husband it’s a business call so that she can have privacy. They have the same conversation that Deming had with her when he first reaches her. Polly knew that Deming was adopted, but now she imagines his American mother being a woman with no misgivings about motherhood. The next day, Polly leaves Deming a message and muses on how “Deming” is Daniel’s real name. Looking out to Fuzhou, Polly sees it has changed. That “that nothing stayed the same for too long, that each day was a new opportunity for reinvention” (224) gives her comfort.

They talk again on the phone, and Deming tells her he is angry. Polly wants to explain but doesn’t want to talk about something that happened in Ardsleyville. Only Leon knows, and Polly still carries traumatic memories. She emphasizes she never meant to leave. After she hangs up, she accompanies Yong to his awards dinner for business leaders. The wealthy businessmen reciting platitudes about growing up in poverty irritate Polly, but as she interacts with the other wives, Polly feels confident in her city accent and comforted by Yong’s need for her support. At the home of a business associate, she thinks of Deming and feels guilty, which leads her to argue with her hosts about migrant workers.

Later that night, Yong asks her about Deming’s call. Polly lies to him, telling him that Deming is a client, but Yong sees her acting strange. Polly mentions wanting to go to Hong Kong. She thinks of how Yong left on a business trip, leaving her to feel alone and haunted by memories of Deming. She confesses the truth about Deming to Yong. She thought he would leave her, but he offers her comfort instead.