The Leavers

Daniel takes the train to Beijing and goes to the conference that his mother is attending. She is speaking at a panel, and his first impression is of her looking businesslike and confident, which makes Daniel proud. He asks a question to her panel and meets her after. They walk out for lunch, talking about Fuzhou and New York. His mother skips the rest of the conference to spend time with him to reminisce. They talk about where she lives, and she mentions going to the lake “when the walls start to come” (287). Polly clarifies that she doesn’t like feeling caged in. She’s told Yong about him, which pleases Daniel. He tells her more about his adoptive parents, feeling that while he dreads talking to them, he also dreads having their relationship fall apart.

Polly takes Daniel to a cafe where she buys him cake and egg tarts. He realizes his mother resembles him and has been with him through the years due to how he resembles her, too. As they walk around Beijing, Daniel notices that his mother doesn’t like talking about the past. They stay the night at her hotel. That evening, Polly mentions not feeling deprived by their poverty in New York. Daniel confronts her about not calling him back. Polly responds that he told her not to call. Daniel tells her he was angry, and Polly agrees that he has a right to be angry. She broaches her post-traumatic stress and the fact that she can’t sleep with any lights on. She also reveals that she has frequent nightmares. Polly confesses that she was sent to a detention camp in Ardsleyville, Texas. Daniel asks her to tell him about it. Polly says she can’t discuss it, that “when [she] got out, they sent [her] to Fuzhou. [She] wasn’t [herself] anymore” (292).

Polly decides to give her account of the detainment. She starts when she and other immigrant women were picked up at the nail salon. Taken by surprise, she doesn’t have her bag and doesn’t know Leon’s number. She tries a few numbers and leaves a message. They put her on a flight and take her to a camp at Ardsleyville in Texas. The conditions of the camp are unhygienic and terrible: the places for eating are located near the toilet areas; the living spaces are cramped; and the lights are on at all hours. It is oppressively hot, and at times, there was no water. Polly’s skin breaks out in painful hives. What's worse for Polly is that throughout her stay, she knows that Deming must think she abandoned him.

Polly is shocked to learn that some of the women have been at the camp for months, even women who were born in the US. One woman talks about organizing a protest with some members of a church who have come to support the detainees, but another woman mentions that the last time that happened, the women were beaten and deported. Polly’s skin condition worsens due to her scratching. She and some other women try to write “help” on the ground for some helicopters to see, but the guards attack them. Polly is put in solitary confinement, only allowed to leave her cell three hours a week. Her stressful conditions lead her to dissociate and self-harm via hitting her head against the walls. They bandage Polly and eventually take her before a judge. She can’t understand the hearing and tries to speak for herself, but the judge uses Polly’s request for information to issue an order for deportation. Her detainment has lasted fourteen months.

She lands in Fuzhou days later, released with some money she uses to go to her village. Once there, she finds that Ms. Li, Haifeng’s mother, is living in her father’s house. Ms. Li gives Polly a small amount of money for the house and some clothes. Polly finds her debt paid when she calls the loan shark, but it’s little consolation since she lost touch her with her family and now has no idea how to track them down from China. She takes a job at a nail salon in Fuzhou.