Sparrow shook her head and suddenly felt a rush of embarrassment as the man stuck his head into the room behind her. Mama jumped to her feet and held Pheasant tightly.
“Who are you?” Mama asked defensively. “What do you want?”
“Nothing,” the man said, “other than to see the girl home safely. She had a bought of illness in the street. You should probably send for a doctor.”
Mama hmphed. “What’s it to you?”
“It is strange, but the girl told me something that I can’t help but believe,” the man said.
“And what was that?” Mama asked.
“Just something of a personal nature,” he said. “But, tell me, is your daughter a fortune teller? Does she see signs and visions?”
Mama laughed. “What nonsense is this? Sparrow, what have you been telling this man?”
“Nothing,” Sparrow said weakly as she sat down on the quilt in the middle of the floor.
“Never mind,” the man said. “My duty is done. Have a good day.”
The man pulled the door shut, and Sparrow laid down on the blanket. She only wanted to sleep. But Mama walked over and grabbed Sparrow by the ear after handing Pheasant to Dove.
“What did you do?” she asked. “Did you please him? Did he give you money?”
“No,” Sparrow said. “I tried to steal from him, but when I touched his watch, I passed out and had a weird dream. I saw him with the flower girl who gave him the watch, but she had stolen it from another man. A rich man. An important man—”
Sparrow cried out as Mama slapped her across the face. “What are you blabbering about?”
“I…I don’t know, Mama,” Sparrow said, clutching her cheek. “I’m scared. I think this happened before. I saw a foreigner in a temple. He killed everyone! He killed me!” Sparrow burst into tears, holding her face in her hands. What was happening?
“Get out!” Mama screamed, grabbing Sparrow by the arm and pushing her through the door of their room into the narrow alley of the hutong. “Get out of here now!”
“Wait!” Sparrow said. “Mama!”
“There’s a demon in you!” Mama said. Sparrow tried to push her way back into the house, but Mama blocked her way.
“Let me in!” Sparrow said. “Mama, I’m sorry!”
“I can’t take care of a sick child!” Mama said. “And there are enough bad spirits in this place without you bringing in more devils!”
“I’m not sick,” Sparrow said. “I’m fine. Please let me back in.”
“No!” Mama said. “Get out of here. Don’t come back until you have some money with you and you are healed.”
Mama leaned against the door from the inside, but Sparrow continued to bang on the door as she cried and cried, begging to be let back in. But Mama didn’t budge. Neighbors looked out of their doors and shook their heads, not daring to get involved.
Sparrow’s face was drenched with tears and her voice was raw from yelling, but she couldn’t let herself be cast out into the cold and dark of night. It was too dangerous. If she didn’t freeze to death, a bad uncle would hurt her.
She knew she didn’t have a demon in her…at least, she didn’t think so. She didn’t feel any different. But she couldn’t explain what was causing the strange dreams. There was no way she could convince her mother she didn’t have a demon, but she knew that her mother would accept her if she came back home with enough money. But the day was growing late. She didn’t know if she would have time to earn enough money for her mother to accept her back.
There was only one other thing she could do.
Sparrow ran from the house and through the hutong to the little crawlspace between the two buildings that no one else knew about. She counted the bricks and pulled out the one that was loose. She gathered up all her precious coins, including the silver one she had added only three days before. She didn’t bother replacing the loose brick since she left nothing of value behind. She ran back home and knocked on the door.
“Mama,” she said plaintively. “I have money. Please let me in.”
“How would you get money so quickly?” Mama called back without opening the door.
Sparrow hesitated because she knew Mama would be angry. “I…I saved it. I had it hidden in a safe place.” She then jingled the coins so Mama could hear them and know she wasn’t lying.
The door creaked open slightly. Sparrow opened her hands and showed Mama all the money she had in the world. Mama threw the door open and grabbed Sparrow by the collar, dragging her back inside. She took the money from Sparrow and began to count it. Dove sat in a corner, hugging the baby close, but her cheeks were wet with tears.
“Where did you get this?” Mama asked.
“I saved it,” Sparrow explained again. “Whenever I earned money, I kept one coin back. I was afraid something terrible would happen. You would get sick or Dove would get hurt and we wouldn’t have money for a doctor. Or we would be hungry and have no money for food. I saved it so we would have it for later.”
Mama finished counting the money. Then she counted it again. Then she slammed the money down on the only small, rough-hewn table in the room.
“You had all this money all this time?” she shrieked.
Sparrow shook her head. “It…it took a long time. Just one coin here or there.”
“You were stealing from us?” Mama continued to yell. “From me? From your sister’s mouths? You ungrateful, wicked brat!” Mama grabbed Sparrow by the ear and shook her so hard Sparrow thought it would rip from her head.
“Mama! Stop!” she cried, grabbing Mama’s arm. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“Do you know what this could have meant for us?” Mama continued to rail, tossing Sparrow to the ground and slapping her head, her back, her arms.
“I’m sorry!” was all Sparrow could say.
“All the sacrifices! All the times I had to give myself—” She screamed and then hit Sparrow one last time on the back of the head before the strength seemed to go out of her.
Sparrow stayed on the floor, huddled into a ball, afraid to raise her head lest she ignite Mama’s wrath again.
Mama panted and slumped onto the stool. She then noticed that Pheasant was crying, and had been for some time. She took Pheasant from Dove and shushed the baby, rocking her. She then pulled Dove to her and three of them wept together. But Sparrow stayed in her place on the floor.
Sparrow finally lowered her arm from her face and looked up at Mama. But Mama wasn’t looking at her, she was looking down at Pheasant as she gave her a breast to suckle. Sparrow sat up and scooted across the floor, propping herself up against the far wall. Her whole body hurt. She could feel bruises and welts forming in every place Mama had hit her. But she would not dare complain or even whimper.
“I’ll never forgive you for this,” Mama finally said so softly, Sparrow as not sure she heard her correctly. “I’ll not have a thief under my roof, nor a sick child.”
“I’m not sick,” Sparrow said with as much conviction as she could muster.
Mama shook her head as she cradled the baby. Sparrow knew that Mama didn’t believe her. And in truth, Sparrow didn’t know if she was sick or not.