“Is this how you raise your daughter! Is this what you
teach her? Lessons to be a toy for American boys!” Papa spat
out the word
s.
The color rose in Mama’s face like a flame turned up on
the stove, and she spun toward me, her eyes flashing. “What
have you done?”
“Your daughter was in the arms of an American boy.”
Mama looked shocked. “When? H-how can this be?”
she stammered.
“Outside the school as I drove by, I found them at this.
Don’t you teach her anything?”
“Who let her stay after school? Who gives permission
for all these things? You are the one, Aibek. If you left it to
me, she would come home every day. She would not have
this permission!”
Reread lines 527–541, in which Maya’s parents are arguing about her. What does Maya’s reaction tell you about what she wants?
