a letter to jin from his white alter ego, danny
Jin,
I thought I had moved on from you. From what we are. That morning when I woke up, I felt liberated.
But now I don't feel liberated. I feel more trapped by our Asian heritage than ever before.
I thought becoming white, becoming the jock that leads the team would make me happy. And it does, for the first few months of the school year. But then Chin-Kee shows up. And everything comes flooding back to me, the names, the comments about eating dogs, Wei-Chen. I have to say, I do miss Wei-Chen. He was the only real friend that I (you?) have ever had. Everybody I befriend now likes me because I look right and I'm good at hoops, but
But Wei-Chen. I can't believe I called him a FOB. Now that I have to deal with Chin-Kee, I realize that Wei-Chen is about as normal as a guy could be. I was just too dense to see that, I couldn't see past his Asian face and hear past his words. And I've lost all of that. I've lost you, but now it's too late. I'm Danny now, and I have to embrace that. The new me, my new identity.
After all, that's what I always wanted, right? To be fit in? To get the girl?
I'd kill for some bubble tea right now, Jin. But I don't even know where to start.
If you're still there, somewhere, anywhere, all I have to say is stay golden, Jin.
Yourself,
Danny
I thought I had moved on from you. From what we are. That morning when I woke up, I felt liberated.
But now I don't feel liberated. I feel more trapped by our Asian heritage than ever before.
I thought becoming white, becoming the jock that leads the team would make me happy. And it does, for the first few months of the school year. But then Chin-Kee shows up. And everything comes flooding back to me, the names, the comments about eating dogs, Wei-Chen. I have to say, I do miss Wei-Chen. He was the only real friend that I (you?) have ever had. Everybody I befriend now likes me because I look right and I'm good at hoops, but
But Wei-Chen. I can't believe I called him a FOB. Now that I have to deal with Chin-Kee, I realize that Wei-Chen is about as normal as a guy could be. I was just too dense to see that, I couldn't see past his Asian face and hear past his words. And I've lost all of that. I've lost you, but now it's too late. I'm Danny now, and I have to embrace that. The new me, my new identity.
After all, that's what I always wanted, right? To be fit in? To get the girl?
I'd kill for some bubble tea right now, Jin. But I don't even know where to start.
If you're still there, somewhere, anywhere, all I have to say is stay golden, Jin.
Yourself,
Danny