Leaving It All Behind — page 5

After her first day at the restaurant, Mo and I parted ways. A week later, I returned to watch her on the job. It was grueling work—darting through a sea of dim-sum carts to pour tea at tables for up to 11 hours a day, seven days a week. Her feet were sore from standing in the flimsy cloth shoes she had to wear with her uniform; her wrists ached from carrying heavy trays. The older waitresses didn't talk to her except to order her around. She was tired, but it wasn't serious, she said.

As the weeks wore on, her stamina grew but her enthusiasm dimmed. When I called to check up on her, she said she was too worn out to make use of her English books or to see Shenzhen's sights. After a solid month of work, she still hadn't received a cent of her salary. On her first day off she went to an amusement park and looked in through the gates; she couldn't afford an admission ticket. She'd decided she wanted to work elsewhere, or just head back to Yangshuo. But, to prevent her leaving, her boss wouldn't pay her and refused to refund the 260-yuan deposit she'd paid him for her uniform. She had no contract. She was trapped.

	Her bill for the day came to $5. It was the most money Mo had ever spent

Just before the end of her second month, we met again. I was shocked at how different Mo looked. Her smile was just as broad, but the ruddiness in her cheeks had gone. She was so pale that her skin had an almost greenish cast. She was now on the night shift, walking the empty streets with a friend after she finished work at the restaurant at 2:30 a.m., then sleeping during the day. But she had a new plan. Her boss—who still had yet to pay her salary—told her he wasn't letting her quit because she was a hard worker. Flattered, Mo reckoned she could take it a little longer until he found someone to replace her. With her usual optimism, she assured me the money would come eventually and that for now she was fine without it. As soon as she was paid, she'd decided, she would head home.

"I've figured it out," she told me exuberantly over a Coke. "I'll go back to Yangshuo and work two jobs. At night I'll waitress at a café and practice speaking English with the customers, and during the day I'll try to find people to let me be their tour guide." The money, she admitted, might not be as good but at least she would be near her family. She could always return to Shenzhen if she changed her mind, knowing now that she could make it on her own. "Shenzhen was fine," she said, "but home will be better."

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Aug. 18, 2004	Aug. 19, 2003	Aug. 20, 2003