Summary
The narrative resumes about a year later: Jung-Sum is now 13, and still proudly wears his fine coat. He has also continued his boxing training, and gotten stronger and more skilled. Once again, Jung-Sum is sent to collect rent money from Old Yuen (the father of Jung-Sum's friend Frank Yuen). It is urgent that the money be collected before Old Yuen can spend it on drinking or gambling.
Old Yuen has been notorious for his drinking, gambling, and bad luck since before his son was born. He also regularly beat his wife, Frank's mother. When Frank was five, his mother took him and fled from her abusive marriage. She lived with Frank in poverty, working a job cleaning a boarding house until she died, and then Frank went back to live with his father.
Frank grew up to be tough and self-reliant; he made sure his father had his needs met, but did not feel any affection or loyalty to the older man. By the time Jung-Sum is 13, Frank is in his early 20s and works at logging camps; he regularly comes back to the neighborhood to tell stories about his experiences, and many of the local boys, including Jung-Sum and his older brother Kiam, admire him. Part of why Jung-Sum is willing to go and collect rent money from Old Yuen is because he hopes to encounter Frank. Jung-Sum admires how tough and self-possessed Frank is, and feels a connection with Frank because they both have difficult family histories.
However, Frank is somewhat notorious in the Chinatown neighborhood because of his gambling, fighting, and rough living. The family is wary of Kiam being influenced by Frank, and makes sure that he does not spend too much time with him. However, because Jung-Sum is almost a decade younger than Frank, no one thinks to check on whether the two spend time together. Frank is an avid and skilled boxer, and he and Jung-Sum sometimes spar together in the assembly hall. One day, when Jung-Sum has come to collect rent, Frank encourages Jung-Sum to fight him, even though Jung-Sum feels uneasy because Frank has been drinking. Frank repeatedly taunts Jung-Sum, and also shows him a large knife that he keeps with him at all times. Jung-Sum is startled because while he enjoys boxing and sparring, he has never engaged in actual violence.
Frank continues to taunt Jung-Sum, and hits him repeatedly, even though Jung-Sum complains the fight is not fair. Eventually, Jung-Sum has a flashback to his childhood experience of being abused by his father, and lashes out: he gets ahold of Frank's knife, and slashes at him, narrowly missing Frank's throat and cutting his shirt instead. Then Jung-Sum collapses. Frank realizes how distressed and traumatized the younger boy is, and cradles and comforts him. Eventually, Frank gets up, and Jung-Sum realizes he is experiencing physical attraction to the other man. The two of them part on friendly terms, with Frank now more impressed by, and affectionate towards, Jung-Sum. After the fight, Frank often calls Jung-Sum by affectionate nicknames.
A short time after this encounter, Frank decides to move to Seattle and enlist in the U.S. Marines. Even though he is younger than most of Frank's friends, Jung-Sum is allowed to go to Frank's going away party, along with Kiam and other older boys from the neighborhood. Frank is drunk, and talks proudly about Jung-Sum, and even gives him an expensive watch that Old Yuen had gifted to him. Jung-Sum again experiences physical desire for Frank, and becomes unsettled. Max, his boxing coach, notices, and calms Jung-Sum down, accompanying him when Jung-Sum leaves the party while the older teens and adults go out dancing.
Jung-Sum goes home, and shows the gold watch to his family, who all admire it. Grandmother takes out her prized jade amulets, and shows them to Jung-Sum, Jook-Liang, and Sek-Lung. There are stories associated with each piece; Grandmother's most beloved amulet is an intricately carved jade peony. Eventually, Father becomes irritated, and tells Grandmother that the children have to live in a more modern and Western world, and assimilate into it. Kiam is already imagining a future in which he will enlist as a Canadian soldier, and choose an English name for himself. However, Grandmother ignores them, and focuses her attention on Sek-Lung. She tells him that he can one day inherit some of her jade ornaments.
Analysis
Frank Yuen is introduced in the first section of Jung-Sum's narrative, but features more prominently in the second half. The two boys share traumatic childhoods, but have processed them differently. Jung-Sum was fortunate to have been adopted into a loving family and close-knit community, whereas Frank has remained an outsider, and has had to become very self-reliant as a result. Frank is tough and independent, which Jung-Sum finds inspiring.
Jung-Sum is very interested in becoming strong, confident, and able to protect himself, which is part of what draws him to boxing. It is also possible that Jung-Sum wants to explicitly assert his masculinity after hearing Grandmother talk about sensing a more feminine energy in him. The boxing gym also functions as another space wherein a more equitable vision of diversity and difference can be held up: it doesn't seem to matter if the young Chinese boys want to train, and Jung-Sum forms a particularly strong bond with a Black man, Max. While racial difference and tensions are an important feature of the novel, Choy also portrays episodes where characters bond and work together regardless of their racial background.
Because Frank is significantly older than Jung-Sum, he can also function as a kind of surrogate older brother or even father. Jung-Sum has those figures from within his own family, but he also senses solidarity with Frank, who has experienced things that others cannot relate to. Frank is another friend or companion figure who helps Jung-Sum to expand his identity and experiences outside of his own family. Frank is a more complex character than Wong Suk: he is an outsider to the community; he prioritizes his individual goals over the collective; he drinks, gambles, and has a predilection for violence. Part of why Jung-Sum is so enamored with Frank is because of Frank's slightly dangerous, volatile, and charismatic nature. Frank is also significantly older than Jung-Sum, and at a different life stage so the friendship is decidedly not a friendship between equals.
When Frank and Jung-Sum have their violent struggle, it is somewhat alarming that Frank provokes and even playfully bullies the much younger and smaller boy. The moment becomes pivotal, however, because Jung-Sum defies Frank's expectations and reacts much more fiercely. Jung-Sum grabbing the knife from Frank escalates the fight, and could potentially have led to fatal consequences. However, Jung-Sum's aggression almost immediately triggers traumatic memories that he has repressed, showing that even though he does not dwell on his past, he has still been scarred by it. In a novel where characters often do not show much emotion about past losses, Jung-Sum's emotional breakdown reflects how deep this pain runs. His response also immediately alters the dynamic between the two boys, and allows Frank to show a tender and nurturing side that juxtaposes with the rest of his character.
While the tender moment between the two might be platonic for Frank, it also represents one of the first moments when Jung-Sum experiences and recognizes sexual desire. The first experience of sexuality is often a key aspect of growing up, and of the three narrators, Jung-Sum is the only one shown experiencing a sexual awakening. This moment leaves him somewhat confused and vulnerable, because he feels unsure about what to do with his attraction to another boy. It is not clear whether Frank is likewise attracted to Jung-Sum, or simply oblivious to everything that is going on. Because he is much older, Frank may see Jung-Sum as simply a kid, and he therefore is careless with his shows of affection. Frank's departure for San Francisco continues the narrative pattern of children forming intense bonds, and then losing the individual they have bonded with. After he leaves, Frank is never mentioned again in the novel, and given that he is going away to enlist, there is the foreboding possibility that he might be killed. The moment of their separation is a pivotal loss for Jung-Sum, but there are also hints that it marks the beginning of him forming a new sort of community. Max seems aware of what is going on for Jung-Sum, and shows compassion for the young boy, hinting that he might also not be heterosexual. Jung-Sum experiences some harsh aspects of isolation, but also finds unique kinds of compassion and community from those who can see him for who he truly is.
