Ma

Introduced Ma, the narrator's mother, who experiences trauma, colors, and shows complex caregiving and abuse dynamics. Ma is presented as the narrator's mother, urging him to use English and caring for him in various domestic scenes. Ma (the narrator's mother) is frantic in the car, shouting warnings and urging escape, showing deteriorating mental state. Ma is referenced as the one who once said memory is a choice. Ma is referenced in narrator's internal dialogue about identity and safety. Narrator and Ma converse at a Dunkin' Donuts on a rainy Sunday; Ma reveals she decided to keep a son after a forced abortion and recounts her past dress and barn dance. Narrator addresses Ma with a reflection on a comma becoming a period. Ma reflects on addiction, industry profiteering, and fears of being caught, interprets graffiti "FAG4LIFE" as a twisted holiday, writes as an endangered species, and worries about being seized before she can act. Ma repeats the warning “You’re already Vietnamese” while observing the narrator in the garden.