American Girl (California)

Li Xiu pressed her back against the wall. She tried to make herself invisible in the crowded room. The room was small; women and girls pressed against each other. Li Xiu could barely breathe. Sweat beaded on her brow, and she felt she might suffocate.

Li Xiu never knew a happy life. The youngest child of a rice farmer, she lived in a tiny hovel with her father, mother, and two older brothers. Her father wanted another son, but she was born an unworthy girl.

At mealtimes, her father and brothers ate first. They gobbled their meal, stuffing their faces with pork and rice. Li Xiu ate what was left over, tiny portions unfit for nourishment. When she was four years old, her mother broke all her toes except the large ones. They were bound tightly in cloth in the Chinese tradition. She lived under excruciating pain. If she cried, her mother chastised her and ordered her to stop. From then on, she wore lotus shoes and hobbled around with tiny footsteps.

Li Xiu did her chores silently and stayed out of the way. Her father never spoke to her, and her mother remained too busy to notice. One day, she discovered her father talking to a tall, thin man outside their hovel. When he beckoned toward her, she was unsure if he wanted her. Li Xiu hesitated until her father waved at her urgently.
"Yes, Honorable Father," Li Xiu stated, bowing her head.
"This is Wu Deng," he introduced. "You will pack your belongings into a small knapsack and go with Wu Deng."
Li Xiu eyed the man. He had an ugly, mean face with snarling lips. His heavy black brows looked like exclamation points above his slanted, black eyes. She stepped back involuntarily, but her father grasped her arm.
"Go, now." Her father thrust her away.
Li Xiu bowed her head and backed away. Wu Deng gave her father a wad of money. It looked like a lot more money than she had ever seen. When she hesitated, her father shooed her away. He made urgent guttural sounds in his throat. She knew she had to obey.
Her mother barely looked at her when Li Xiu entered the hovel. She knew her mother wouldn't help her. Li Xiu found a small knapsack and filled it. She didn't have many possessions—a change of clothes and a hairbrush.

Wu Deng took her away from her family. She followed behind him on the path until they reached a larger village. More girls joined them, and they walked on. Finally, they reached Shanghai. There, they boarded a large ship. The girls packed into the hold like sardines. They were considered cargo, not humans.
Word spread that they headed to San Francisco. The girls chattered among themselves. Some were excited; others, like Li Xiu, were terrified.
Li Xiu crouched in the hold, which smelled of human sweat and excrement. It seemed forever since she saw daylight and breathed clean air. The journey continued through calm and rough seas. Finally, it stopped, but the girls languished in the hold.
Wu Deng came into the hold and ordered the cargo out. They clustered together on deck and filed down the gangplank. He walked them along narrow, cluttered streets into Chinatown. The tall, wooden buildings loomed around Li Xiu. The tiny shops looked airless and cramped. As miserable as her life was in China, she wanted to go back.

Slowly, Li Xiu realized the significance of the crowded room. Men walked among the girls, looking them over carefully. Their captors led them into small cubicles, where they removed their clothes, washed their hair, and cleansed their bodies. Wrapped in silk kimonos, they painted their faces white, their lips ruby red, and styled their hair with feathers and baubles. Suddenly, Li Xiu became a prostitute in a Chinatown brothel. Her heart sank.
"Why did you do this to me, Father?" she moaned, looking at her transformed self in a large mirror. "Because I am an unworthy girl," she answered herself.

The brothel's main room was luxurious. Red couches lined the walls, and golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Women mingled among the male customers, serving drinks and dim sum. The more experienced prostitutes hung on the men, pressing their bodies tightly against them. Li Xiu noticed they disappeared upstairs and into small cubicles. She tried to hide herself behind the curtains to become unnoticeable.
"Mingle," one of the older prostitutes hissed at her. She grabbed Li Xiu's arm and flung her into the room's center.
Li Xiu stumbled into a large Caucasian man. He turned and leered at her. Before she could scurry away, he grabbed her arm. He spoke in English, but she shook her head. She couldn't understand the language.
"I know a language you will understand," he growled maliciously. Dragging her upstairs, he threw open a cubicle door and hurled her onto the bed. Li Xiu tried to scramble away, but the heavy man was on top of her.
Li Xiu curled on the mattress and sobbed when it was over. Her tears ruined her makeup. Mascara streaked her cheeks. The man stood above her, laughing.
"First time, huh?" He plunged onto her again, repeating his heinous act.

Li Xiu endured the same rough abuse night after night. Different men used her, but they all looked and felt the same after a while. She felt ashamed. Her thighs and her belly ached; her heart broke.
Li Xiu wasn't a virgin any longer. She pictured herself coming to her husband with her innocence intact in her childhood dreams. Her mother would call in the matchmaker who would find her the perfect young man. She imagined him tall and handsome with sparkling brown eyes and straight black hair. She felt spoiled and soiled after working in the bordello for a month. If she was unworthy before, she was doubly so now.

How could she escape? Li Xiu wondered. Large men with sabers guarded the doors. The women slept in a dormitory during the day; they worked at night. They would track and bring her back even if she could crawl away. Other girls had tried it. They were returned and punished. No one experienced physical abuse; their torture was psychological. Still, Li Xiu longed to get away.
Li Xiu clutched her hands into fists and pushed her emotions aside. She worked mechanically without looking at faces. The men who used her were big and rough Caucasians. Sweat covered their bodies, emitting foul odors. Their grins revealed crooked teeth, and most had foul breath. Li Xiu closed her mind to them, letting them use her body. Afterward, she felt her shame and humiliation.

The years would pass, and Li Xiu would remain a sexually enslaved person. She tried to peer into the future and see herself after a decade of abuse. Sooner or later, her life would mean nothing to her. She would become like the more experienced women, perhaps liking the prostitution she was forced to endure.
No, she knew she could not bear it. Day after day, she lay on her pallet, sobbing quietly. Escape became uppermost in her mind. Perhaps she could sneak away. Li Xiu watched the doors, seeking an opportunity. The guards occasionally moved aside; sometimes, they conversed with other prostitutes. If she could catch an unguarded moment, she determined to slip away. She didn't know how far she would get. They would hunt her down, bring her back. Nevertheless, Li Xiu felt it was worth trying.

Two men entered the bordello together one night. Li Xiu watched them with interested eyes. They did not look like the others who frequented the place. They wore neatly combed hair and clean-shaven faces. They walked among the women, eyeing them carefully. Finally, they approached Li Xiu. Indicating they wished to go into a cubicle, she led the way. Instead of forcing her into a sex act, they studied her closely.
"How did you get here?" the first one asked in Chinese.
Li Xiu looked at him suspiciously. No one tried to converse with her. No one spoke her language. She backed away, her thighs connecting with the mattress.
"We're here to help you," the second man stated, stretching his hand toward her. "I am Joseph Milner, and this is Thomas Ward. We're missionaries."
Li Xiu knew the word. She recalled British missionaries who arrived at her village in China. They brought food and supplies and also taught them about Jesus. She knew missionaries were good people and very kind, but how could they help her now?
"You help me?" Li Xiu asked, pointing to her chest. "How?"
"We have ways," Joseph assured her.
"We will come again in two days," Thomas stated, smiling gently. "We will have a disguise for you. You will come with us and leave this place."
"Come with you, where?" Li Xiu asked nervously.
"There is nothing to fear." Thomas widened his smile. "We do this frequently and successfully. We will take you away from here and take you to Utah."
"Where is this Utah?" Li Xiu gnawed her lower lips.
"Far over the mountains." Joseph pointed vaguely toward the East. "It is where we live, where our community lies. It is a safe place. We have taken other Chinese girls from here to Utah. When you are ready, we will find you a good place to settle and work, or you might wish to marry. Or perhaps you will join us and stay. Other Chinese girls have stayed."
Li Xiu thought hard. She focused her eyes on the door, expecting the guards to burst in on them. She wanted to escape desperately. The missionaries offered her salvation. She nodded her head, then bowed submissively.
"In two days," Joseph assured her. "Make sure you're ready."
Li Xiu nodded again. Thomas reached for the door, and then the missionaries disappeared.

The two days seemed an eternity. Li Xiu suffered another night of degrading humiliation. She waited anxiously, glancing toward the door at the appointed hour. That hour slipped past without a sign of Joseph or Thomas. Her heart sank. She thought she would never see the missionaries again.
Finally, they appeared with a younger man, no more than a boy. Li Xiu watched them mingle amongst the prostitutes. They seemed to study them, trying to pick one out. After an eternity, they picked Li Xiu. The trio followed her into a cubicle.
The younger man began peeling off his clothes. Li Xiu shrank back. He wasn't there to rescue her; he was there to abuse her. She felt betrayed until she realized he wore other clothes beneath the ones he took off.
"Change into these clothes," Thomas told her, handing her the garments. Li Xiu turned her back modestly and began to change. She tucked her hair into a cap and looked at the missionaries anxiously.
"Michael will stay here while Joseph and I take you away," Thomas instructed in Chinese. "You will walk with us like you saw Michael walk when we came in. He will leave after another twenty minutes, looking extremely satisfied. Understand?"
"Yes," Li Xiu agreed.

The trio left the bordello, leaving Michael behind. They walked casually along the streets of Chinatown. No one paid attention to them. Finally, they entered a hotel. In their room, a smiling woman greeted Li Xiu.
"I am Milly Ward, Thomas's wife," the woman introduced herself in Chinese. Joseph is my brother. We are going to help you."
Milly took Li Xiu's hand and led her to the bathroom. A huge claw-foot tub awaited her. Li Xiu soaked in it for over an hour. The cleansing helped her feel better, but she thought she would never clean away the filth she experienced. When she stepped out of the soothing water, Milly handed her a bathrobe and brushed her hair.
"You are beautiful, Li Xiu," Milly remarked, braiding her hair and coiling it into a bun. "You have a bright future ahead of you."
"Thank you," Li Xiu answered. "Do you help many girls escape the bordello?"
"As many as we can," Milly sighed. “Sometimes, it isn't easy. We have to time it correctly so no one notices. Michael returned twenty minutes ago. No one noticed the switch. It was a jam-packed night. These are the nights we like best."

The group left San Francisco early the following morning. The missionaries wanted to get Li Xiu out of California quickly. She settled into the Ward home and attended the temple with them. Thankful for Joseph and Thomas's dedication to helping her escape, she accepted their manner of worship. When choosing her future, Li Xiu joined the Latter Day Saints and remained in Salt Lake City.