Scene--Vietnamese restaurant

An Asian woman and her baby eat dinner in a vinyl booth. The baby’s hairs stand on their ends and form an electrified black halo. In a few years the strands will lay flat and form a shiny sheath like her mother’s. Mom keeps a hand on the high chair at all times should the wriggling child slither to the cement floor. Sometimes she gives the baby rice and lettuce, more as a distraction than food. Tiny hands fling the scraps to the floor. With her free hand, she alternates between siphoning water into the child’s mouth with a straw and taking bites of her meal. Finally, she unsnaps the buckle and sits the baby on her lap. Mother and daughter coo at each other for a few minutes before she signals for the check.