Character Analysis
As a single mother, Y.T.'s mom works all the time. This is largely because she works for the Feds, since "she always wanted to give something back to her country" (37.2). However, this comes with lots of additional garbage to put up with: constant frisking and surveillance, weekly (or more frequent) polygraph testing, and the expectation that you bring your work home with you, because it's what a loyal American citizen does.
It seems like she and Y.T. don't talk about anything of substance; she knows Y.T. has a job, but she's horrified when Y.T. shows up at home actually wearing her skateboarding gear, because of how risky it is out there. According to Y.T., her mom could use a little bit of change: "'After Dad left, she just folded up into herself like an origami bird thrown into a fire'" (43.22). In other words, her mom's pretty checked out.
When Y.T. breaks her mom's computer screen, saying she'll catch a virus from it, Y.T.'s mom's boss hauls her in for mandatory questioning. They're interested in "whether she believes Y.T.'s virus story" (38.37), and they'll fill her with as many disorienting drugs and interrogate her for as long as it takes to get some answers.
We don't know exactly how the rest of the interrogation goes, but Y.T.'s mom is okay in the end, because she's available to pick up Y.T. from the airport after the whole shebang goes down. We hope this means they patch up their non-communicative relationship.