We had no choice. It was either enter school through a metal detector and be molested by a school cop, or go to my place, get high, and watch The Jerry Springer Show.

You are a nineteen-year-old fool. Playing at manhood. You think yourself so clever. That you can be of both worlds and deceive everyone. You’re a Bloody American Boy who watched a child die on a dirty Delhi road. And now a second fright has made you piss, ever so slightly, your fine cotton pants. Welcome back to the Desh, you little bitch.

The oblong chunk of stone tied eightfold with rope sits beneath the seat. When she is ready, she will tie it around her waist. It will guide her to the bottom.

White men love Genie. They find her safely exotic.

It’s closing time, she’s the last visitor, and he’s locking up behind her. Does she want him to walk down to the caverns’ entrance? He wouldn’t want her getting lost.

Rosewood is a pay-by-the-week motel in a dingy stucco building with a parking lot that needs re-cementing. If Son goes home, he could be beaten again.