Summary

In “Temporary Dwellers,” the narrator falls in love with the girl who comes to live with her and her mother. Although the girl could be “the daughter [her] mother abandoned at birth,” the narrator keeps thinking about her when she touches herself (53). Her body is terrifying to her, but she keeps waking up “with [her] hands in [her] underwear” (53).

The girl is the narrator’s mother’s “latest charity case” (54). A “former Kaua’i resident,” the girl was “fleeing the bombs” (54). Although the girl is impolite, “she isn’t all bad” (54). The narrator appreciates that she has never asked why she does not have a boyfriend like their peers.

When the narrator asks her mother about the bombing and hosting “the island’s former residents,” her mother suggests the bombing will never end (54).

The narrator invites the girl to a party...