Summary

Chapter 1. Joe’s frustration with the lack of contact with his friend and former boss, U.S. President Barack Obama (to whom Joe refers to as Barack), is aggravated by seeing news footage of the former president on vacation, even though Joe acknowledges that Barack has earned his time off, having survived “eight long years as the first black US president” (11). An unusual light from outside leads him to take his revolver and his dog out to investigate, past an outdoor motion sensor that seems broken - “old bulbs,” he comments in narration, “were meant to burn out” (13). In the nearby woods, Joe encounters a Secret Service man who, along with the dog and a familiar smell of cigarette smoke, leads him into the woods, where he encounters Barack waiting for him.

Chapter 2 – After a bit of banter, Barack reveals the reason for...