Summary

Saeed writes: "You never forget your first 'faggot'" (39). Even though Saeed hasn't seen Cody in years, he dreams of him and the slur he shouted. He fantasizes about the men in his life including a local construction worker and his track coach. He writes poems from the perspectives of women in Ancient Greek stories "about the distance between their bodies and the bodies of their beloved" (41).

In 2002, students at Saeed's high school perform excerpts from the play The Laramie Project, which is about the death of Matthew Sheppard who was killed in a homophobic hate crime. Saeed reflects on the reality that being black and being gay can both get you killed. At home, Carol discovers that Saeed has been talking to older men in a gay chatroom, pretending to be eighteen. Carol understands that her son has feelings and questions but is...