Part 8, Chapters 31 through 35 Summary

"Wasteful Delay"

As he enjoys his time with Gloria, Pao wonders how his life might have been different if he had married her rather than Fay (see "Quotes," p. 210). When he returns home, he learns that the two constables who arrested Xiuquan and helped Fay with the kidnapping have been drummed out of the force for drug dealing and want jobs with him. He refuses, saying they're untrustworthy and doesn't want to get involved with drugs. He realizes, however, that there is a great deal of money to be made in the drug trade, particularly since the rest of the economy is unstable and becoming more so as the result of escalating political and social unrest. Pao writes to Mui, now close to becoming a lawyer, that Jamaica is not the country she believes it to be, and urges...