Summary

As she leaves the barracks, Makina is rounded up by a policeman along with a dozen men who look “homegrown” (97). The policeman is advising the men to “fall in”: “Fall in and ask permission. Civilized, that’s the way we do things around here!” (97).

The policeman snatches a book of poetry from one of the men. Ripping out one of the pages, he demands that the man write what he has done wrong. When the man is too nervous to write, Makina grabs the pencil and paper and begins to write. The policemen reads her words aloud. The letter ends: “We who are happy to die for you, what else could we do? We, the ones who are waiting for who knows what. We the dark, the short, the greasy, the shifty, the fat, the anemic. We the...