Summary

Part One, “Flights,” Chapter Six: New York City – Chapel Hill, 1994 – 95. When Deo moves in with Nancy and Charlie, he sleeps in a small room with a very small window; its nickname is the Black Hole, but for Deo it was “a room fit for the end of a journey of the body, but also for the continuation of a journey of the mind” (67). He quits his job and reluctantly becomes accustomed to accepting spending money from Charlie and Nancy, as well as learning more English from them. As he listens to them argue about the meaning of words, and reflects on how he still struggles to be heard and respected, he considers how “so many people … don’t listen to the content of what you say but only to the noises you make” (73). He continues to have trouble sleeping and with bad dreams, particularly...