Summary

Ten years pass and Deming grows heavier and taller. As his English improves and his Chinese worsened, Deming adjusts to his new identity as Daniel Wilkinson, so that Deming becomes just a “hairball tumor jammed deep in Deming’s gut” (96). Under the Manhattan Bridge, Daniel haggles for watermelon in Chinese, which makes him happy. He pulls out his phone and responds to Michael Chen’s text from several months ago.

As he cooks himself dinner, Daniel reflects on all the loans he has taken out to cover his gambling losses. Most importantly, he borrowed ten thousand dollars from Angel, who had been waitressing all summer in order to afford a teaching opportunity in Nepal; he has not been able to pay her back. He texts Angel, although she has not been answering his texts. Meanwhile, Michael writes back and they agree to meet at...