Parachutes: Chapters 12–37

She gazes out at the strip mall plaza, and I tell her about the confrontation I’ve just had with Heather.

Together with the $2,000 for the mattress, it’s more cash than my mom and I have ever seen. Still, it does little to assuage the fact that they threw out my dad’s mattress without even asking.

My mom works so hard during the week, cleaning an endless succession of houses and offices, that I hardly ever get to see her.

Rosa has her working the VIPs, houses up in the North Hills that are willing to pay extra for discretion...

At half past eleven, when my mom gets home from church, Claire saunters into the living room in her silk robe, yawning.

The condescension in her voice makes me look down.

I don’t know what it is with him, he has an uncanny ability to get things out of me.

Just like it’s not a sure thing that that tycoon kid Jay paying for my waters meant anything.

He waves his fork in the air as he ruminates.

He looks at me and ventures a guess.

Because none of my teammates are around to rebut my statements, he personally debates against me.

“My pleasure,” he says, reaching over and gripping my hand in his, a firm, unwavering hold that conveys the full extent of his confidence in me, and I’m both thrilled and enraptured.

“My pleasure,” he says, reaching over and gripping my hand in his, a firm, unwavering hold that conveys the full extent of his confidence in me, and I’m both thrilled and enraptured.

Or maybe they’ll stay and I can reap the rewards of “having a following,” which Jess says is just as important for one’s future in the US as getting into better English classes.

My voice builds and builds, in a palpable crescendo, as I deliver my speech in front of Heather and my other teammates.

My voice builds and builds, in a palpable crescendo, as I deliver my speech in front of Heather and my other teammates.

“I believe in the power of one person to change the world, no matter who they are or where they come from. I believe in social justice, in education as a vehicle for social mobility. In standing up for the truth. Truth is what’s going to prevail over money, over greed, over nepotism and legacy and cheating.”

“No, no, no. That was abysmal,” he says. “It almost sounds like you’re reading from the back of a cereal box.”

I can’t believe he just said that, almost like he’s jealous. It’s so patronizing. At the same time, all I can think about is the way he’s looking at me, the sag of his shoulders as he shakes his head, like he’d picked the wrong racehorse.

And now I’m meeting people and going through all these little trials and tribulations before finally proving myself.

I dive into the water, searching for solace.

But the cynical part of me thinks all men are scum...

He wets her face with the rag while his mom mumbles incoherently.

“You know how much rehab costs?” he balks at the suggestion. “We don’t have the kind of money for that.”

I get out of the car and follow Mr. Connelly into the swanky hotel.

Then remembers he needs to give me spending cash. He takes his wallet back out and counts $2,000, and I’m sitting there mortified—the whole restaurant’s looking at us.

I start the email calmly and cordially, like Ming suggested, trying to hold back.

Jess pretends to swoon onto the hood of her Porsche.

“This implies that English is the best language for our future,” Dani says. “That is unsubstantiated and one can even argue that it is a form of cultural imperialism.”

“This implies that English is the best language for our future,” Dani says. “That is unsubstantiated and one can even argue that it is a form of cultural imperialism.”

But she can be surprisingly swift and decisive in difficult situations.

I like riling him up, it’s fun.

My eyes are transfixed, riveted by her story.

My eyes are transfixed, riveted by her story.

She talks about institutional racism and how it’s affected her life, to the point where she almost didn’t believe Mrs. Mandalay when she asked her if she wanted to teach here as an adjunct teacher.