Summary

Makina is escorted into an office to wait. Soon, a man who looks like her brother, dressed in military uniform, enters. At first, Makina does not recognize her brother. Her brother escorts her outside, where they go for a walk.

He explains to Makina that when he first arrived, he “bounced from back alley to back alley and ass-kicking to ass-kicking” (87) until he arrived at the restaurant, where he was nursed back to health. However, instead of returning home, Makina’s brother accepted a job with the sad-looking woman. She takes him to meet her family and introduces him to her son, who like Makina’s brother “decided to do something to prove his worth as a man” (87) and consequently joined the army. The woman proposes that Makina’s brother take her son’s place in...