Summary

René begins this section with a commentary on the 2016 election, saying that “In the absence of the Batman, Mrs. Clinton and Senator Sanders offered themselves up as the alternatives to the Suicide Squad” (220-221). Both René and Suchitra dislike the Republican candidates. Suchitra says that truth is “such a twentieth-century concept,” asserting that “the question is, can I get you to believe it” (221). René has still not revealed to Suchitra that he is the father of Vasilia’s child; Vasilia asks that René stay away from the Golden house.

René then reports that for his crime, Petya was performing community service. Apu confides in René that he has “intimations of doom” about Petya, and compares them to “Romulus and Remus” (226). Apu then reveals that he has “started seeing ghosts,” showing René one of his paintings in which “an empty city” is only...