Victor

Victor is the story’s protagonist. He is a Native American who lives on a reservation in the pacific northwest. At the beginning of the story, he has recently been fired from his job working at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. At about the same time, he learns that his father recently died of a heart attack in Phoenix, Arizona. Victor has generally been estranged from his father for years. Victor does not have enough money to go to Phoenix and retrieve his father’s cremated remains. He manages to collect the necessary funds from the Tribal Council and from fellow a fellow tribe member named Thomas. Thomas insists on coming with Victor to retrieve the remains.

Victor and Thomas were friends when they were children. Thomas became a social outcast when they were teenagers, and Victor abandoned his friendship with Thomas so that Victor would not become...