Summary

Section 1 – As the unnamed narrator describes his first encounter with male prostitute Mitko. he refers to that encounter ending with a betrayal, and suggests that that should have been a warning to him about the future of their relationship. He describes meeting Mitko in a public washroom known for particular sorts of transactions: the implication is that men meet there for sex. Mitko, he says, was in the company of a friend, and displayed several characteristics that, he adds, became familiar later: a feeling the after-effects of heavy drinking; a disregard for appropriate public behavior; and an unexpected sense of cleanliness (given that he is both clearly poor and promiscuous). There is also a frankness about both sex and his desire to be paid for it. The narrator describes his attempt to have sex with Mitko without paying, but reveals that...