Summary

The barrel of the gun tickles Anders, and he has the urge to giggle, but he fights it. He stares into the robber’s eyes. The eyes are blue and rimmed with red, and the left eyelid twitches. The man exhales, and the smell of the man’s breath makes Anders feel suddenly uneasy. The man pokes Anders with the pistol again and says, “You like me, bright boy? You want to suck my dick?” (265). Anders says that he does not, and the man responds that, in that case, Anders should stop looking at him. Anders looks down at the man’s shoes. The man tells Anders to look up, not down. He uses the barrel of the gun to push up on the underside of Anders’ chin until Anders is looking at the ceiling. Anders has never looked closely at the ceiling before...