Nicolás

Nicolás is the narrator of roughly half the stories in Lot. He is a young, gay, half-Black, half-Hispanic man living in Houston and reflecting on his youth and coming of age. Growing up, Nicolás lived with his mother, father, sister Jan, and brother Javi, but these family members gradually disappear one by one; his father runs off with a mistress, his sister gets married and has a child, and Javi dies while serving in the military. Because of this, Nicolás has a fear of intimacy and abandonment issues. In the later stories that encompass his young adulthood, Nicolás recalls having sexual encounters with men, but never a real relationship. In the final story, "Elgin," he actually allows Miguel to sleep over at his house, something he has never done before. This occurs after his mother, too has left Houston, selling the restaurant where...