Summary

In Chapter 2, "Joe," first person narrator, Joe, recalls his high school relationship with Veronica. She had wanted to get married when they were teenagers. Though Joe was attached to her, he was disinterested in marriage.

Veronica married a man named Schuyler, "right after [college] graduation" (38). Though Schuyler was wealthy, he "wasn't into showy spending" (38).

Like Joe, Veronica had not come from money.

Joe grew up with his mother, Nok, and brother, Jack in Queens. Nok's "American lover" and the boys' father, Gil, had not lived with them (39). When Nok asked Gil to help pay for better schooling to keep Jack out of trouble, Gil refused. Worried about Jack, Nok sued Gil. The legal dynamics dragged out. Jack got into more trouble. Nok sent him "back to Bangkok, to live with her sister" (40).

After receiving his website development certificate, Joe got a job and...