Summary

Shortly after moving to America, the narrator becomes disgusted by all of the dirt around the city. She lives in Brooklyn and teaches at Franklin Middle School in Manhattan. Franklin’s interior reminds her of the Cuban flag and the trip she took there with her on-again-off-again boyfriend Sasha. Although they have been together for years, the narrator sees herself as “a free woman” (5). However Sasha did help her leave Palestine and connected her with Aisha, Franklin’s headmaster. Every morning before school, the narrator douses herself in her perfume, does her skincare routine, and drinks three hot beverages. Her regimen helps with cleanliness, but does not seem like enough.

The narrator often does not know what she is doing in the classroom but she is good at making things up. She likes showing up every day with her expensive handbag. She is...