Summary

The third-person omniscient narrator introduced Arthur, a jail inmate who wore a cape fashioned from his blanket “for the dark, brooding superhero effect” (41).

Arthur "could feel one of the guys [a black man boasting fake teeth inlaid with golden ‘CJ’ initials] watching him" (41), so he started doing push-ups to put on "a show" (41). Since the guards had confiscated his own false teeth, Arthur struck a bargain with the man: his breakfast for the man’s grill, which cost $2,000. Suddenly and silently, Arthur recalled the 2,000 sausage links he had counted and the $2,000 coat he had tried on in Manhattan years ago. He lost his sense of time, which he often did. He then asked one of the other inmates if he was gay and told him he liked his “carnival” (44) appearance. Arthur, aware of his thoughts spiraling, thought of how, soon, “the meds would...