Take off your shoes!" Helen said in a commanding tone. I heard from her voice that she was in her dominant headspace. I had subbed for her only a few ...imes, but those times had been memorable."What?" I said no questions!"Judy's grin turned into confusion and she shook her head in disbelief."Ok..."She kicked her sneakers off and I took them immediately. We had planned for this for so long that I knew exactly what my part would be. I started to take off the shoelaces while Helen moved closer to. ”Dad walked over and took my mom’s arm. “They’re waiting for us in the limo.”He didn’t look at us. We didn’t exist.Mom looked back at me. “There’s room if you two...”Patrick stepped in. “We’ll take a cab and meet you there.”Mom looked at him with an almost thankful expression. She probably regretted her offer as soon as she made it, but I appreciated it.My parents disappeared and most of the relatives and friends had gone, as well. Patrick’s arm wrapped around my back.“You sure you want to. I was also being awoken nearly every morning, sometimes in the small hours of night, by jackhammering, drilling that rattled the whole of my modest apartment like the voice of an angry God.I reported the noise to the school, but they told me no construction was going on in the building. Other teachers heard it as well, but no one could locate the drilling’s source.I started taking pills, Xanax, so I could finally sleep and stay asleep. I’d read that Xanax intensifies dreams in some people. But. Andy felt tiny and soft among their hard, large, black bodies. Andy was trying not to peek at the other men, bll three of them had openly appraised Andy’s naked body. He figured it was either the difference between their two cultures or some kind of intimidation tactic; if it were the latter, then it had definitely worked. Under their unnerving scrutiny, which included a fairly intense conversation in their African language that seemed to specifically refer to aspects of his naked body, Andy.