Though Alfonzo had just had his coffee, his companions were thinking about dinner. He realized he’d slept much of the day.

They began preparations for a feast.

“In your honor,” Vivi teased.

Alfonzo was ordered to assist Tania. Tania told him they would be in charge of salad, and somehow this carnivore made the task sound endlessly complicated. She demonstrated carrot grating. He did his best not to roll his eyes. He got nervous around predators, even ones on the small side. He didn’t want to think about what Tania ate when not in mixed company. His brain got a bit cloudy at the possibilities.

After a little while grating and dicing, Alfonzo worked up the nerve for banter.

“So, Tania, what do you call an alpaca with a carrot in his ear?”

She squinted.

“Anything you want. He won’t be able to hear you.”

Not even a hint of a smile. Alfonzo began shredding some centipede grass. They set the table with apples, kale, hay, and grainy mash.

Though the group had mostly ignored Alfonzo thus far, once they’d eaten and were dawdling over wine, Vivi’s friends started sniffing at him with friendly aggression.

“So, are you here to join us, or is this radical sightseeing?”

“Don’t put him on the spot like that.”

“Do you feel implicated in what the mayor is doing?”

“Tania, you know better than to believe this is a representative system. And I told you, he and Mitchell are working from the inside.”

“But I mean, at what point does it get to be too much? Have you ever considered quitting City Hall over the mayor’s rhetoric?”

Alfonzo felt himself getting so wound up, he wanted to spit.

“Where is the outside? I mean, you think I’m inside and you’re out?” He knew he should know better.

“Cool down, brother,” Roberto said. “You’re among friends here.”

“Let’s all be nice,” Vivi admonished. “Alfie’s in a sensitive state. He came to learn about SERF.”

“Right,” Roberto chimed in. “If we want to get him on our side, we can’t fight with him.”

“Front toward enemy!” Vivi declaimed ironically to break the tension.

Tania said they should toast to that.

28.

The next day, Sunday, Vivi suggested a walk, just the two of them. She lent Alfonzo a sweater. He hardly needed it. The day was clear and mild, warm for November. It rarely felt like the month it was anymore.

Vivi led him down toward the beach.