Gerald raised his eyebrows slightly and turned back to the others at the table. “So anyway …” He continued his story, some long thing about his exploits with a hometown honey. The other boys at the table hung on every word as though they had been in that dark basement themselves, lights down, clothes half off, breath mingling warmly with hers. Rashid only half listened—he’d heard this one before. Gerald was just trying to keep it live at the table. He seemed to feel that was his function at meals. For his part, Rashid responded to comments directed toward him during lunch with the absolute minimum number of words necessary and ate rapidly. The food tasted of ash. He caught Gerald giving him a couple of sidelong looks, but he acted like he didn’t see him. Finally lunch was over. He was just about to leave the table when—oh, shit—Mr. Washington approached them. “Mr. Bryson?”

“Yes, sir?”

“We missed you in class this morning.” The table had fallen into absolute silence. “I’d like to have a word with you if I may.”

Rashid’s stomach dropped into his shoes, but what could he do? “Okay, Mr. Washington. Just let me clear up my stuff here.”

He could feel the other guys at the table gazing at him nervously as he picked up his tray. Mr. Washington stood without speaking to them, waiting for him. They walked out through the leaded glass doors together and headed down the path that led back to the classroom buildings.

“I suppose you’re wondering why I wanted to speak to you.”

“I’m really sorry about class this morning, Mr. Washington. I just … I had something I had to do with the cows for Animal Husbandry, and it took a lot longer than I thought it would.”

“Yes. The cows. Do you enjoy the cows?”

He’s lost his mind, thought Rashid, but I better just play along. “Yeah … I mean, yes. I like them. I’m from the city and didn’t ever get to deal with big animals like that. It’s … well, they’re sort of calm. It’s nice, I guess.”