“Dom, that’s me. So I grabbed his fingers and shook that hand the way you’d shake dust out of a mat. And they laughed. I didn’t know why. But I laughed too. And that was the start of the happiest two years of my life. As he taught me English, I learned that Henry was a pilot and that he had a disease that stopped him being able to fly anymore. The US Air Force had given him money so he could retire. And he chose our house for his retirement. Nobody worked. The rice paddies dried up and cracked in the drought. The vegetables got overrun with weeds. We ate all the pigs so there were none to mate in the fall. But if we needed something we’d drive to the market in the old truck Henry bought and buy whatever we needed. It was as if the money would never run out.

“Henry bought a generator and fixed up our cabin nicely. There was nothing fancy. He didn’t want to draw attention to us. There was no TV. Nothing that you’d call a luxury. But we were a happy family. Every afternoon Henry tutored me in whatever subject we could find books for. He always said I was the brightest kid he’d ever met. I ate up everything he said. I wanted to please him. He told me stories about his parents who were both university teachers who were short-listed for Nobel Prizes, and his sister who won the Miss California beauty title in 1967, and his brother who was working his way up to being the President of America. And my mum said that nothing would make her more happy and more proud than if her son could study in a real university and become a doctor.

“And I guess they decided that I’d go away to study. I hated the idea of being away from the house, but Henry convinced me that school wasn’t a lifetime. That I’d . . .”

Siri coughed. “I don’t . . .” he said in a breathy voice.

“Ah, good,” said Dom. “Communication. It can never be overrated. But, right now, you can’t interrupt me. I’m on a roll. I have a lot to say and the clock’s ticking. You’ll have your moment. Where was I? Right, he told me that in no time I’d be back with skills and a degree, and I could support my family and be someone important in the community. I told him I wanted to be a pilot like him. But he said that pilots just kill people and that I should be a doctor and help people instead. He said it would make my mother happy. And she was. After a life of abuse and struggle I could see that finally the spirits were on her side. I couldn’t disappoint her.