She said she felt differently now that she was a revolutionary, as if a different set of hormones had started flowing through her body. She no longer found millionaires sexy, just as in the past when she hadn’t found poor men attractive, even if they were handsome. She said whatever got her blood going was good—that’s all she needed.

Hongmei said goodbye to Nini and her boyfriend and plunged into the crowd of protesters. Her brain worked swiftly, trying to decide what she should say if she bumped into Glen. She knew she must look ridiculous and decided this would be the last time—after this she would tell Glen everything.

She glanced at her watch. It was still an hour till her meeting with the secret talker. She’d deliberately gotten here early, to give herself time to scope out the area and make sure she had an escape route. She was five blocks from The EndUp, and the walk would give her time to steady herself. She got out her compact mirror and lipstick, which was the trendiest shade and made her mouth look soft and moist. As she put her compact back into her purse, her hand bumped against another object: a toothbrush. She’d actually brought a toothbrush. All the contradictory plans she’d made had included spending the night here. She pressed her fingers against the bristles and rubbed hard, thinking, Let’s see how wild this woman gets today. Driving for two hours to meet a man from the internet. And after that? Would he take advantage of the singer hitting a long note to grab her hand and pull her from the nightclub, a woman who came with her own toothbrush?

On the way to The EndUp, she found herself wishing it was farther away, to give her more time to think.

In her last email she’d told him a story from her childhood that no one else knew.