Apple: Skin to the Core

Content Warning: This section contains discussions of anti-Indigenous racism, colonial violence, and cultural genocide.

This section summarizes “Reception,” “Jeannie Teaches Me Some Moves I Don’t Know,” “How Jaboozie and I Almost Lose It,” “From Iron Man to Skywalker: 6. Cliffhangers and Disc Jockeys,” and “Hunger Test 3. Cumulative Exam.”

In “Reception,” Gansworth recalls being 16 and working in a garage. In the evening, he took his mother to BINGO and gave her the money she needed to play. They both knew that she’d never win the jackpot. In exchange for his help, she tacitly agreed not to mention the fact that he’d started smoking.

In “Jeannie Teaches Me Some Moves I Don’t Know,” Gansworth remembers visiting his friend Jeannie, who was two years younger than him. She taught him to dance.

“How Jaboozie and I Almost Lose It” describes Gansworth’s relationship with Jaboozie, who had become his best friend. They were both inquisitive kids who liked books and asking questions. One year, they went to see the fire that started every year in the reservation’s swamp. They got too close to the fire and, realizing that it had surrounded them, had to leap through a wall of flames to escape. The flames melted the soles of their shoes.