Black Buck

Over a dinner of burnt burgers, Darren tells Ma, Jason, Mr. Rawlings, and Soraya what happened on his first day. His job offer, for $40,000 plus a $25,000 bonus, is more than his mother’s salary, and much more than his $19,000 annual salary at Starbucks. Ma shows Darren a letter from a property management company that wants to buy their house, and Darren makes Ma promise not to sell. In bed, Soraya tells Darren that she wants to go back to school to become a nurse; her sister died of multiple organ failure when Soraya was a kid, and her mom left the family afterward. Soraya makes Darren promise not to change when he starts his new job. He does, but in the sales lesson insert he notes that “nothing ever stays the same” (51).

Darren wakes up at 5:30 on his first day at Sumwun; every Monday they start work at 7:00am sharp. Ma gives him clothing advice—to go for a more casual look, rather than the conservative “Mormon” attire he first chose. He says hi to Mr. Aziz, then Jason, whose face is puffy and bruised as a result of being robbed the night before, prompting him to work overtime selling drugs—cocaine, not just the cannabis he sold previously—and Jason resents Darren for criticizing his choices.