WEBVTT

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I'm going to read to you
all an excerpt from Brother

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Brontë, my latest novel.

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Whenever somebody is about
to introduce their work

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or talk about it, to introduce
the passage that they're

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going to read, I always
immediately black out.

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So I'm not going to say
what I'm going to read.

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I'm just going to read it.

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Thank you, everybody,
once again.

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"Neftalí and Proserpina raced
across the supposedly haunted

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pedestrian bridge, over the busy
intersection of Fourth and La

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Cuchilla, then sat down to catch
their breath at the far edge

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of the embankment.

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The onyx smokestacks
from the fish cannery

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whirled in the distance,
against the scattered patches

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of purple smog.

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Yellow low-flying
clouds often move

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through the streets like
packs of giant dogs,

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lapping up windows,
leaving muck residue

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to harden on the pavement.

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Proserpina pointed
at a burning mass

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in front of the old
tamale shack and said,

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'you see those gnarly fires
happening constantly now.

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What do you think
everyone's burning so much?

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'Probably garbage.

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What do people expect?

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The fires never get
that big or grow out

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of control inside
the city anyway,

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and people got to get rid
of their shit somehow.

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Garbage is piling up,
stinking everything up, right.

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When we'd figured out
the rat problem, too.'

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They loitered where
the pedestrian bridge

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met the embankment to
look down upon the gutted,

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abandoned tractors, and the
mossy Brown Apollo statue

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on the grounds of the
burned-down elementary school.

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Neftalí had memories of
reading short-story anthologies

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by the statue's
immense feet when she

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attended the school as a girl.

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At the same spot,
Proserpina had first

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met the man who sold
her the carbon papers

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and emulsion to
forge ration cards.

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The Brown Apollo statue seemed
to raise its arms in a flex,

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as Neftalí and Proserpina
wandered the charred

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foundations on the property.

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With the skeletal remains
of the gymnasium behind him,

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Brown Apollo watched as a thick
ground-level cloud approached

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Neftalí and Proserpina from the
direction of a discontinued bus

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stop.

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Laughter and the whirring
of tires and gears

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were heard, as if the
whale-sized, turmeric-colored

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mist had hidden wheels
and levers operated

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by giddy, sadistic gnomes.

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There was another
sound, like an empty can

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of soup trying to sing.

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And as Neftalí's eyes focused
on the silhouettes emerging

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from the cream-thick
haze, she made out

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the bad doom metal, all treble,
playing out of a small, possibly

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broken speaker.

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Four souped-up tricycles
rushed by them,

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grazing their arms
and canvas bags.

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Proserpina immediately
recognized the riders

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as the four boys she teased
before they stopped at Dona

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Julieta's.

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She chuckled to herself,
and it took all her strength

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not to say the first
thing that came to mind.

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They were inside the
belly of this yellow mist,

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lost in an artificial
desert dust storm,

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and hard-pressed to see
anything beyond its organism.

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The oxygen thinned,
making it somehow easier

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to inhale the
industrial pollutants.

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Doom metal continued chirping
from the miserable little

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speaker.

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Then a voice said,
'surprise, surprise

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to see you sneaking into
New Freeway, Neftalí.

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Maybe you recognize
your neighbors here?

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They caught me up with what
happened over at your house last

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night.'

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The voice fluttered
out of Santo as he

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rode his fixed-gear
bicycle like it

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was a miniature donkey with
shuffling hummingbird legs.

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He wore a denim jacket with
torn sleeves, old skinny jeans,

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and shoes with missing laces.

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'Your old drummer,
Proserpina, here too?

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Very special.

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And where's
big-money-machine Alexei?

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Santo continued.

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'Bring in the old bass player.

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Get a whole band reunion going.

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Surely he must be looking
for old bubblegum wrappers

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to convert to dollar bills?

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Or maybe it's shit-stained
toilet paper squares today?'

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The tricycle boys
were clearly amused

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by Santo's variety of humor.

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He sat taller on his
bicycle than the boys did

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on their tricycles,
and Neftalí quickly

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gathered that they
made up a small gang.

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Dry axles begging
for an oil reprieve

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could be heard creaking louder
and louder from somewhere

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within the devouring mist,
as if the gears were trying

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to fiendishly laugh, too.

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Proserpina grabbed a stone by
Brown Apollo's sandaled feet,

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tracked the speaker
hanging from one

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of the tricycle boys'
shoulders, and pitched it

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at a calculated moment.

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The speaker fell, hit concrete.

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The doom metal stopped.

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Plastic and metallic guts
spilled out unceremoniously.

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Santo and his
small gang were one

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of many units of boys sweeping
Three Rivers, wreaking

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their brand of havoc
on the population.

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Their antics came
handsomely rewarded

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by Mayor Pablo Henri Crick.

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Ever since Crick's
administration

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started developing-- ever since,
Crick's administration has

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started deploying book
strategies to average citizens,

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boys like these
had carte blanche

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to find and discard books
that the Three Rivers

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authorities had missed.

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A large boy emerged
from the haggard fog,

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pedaling with the
strain of Sisyphus,

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barely making it over the cliff.

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Behind him, strapped onto
a flat wagon with those

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pleading, thirsty axles,
sat a mechanical beast

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with four wide, sharp,
well-fed mouths,

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like a savage prince being
promenaded through the jungle,

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waiting for fresh
grapes for dessert.

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Two of the tricycle boys
stepped off their rides,

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approached Neftalí
first, made as

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if they weren't afraid to
put their hands on her.

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'Don't make this hard, Neftalí.

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Just hand over your bag.'

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'What are you going to do?

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Feed your machine my shit?

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What's in this bag
is all I got left.'

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In three flashes,
and perhaps blinded

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by the immeasurable measurable
depth within the lurking mist,

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the two boys effortlessly
snatched Proserpina's bag,

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then slipped off Neftalí's like
a choreographed magic trick.

00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:03.500 align:middle line:90%


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Santo emptied both canvas bags
at the feet of Brown Apollo,

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like an offering among thieves.

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Even within the
diffused sunlight

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inside that abnormal,
low-flying cloud,

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the two books that fell out of
Neftalí's bag were clear as day.

00:09:24.040 --> 00:09:27.260 align:middle line:90%


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The boys' faces all
wriggled into large smiles,

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as the largest boy unstrapped
the four-mouthed oblong

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shredder from the bed of the
squeaky wagon, balanced it

00:09:40.740 --> 00:09:44.780 align:middle line:84%
on the uneven school grounds,
then yanked on the cord

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to start it up.

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After plenty of unsuccessful
yanks, Santo ordered,

00:09:51.410 --> 00:09:53.970 align:middle line:90%
'clean the gasket.'

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'You're really going
to do this, Santo?'

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Neftalí', do I look
like a politician?

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It's the law.' 'Bullshit,'
Proserpina said.

00:10:03.450 --> 00:10:05.050 align:middle line:90%
'All right, all right.

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Let's switch places,
and you are me.

00:10:07.450 --> 00:10:10.230 align:middle line:84%
And you find me here,
carrying two books,

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when-- when a literacy permit is
required and strictly enforced.

00:10:16.130 --> 00:10:20.810 align:middle line:84%
Now, seeing as how you know
the person with said books,

00:10:20.810 --> 00:10:23.570 align:middle line:84%
what's the nicest
thing you could do,

00:10:23.570 --> 00:10:25.710 align:middle line:84%
without having to
call the bosses?'

00:10:25.710 --> 00:10:28.290 align:middle line:90%


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'Listen to the way he talks,'
Neftalí exclaimed to the other

00:10:31.290 --> 00:10:36.010 align:middle line:84%
boys, unable to contain her
disgust at Santo's words.

00:10:36.010 --> 00:10:40.170 align:middle line:84%
'We both learned how to read
in a class together once upon

00:10:40.170 --> 00:10:41.650 align:middle line:90%
a time.'

00:10:41.650 --> 00:10:44.490 align:middle line:84%
'You don't need to invent
lies,' Santo cracked,

00:10:44.490 --> 00:10:49.360 align:middle line:84%
as the large boy finally got the
shredder's for mouth's chewing,

00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.780 align:middle line:84%
complete with thousands
of micro-blades crunching,

00:10:52.780 --> 00:10:56.780 align:middle line:84%
spinning, and shrieking to
be fed through the miasma.

00:10:56.780 --> 00:10:59.360 align:middle line:90%


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'Now that you've considered
my point of view,

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and given your lying nature,
what would you do in my place?'

00:11:05.540 --> 00:11:08.120 align:middle line:90%
Santo yelled.

00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:10.960 align:middle line:84%
He reached for the
book on the ground

00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:16.840 align:middle line:84%
that appeared the most
seductive to him, the hardcover.

00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:23.080 align:middle line:84%
He traced the embossed title
with his right middle finger.

00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:28.040 align:middle line:84%
Understanding Urban and
Agricultural Hydraulics,

00:11:28.040 --> 00:11:31.400 align:middle line:84%
then slowly flipped
through its pages,

00:11:31.400 --> 00:11:34.320 align:middle line:84%
pretending to be interested
in the knowledge it offered,

00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:38.440 align:middle line:90%
to spite the young women.

00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:41.200 align:middle line:84%
Proserpina noticed
Neftalí shaking

00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:43.680 align:middle line:84%
and felt that her
friend was capable,

00:11:43.680 --> 00:11:48.750 align:middle line:84%
at any moment, of making
the rashest decision.

00:11:48.750 --> 00:11:51.790 align:middle line:84%
In the blink of
an eye, Proserpina

00:11:51.790 --> 00:11:56.830 align:middle line:84%
imagined flying sparks
involving crowbars, machetes,

00:11:56.830 --> 00:11:59.870 align:middle line:84%
and all sorts of
vengeful madness.

00:11:59.870 --> 00:12:02.430 align:middle line:84%
So upon returning to
the present moment,

00:12:02.430 --> 00:12:05.950 align:middle line:84%
she harbored an urge
to keep the peace.

00:12:05.950 --> 00:12:09.510 align:middle line:84%
And in the friendliest
tone, she exclaimed,

00:12:09.510 --> 00:12:11.530 align:middle line:84%
'that book can be
useful to somebody,

00:12:11.530 --> 00:12:13.470 align:middle line:90%
even if you think it's trash.

00:12:13.470 --> 00:12:14.730 align:middle line:90%
Why destroy it?'

00:12:14.730 --> 00:12:18.950 align:middle line:90%


00:12:18.950 --> 00:12:22.990 align:middle line:84%
Neftalí missed these
words, looking up

00:12:22.990 --> 00:12:26.070 align:middle line:84%
as Brown Apollo's
torso and head seemed

00:12:26.070 --> 00:12:30.150 align:middle line:84%
to descend on them with the
passing of the yellow cloud,

00:12:30.150 --> 00:12:35.070 align:middle line:84%
and for a sliced moment she
indulged her innermost fantasies

00:12:35.070 --> 00:12:41.310 align:middle line:84%
of why the two of them had even
stopped to visit this monument.

00:12:41.310 --> 00:12:44.700 align:middle line:84%
She imagined Brown
Apollo approaching them

00:12:44.700 --> 00:12:48.900 align:middle line:84%
with his cast iron muscles,
and their conversation turning

00:12:48.900 --> 00:12:52.700 align:middle line:84%
immediately to galloping
horses, the difference

00:12:52.700 --> 00:12:56.220 align:middle line:84%
between the wild horses on
the pampas and the horses

00:12:56.220 --> 00:13:00.820 align:middle line:84%
by the shores of
South Padre Island.

00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:04.660 align:middle line:84%
Brown Apollo would give them
tips about wearing seashells

00:13:04.660 --> 00:13:06.620 align:middle line:90%
as masks.

00:13:06.620 --> 00:13:09.540 align:middle line:84%
Proserpina and Neftalí
would brainstorm questions

00:13:09.540 --> 00:13:13.540 align:middle line:84%
for Brown Apollo, to take
advantage of this rare close

00:13:13.540 --> 00:13:15.200 align:middle line:90%
encounter with a god.

00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:18.020 align:middle line:90%


00:13:18.020 --> 00:13:22.580 align:middle line:84%
But mostly they'd want to
have a chill time with him,

00:13:22.580 --> 00:13:25.900 align:middle line:84%
to have drinks and watch Italian
movies about ancient Greece

00:13:25.900 --> 00:13:28.280 align:middle line:90%
with the divine bulwark himself.

00:13:28.280 --> 00:13:34.340 align:middle line:90%


00:13:34.340 --> 00:13:37.460 align:middle line:84%
This was the delirium
Neftalí found herself

00:13:37.460 --> 00:13:42.450 align:middle line:84%
in as she watched Santo feed
the nearly impossible-to-find

00:13:42.450 --> 00:13:46.730 align:middle line:84%
hardcover copy of Understanding
Urban and Agricultural

00:13:46.730 --> 00:13:52.450 align:middle line:84%
Hydraulics, meant for
Bettina on her birthday,

00:13:52.450 --> 00:13:56.630 align:middle line:84%
to the buzzing, chomping,
four-mouth book shredder.

00:13:56.630 --> 00:14:01.050 align:middle line:90%


00:14:01.050 --> 00:14:05.330 align:middle line:84%
It surprised most people,
despite repeated firsthand

00:14:05.330 --> 00:14:10.210 align:middle line:84%
accounts, that the machines
microblades pulverized

00:14:10.210 --> 00:14:13.970 align:middle line:84%
the book entirely dust
blowing in the wind

00:14:13.970 --> 00:14:19.390 align:middle line:84%
after the procedure like a
wildflower bouquet's ashes.

00:14:19.390 --> 00:14:22.210 align:middle line:90%


00:14:22.210 --> 00:14:26.010 align:middle line:84%
Brown Apollo seemed
to turn away his head,

00:14:26.010 --> 00:14:29.750 align:middle line:84%
perhaps in disgust, or
perhaps reluctantly,

00:14:29.750 --> 00:14:32.090 align:middle line:84%
agreeing with the
perspective of the young man

00:14:32.090 --> 00:14:33.790 align:middle line:90%
and the book-banning laws.

00:14:33.790 --> 00:14:37.770 align:middle line:90%


00:14:37.770 --> 00:14:43.640 align:middle line:84%
Santo thumbed through the
remaining dog-eared paperback.

00:14:43.640 --> 00:14:50.880 align:middle line:84%
'Ghosts in the Zapotec
sphericals,' he read aloud from

00:14:50.880 --> 00:14:53.260 align:middle line:90%
his time-yellowed title page.

00:14:53.260 --> 00:14:56.320 align:middle line:90%


00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:02.880 align:middle line:90%
'By Jazzmin Monelle Rivas.

00:15:02.880 --> 00:15:06.160 align:middle line:84%
'She's correct about
one thing, boys.

00:15:06.160 --> 00:15:11.960 align:middle line:84%
I was one of the last to
attend this burned-down school.

00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:13.660 align:middle line:90%
Learned how to read here.

00:15:13.660 --> 00:15:16.240 align:middle line:90%


00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:19.440 align:middle line:90%
So take it from me.

00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:25.340 align:middle line:84%
You're not missing
much.'" Thank you.

00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:28.690 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:15:28.690 --> 00:15:40.000 align:middle line:90%