“Ask him,” a man beside him urges. “Vanno…” “Shut up.” Vanno sighs. “Boys have been wonderin’. Did you get to keep it?” “Keep what?” “It.” He looks at my groin. “Or did they…you know…make it proportionate?” “You really want to know?” “I mean…not for personal reasons. But I’ve got money riding on it.” “Well.” I lean forward seriously. So do Vanno and his bedmates nearby. “If you really want to know, you should ask your mother.” Vanno stares at me intensely, then explodes into laughter. His bedmates laugh and spread the joke to the far edges of the room. And in that tiny moment, the mood shifts.
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