“Well,” I responded, “some people think I should write a novel, and others think I should write it as nonfiction. . . . What do you think?” She didn’t respond at first, but then she relaxed her arms and stood up, responding to a prompt from the detention center staff that our time was up. As we approached the door and moved toward her cell, she said, “I think you should tell the truth . . . Yeah, just tell the truth.”
