Since entering Dasani’s life as a newspaper reporter, I have slowly morphed into “Drea,” the person who “hangs out,” taking notes with the pen that also records sound. Dasani knows that I am now writing a book, which requires spending large swaths of time with her family. This makes me less of a traditional reporter and more of an “immersionist”—a journalistic label that means little to most people. Lee-Lee calls it like it is: I am in her house. This does not mean that I am always welcome. Chanel is tired of hearing me explain the rules of my profession when I decline to give her cash. (In
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