Chapter 7

“Your mom says you work for the city?” Danny asked, groping for casual conversation.

“I do.” Ashok nodded, chasing a spoonful of peppery polenta with a swallow of wine.

“In like ‘resource management’ or something like that?” Danny said, trying to pinpoint a department he remembered never having heard of when Monica floated it.

Ashok laughed. “Is that what she’s calling it these days?” he asked. He rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna run that by my boss, it’s much more glamorous. I’m a ‘Municipal Waste Management Partner.’”

“What, like some kind of consultant? What does a ‘Waste Management Partner’ do?”

“He rides around town and empties trash cans into a big truck,” Ashok said. “I’m a garbage man.”

Danny laughed. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know that, or I wouldn’t have made it sound like your mom tried to glamorize it.”