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kid?” said another. “Want a hamburger?”
    â€œNo thanks.”
    â€œHey,” Anek said. “Leave him alone. Let’s just pretend he’s not here.”
    The song ended. I saw a girl go up a set of stairs at the back, leading one of the men by the hand. I didn’t even have to ask. I wondered if Anek, too, would be going up those stairs at the end of the night. And although I had been disappointed at first by the café’s shoddy facade, I found myself excited now by its possibilities.
    Anek must’ve seen me staring because he slapped me hard across the back of the head. “Ow,” I cried, rubbing my head with a palm. “That fucking hurt.”
    â€œKeep your eyes to yourself, little man.”
    â€œThat’s right,” one of his friends intoned, the one who’d asked me if I wanted a hamburger. “Be careful what you wish for, boy. The AIDS might eat your dick.”
    â€œNot before it eats your mom’s, though,” I replied, and they all laughed, even my brother, Anek, who said, “Awesome,” and smiled at me for the first time all evening.
    * * *
    Anek had come home one night when I was nine and told me that Pa had taken him out for his fifteenth birthday. The city dump was burning; there was a light red glow in the sky from the pyre. Even though our windows were shut, I could still smell the putrid scent of tires and plastic and garbage burning, the sour odor seeping through our windows. I was sleeping in my underwear, two fans turned on high, both fixed in my direction. Anek walked into the room, stripped down to his underwear, and thrust out his hand.
    â€œBet you can’t tell me what this smell is.”
    I sniffed his fingers. It smelled like awsuan: oysters simmered in egg yolk. But somehow I knew it wasn’t food.
    â€œWhat is it?”
    Anek chuckled.
    â€œWhat is it, Anek?”
    â€œThat, my dear brother, is the smell of”—he put his hand up to his face, sniffed it hungrily—“heaven.”
    I blinked at him.
    â€œA woman, kid. You know what that is? Pa took me to a sophaeni tonight. And let me tell you, little one, when he takes you for your fifteenth birthday, you’ll never be the same again. This scent”—he raised his hand to his face again—“it’ll change your fucking life.”
    * * *
    Anek and his friends had already poured themselves a few drinks while I sat there sipping my cola—half listening to their banter, half watching the girls across the room—when one of Anek’s friends stood up and said: “It’s getting to that time of night, guys.”
    I didn’t know what the hell was going on, I just thought he was a funny drunk, but then Anek got up and told the bartender we were going outside for a breath of fresh air. One of the girls came up to us, put a hand on Anek’s shoulder, and said, “Leaving so soon?” but Anek told her not to worry, to be patient, he’d be back to give her what she wanted soon. The girl winked at me and said, “Who’s the handsome little boy?” and I smiled back, but Anek had to be an asshole, so he said, “Oh, that’s my virgin brother,” which annoyed me because no girl had ever winked at me before and I thought she was beautiful.
    I followed Anek and his friends out of the Café Lovely and into a small alley off the shophouse row. Anek didn’t want to leave me by myself. He said it didn’t look good—leaving a little boy alone in a place like that—but I could tell that he didn’t want me to come, either. As we cut into the dark alley, I had a feeling that a breath of fresh air was the last thing we were going to get.
    When we stopped, one of Anek’s friends pulled out a small container of paint thinner from a plastic bag. “All right,” he said, prying at the lid with a small pocketknife. The lid flew open with a loud pop and rolled down the