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said, motioning to a round table with one other guy and three girls. “We’re about to get drunk and those girls are gettin’ rowdy.”
“Not tonight, Jas.”
Jason called over the waitress, ordering another large beer for Eric. “I’ll see ya at home.”
“Yeah,” Eric said.
     
    *****
     
    Eric watched Jason flirt with the girls at the table. There was one in particular he seemed interested in, a brunette wearing a short skirt and denim jacket. She had beauty to her, but as Eric watched her, he noticed it was only a superficial beauty. Like something uglier underneath had been painted over. She had dark bags under her eyes and bruises on her upper arms. She drank as if the booze didn’t bother her, guzzling one beer after another. She seemed to be paying attention to Jason, nodding at his comments and laughing at his jokes. But there was a sense that any other man in the room could’ve been there and she’d be doing the exact same thing.
    She looked over to Eric and smiled. Eric looked away, finished his beer, and walked out.
    He left the pizzeria half-drunk. He stopped at a playground and pissed on a tree before continuing to the dorms. There was a party going on upstairs and the music boomed through the thin walls, the bass rattling the few items of furniture he and Jason shared.
    He’d forgotten about that first night at the dorms, how quickly his father had picked up the waitress who was decent looking at best. James had always been in love with one woman or another; falling hard one week and growing bored the next. It was the reason his parents got divorced. In a way, Eric understood it. Man had just one life and wanted to enjoy it to the fullest. But James wasn’t around to hear his wife crying herself to sleep every night; Eric was. They said infidelity was a victimless crime but Eric didn’t believe that anymore.
    One day when he was ten, he remembered walking in on his father and another woman. His father quickly covered the woman up with a white sheet and only her toes stuck out from the bottom. Eric asked who that was and his father said nobody and told him to get out. Unsure what was going on, Eric shut the door and left. His father came to him later that day and told him it was best not to tell his mother of such things. That his father hadn’t done anything wrong, but his mother liked to get mad sometimes and it wouldn’t be good to have her mad, would it? Eric agreed and never told his mother. Sometimes, when he heard his mother cry at night after the divorce, he wondered how much of it was his fault and it gave him a sick, gray feeling in the pit of his stomach.
    Thoughts of his childhood and his parents swirled in his mind as he lay in the dark and before long he drifted off to sleep. The last thing he felt was remorse; the funeral would be in a few days, and it was going to be the last time he would get to see his father.

 
     
    CHAPTER
    8
     
     
    Andhra Pradesh has often been a top destination for thrill seekers and tourists. With its diverse landscapes, masses of animals found in few other places, and breathtaking sunsets, some have found it a prime vacation spot despite it being in a second world country with little stability.
    Near the city of Kavali are a string of houses owned by wealthy investors—usually European and American real estate moguls or investment firms—leased to vacationers for periods of one week to one month. The houses are far apart from one another, enough so that vacationers can enjoy their privacy but still have others nearby should they require something.
    A family stepped onto the porch of one of the homes. The two boys ran into a nearby patch of jungle, yelling and laughing. Their mother was a slim woman in a white dress, straw hat pulled down to cover her eyes from the scorching sun. Her husband wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a kiss on the neck as they watched the boys run around.
“I can’t believe we actually found someplace they