The Living

Shy wakes, hungover, and immediately regrets kissing Carmen the previous night. He plans to find and apologize to her as soon as possible, but there is no sign of her when he reports for his shift as towel boy. Shy agonizes over the damage he might have done to his relationship with Carmen and tries to distract himself—only to worry instead about the man in the black suit and the unknown bad news his mother needs to give him. He feels at once trapped and isolated: “He was stuck way out here on a ship. Middle of the ocean. No help to anyone” (50).

He finally spots Carmen but is interrupted by a Texan oil tycoon named William Henry before he can go to her. William, whom Shy thinks of as “the oilman,” shows Shy and Carmen the seven-carat diamond ring he plans to use to propose to his girlfriend later that night, boasting about his money and asking “what kind of Mexican” Carmen is (55). Carmen and Shy feign interest and ignore his racist comments, a task Shy struggles with more than Carmen. Carmen refuses to talk to Shy for longer than a moment, but she does tell him that she has come up with “new rules” for their friendship.