They kidded around for a while, with Li Yang calling Jake white trash and Jake responding by calling Li Yang a slant-eyed gook. They went on and on, hurling new racist epithets at each other, until Li Yang called Jake a white birdshit. Jake laughed, and raised his arms in surrender.
"I give up," he said. "That was really inventive. I can't come up with anything better, not today."
They'd played that game—calling each other the most racist names they could think of—many times when they were at school together. Back then, it had always ended with the winning party choosing a prize for themselves. And so, Li Yang said:
"I get to choose what I want, right? Okay: I want to go into town."
"Town? Town as in Cambridge?"
"Yes. And we also passed through a couple of places on the way here. I remember there was gas station and a store in that first town we went through."
"Woolford," Jake said. "I remember. I also remember that store was closed."
