Yolanda was dancing with a large
black bear that smiled as he whirled her around. Oil lamps lit a small patch of raked yard. Guitars strummed boldly, maracas clicked a tempo, and the great beast, surprisingly light on his feet, gracefully swayed. His long teeth gleamed in the moonlight like ivory tusks. As the music rose to a crescendo and Yolanda was dizzy with
ecstasy, the bear lifted her high over his head. Like an angel she flew above the reach of the cockroaches in the cornmeal, the cracked thirst of the land, the touch of a drunken man on her skin.
She had never been so happy.
