The chapter opens with the narrator's description of the protagonist's "exaggeration" . He compares the protagonist to a "scared kitten" , who is "about to get away" from its owner. The kitten is described as a "bean stew," a "beat get away," and a "slip of the tongue." The narrator tells the kitten that his family lives in "bandung," a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The narrator explains that he and his twin sister were sent to the Congo by their elders, but they were separated when they arrived. The twins are described as having nine lives, and the narrator says that he would never have guessed that they would have nine lives together. He says that his sister was shot by "gangstas" protecting him, and that his nurse ingrid was involved in the attack on the city treasury by rebel "nine-lives." He explains that the lives of the nine "lives" are just as precious to him and his sister as theirs. He adds that when humans say, "drop dead," it does not mean that they want him to die, but rather that they do not want to take him literally. When he pays off his debt, he plans to leave.