Qi was a concept Rickey had trouble wrapping his mind around. Chau had explained it as an invisible cosmic force that flowed through his body and throughout the entire universe, which was a bit much for a Lower Ninth Ward boy with a New Orleans public school education. Rickey knew he wasn’t stupid, but he hated anything that made him feel stupid, so he’d asked Chau not to bring up qi again if she could help it. “Doesn’t matter,” she’d shrugged. “It’s there whether you wanna think about it or not.”
This reminded Rickey of those people who, if you said you didn’t believe in God, responded smugly, But He believes in you! He guessed he must have shown Chau what G-man called his game face, because she dropped the subject of qi, but continued to nag him about the Vicodin. It wouldn’t irritate h
