Futures Worth Hanging Onto

Chris Taitano was protesting police brutality in downtown Manhattan, which was exactly the type of thing his family upstate would tease him about—especially because Sam was with him. Sam had a way of getting that kind of reaction from people: like right now, with his extra-emphatic chants of “No Justice, No Peace,” and with his head full of colorful dreads, he was catching them looks from other marchers probably wondering who this strange white dude was. Chris met Sam in college when they shared the mistake of pledging a fraternity. Neither of them made it, but they liked each other enough to become roommates the following year. And liked each other enough to stick around for the years afterward. Sam had introduced Chris to Lindsey, who Chris would eventually marry and divorce, right after college graduation. Sam waved Chris over to the group of people he was standing with at a party and drunkenly flung his arm around him when Chris joined, “This is my boy, Chris! He’s the one from Guam!” “I didn’t actually grow up there,” Chris was quick to correct, not that anyone acknowledged him when he said this. Prior to Chris coming over, Lindsey had been mentioning how her family had gone to Guam on vacation. The topic of the conversation, Chris was told much later, was the strangest places you’ve visited. Sam had become the unwitting star of the conversation when he joked, “Niagara Falls, the Canadian side.” Sam had also introduced Chris to Haley, who Chris started dating after Lindsey. Sam knewHaley from his PhD programwhere she was researching decolonization movements in Native North America. “My dude here’s part Iroquois!” Sam had shared. Haley was researching the Oka Crisis. She was a “settler,” she said, which was the first time Chris had heard that term. “So you’re Iroquois? Which nation?” “My grandmother was born at Tonawanda,” Chris said. “But she was adopted out when she was young. She met my grandfather in the military. My grandfather is CHamoru, who are—”