Nine Perfect Strangers

Frances feels the effects of the drugs. She imagines books, her ex-husbands, and her dead friend Gillian. She views recent events as though they were a novel in which she’s the protagonist. Gradually, she begins to realize that the loss of Ari rather than Paul Drabble is what upsets her most about being scammed. For the first time in her life, she’d imagined herself as a mother. Now, she feels as though she must grieve the loss of a child. Gillian encourages her to enjoy the blissful feeling of the drugs on her body.

Yao sits beside Frances and coaches her through the experience. She rambles with the mask over her eyes, admitting that she hasn’t “had sex in so long” (165). Yao offers mild encouragement and sympathy. He looks around the room and sees that the other patients are coping well even though his instincts are telling him to run.

Tony imagines his sporting days, running across a field with Banjo by his side. He kicks an oddly shaped football, which represents “his regrets and his shame” (167). The ball passes through the goal, the crowd cheers, and he feels euphoric.