To Professor Ito Romo, for opening the floodgates, for pushing me to write clearer and to abandon ship when stories burned. To Jennifer Lloyd, for always lending me your ear, for nourishing support and love. To my siblings (in chronological order): Sonny, Andy, Mike, Melissa, Aaron. Because life would be worse without y’all. To Will Pate, my laconic publisher cooler than cool. To Marcus Salinas, for the greatest gift: laughter. To Will Rodriguez, for “published author” vibes. To Karl Switzer, for seeing in me all that you do (since eighth grade). To Mom and Pops, for everything.