Chapter 117: Dinner from hell

There was a winter in my childhood where I spent most afternoons after school in the library, because the heating had been switched off at home. Mom could only pay some of the bills and chose electricity instead. One of the books I read there was about the concept of dualism. It's the belief that two opposing forces can exist in harmony. They conflict but also complement each other, like yin and yang. I don't know why I thought about that now, years later in Chad's basement in Dubai. Maybe the best way to describe Luke and myself is in the framework of dualism. He and I grew up worlds apart, despite being just across the street. We have entirely different ways of looking at the world, conflicting ways. But maybe that's why we need each other. We test each other. I just hope we don't break each other. "I know it hurts," Luke said, "Trust me, I've been there. But Minnie, you're stronger than me in so many ways. All I'm saying is that I