Aziz pulls over, opens the back, and drags the boy out. He does not harm him but leaves him on a dirt road with a bottle of water and a single coin. He tells the boy to wait for nightfall and walk toward the lights. He then returns to the van and continues, rationalizing that “one life is not worth nine others.” The story ends with Aziz staring at the road ahead, feeling nothing but exhaustion—no guilt, no triumph.
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The story follows a group of thirty Moroccan immigrants crowded into a small, inflatable boat (a zodiac) designed for only eight people.
During the ride, Siham confronts a series of tensions: Aziz pulls over, opens the back, and drags the boy out
Aziz drives with practiced caution, avoiding highways and taking back roads. His mind wanders to his own past: he once tried to make the crossing as an immigrant but failed. Now, he profits from others’ dreams. A tense moment occurs when the van passes a Guardia Civil checkpoint. Aziz’s heart races, but the officers wave him through.
The story begins in medias res with Aziz preparing his battered van on the Spanish coast. He is not an immigrant himself but a patero —a smuggler who transports people for money. He checks the hiding spots under tarps and seats, ensuring the nine passengers (three more than usual) are invisible to border patrol. He then returns to the van and continues,
Whether in her fictional account of the first black explorer of America in The Moor’s Account or the intersecting lives of a murder mystery in The Other Americans , the motif of the journey—physical, emotional, and bureaucratic—is constant. The piece in question here (frequently associated with her non-fiction essay work) deals specifically with the dehumanizing nature of the visa process, the border crossing, and the psychological aftermath of relocation.
Aziz was once an immigrant; now he exploits immigrants. Lalami illustrates how survival in a neoliberal economy often forces the exploited to become exploiters. The story asks: Does suffering grant you a license to inflict suffering on others? Aziz’s answer is a quiet, desperate yes.