Barack still burns with shame a year later, even though he knows he was living a lie his first year of college. The one person he didn’t lie to was
Regina.
Marcus introduced them at a coffee shop one day and enlisted Regina to help him convince Barack to stop reading
Heart of Darkness. After Marcus left, Barack explained with embarrassment that he knew the book was racist but it was assigned and, besides, it was teaching him things about white people and how they learn to hate. They discussed Barack’s name and Regina asked if she could call him Barack instead of Barry. They spent the day together talking about her childhood in Chicago, surrounded by family. Barack felt envious of her childhood—but she laughed and admitted that she wished she’d grown up in Hawaii. After this, Barack began to feel himself growing and rediscovering his voice.