Full Exposure


 
 
 
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Contents
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 Chapter 19
 Chapter 20
 Chapter 21
 Chapter 22
 Chapter 23
 Chapter 24
 Chapter 25
 Chapter 26
 Chapter 27
 Chapter 28
 Chapter 29
 Chapter 30
 Chapter 31
 Chapter 32
 Chapter 33
 Chapter 34
 Chapter 35
 Chapter 36
 Chapter 37
 Chapter 38
 Chapter 39
 Chapter 40
 Chapter 41
 Chapter 42
 Chapter 43
 Chapter 44
 Chapter 45
 A Note from the Author
 Bánh Mì Sliders with Sriracha Mayo
 Acknowledgments
 About the Author
 Copyright
 About the Publisher
 
 
 
 
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 Guide
 
 Cover
 Contents
 Chapter 1
 
 
 
 
 Dedication
 
 
 To all my fellow children of immigrants, whose duties rest heavily on your shoulders: your dreams are important, too
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 1
 
 Josie Parks looked down at her 30 by 30 list. Attend a Mardi Gras parade was something she had yet to do, but that was about to change. An impromptu solo vacation in New Orleans didn’t land in her
 lap, well, ever. But it was the silver lining to the last-minute cancellation of her client’s bachelorette party photoshoot.
 So for the next seven days, Josie was finally going to put herself first.
 
 
 According to the official Mardi Gras website, a parade was rolling through the neighborhood where she was staying. The parade
 route was only a fifteen-minute walk according to her map app. New Orleans’s city blocks were nothing like the quiet, sepia-toned
 DC neighborhood she’d grown up in. Half the homes lining the street were painted in several bold colors each.
 
 
 It’d taken her twenty minutes to walk three blocks because she kept stopping to snap photos with her camera, which she’d lovingly dubbed Ruby. Josie never went anywhere without its well-worn strap around her neck. Each house was full of personality. Some were decked out with Mardi Gras decorations, including in the front yard. She remembered reading how “house floats” became popular a few years ago. 
 
 Josie was already falling in love with the city. Music greeted her everywhere she turned. The city’s energy seeped into her
 bones. She caught herself nodding along to the jazz music drifting from the bars she walked past. Though a different musician’s
 touch flowed out of each bar, they harmonized in their own magical way.
 
 
 A few yards after she passed the bars, a different kind of music tickled her ears. A mix of blues and—was that notes of Caribbean
 beats similar to what her mom listened to? Of course! This was zydeco, New Orleans’s special blend. She tucked her list into
 her oversized purse before rushing toward the parade.
 
 
 “Wow.” Josie stopped short at the street crossing. Her jaw dropped. The photos from her quick online search didn’t do the
 parade justice. 
 
 
 The music and cheering drowned out everything around her. Crowds of at least six or seven people deep lined both sides of
 the street. They held up their hands and yelled at the people on the floats. One person managed to catch something without
 spilling their drink. Beer in a giant plastic cup, it looked like. That must be the “cheap-ass beer” that Trixie Nguyen, one
 of her best friends, had warned her about. Josie had no plans to buy watered-down booze from sketchy vendors.
 
 
 Zydeco blared from floats, drawing her attention to their bright, flashing lights illuminating the night. She increased her pace to get a closer look at the giant sculpted dragon on the float closest to her. The wings extended from the side of the float and flapped. She half expected it to lift into the sky. The details on its six-foot head were impressive. The horns shone with pinpricks of light and its eyes glowed red. 
 
 The dragon’s mouth opened,