When I wrote Deconstructing Kate, I struggled with how gritty I wanted things to get. After a lot of fighting with the AI in Autocrit, I toned down Kate’s involvement and made it all a lot more ambiguous.
In the original version, Ken’s there when Luis comes over, and he’s in charge of this legal clinic, so he goes along and learns more than he bargained for. Here are scenes that didn’t make it in the final draft.
Kate: St Elizabeth Middle School, April 4, 2014
Because when you make jokes about cartels paying, the divine thinks it’s funny to make you have a visitor, I had a knock on the door just minutes after my joke. I crossed to the door and opened it. Maribel was there, but she had her worried face on. “Sister, I’ve got someone asking for La Doña outside.” Whether it was someone she knew or not, she’d act vague and use my code name because she had no idea who she could and couldn’t trust.
After glancing at my wall clock, I said, “You can go for the night. It’s fine.”
“But Sister…”
“I’m fine.”
To Ken, I said, “Stay here.” I closed the door behind me.
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