Hostages Project As[I]Am “EXTRADITION. Until the flight attendant delivered me into my new parents’ custody, they knew me only from photographs. One head-on, one in profile, with my name printed in English on a paper tag across my chest. Baby mugshots. All the papers were in order, my arrival signed for. I was ten months old. “FREIGHT. On my maiden voyage, I’d already flown further than my adoptive parents would fly in their lives. “She was the best baby on the plane,” said the flight attendant. “She didn’t make a peep.” She handed me into my mother’s arms and walked away.“ Back to Essays & Stories