"That money is burning a hole in my knapsack. I'm sure everyone can see it, their eyes scorching X-rays into the white envelope to the crisp bills inside."

Just imagining how nerve wracking it would be to carry around 3000 dollars in cash, that is your father's only hope to escape deportation, but that may or may not work anyway, if you actually make it to your destination without getting robbed on the way first. I actually read in one of my mom's nursing-books-with-the-really-long-names that most teenagers have that same...sensation? They think that everyone in the vicinity is watching them, witnessing their humiliation or infraction, when in reality, the most they get is a cursory glance in passing. Even when you are sure you are in the middle of the most extensive, life altering drama that has ever played on soil, air or sea, the rest of the world is unlikely to care. In fact, they are most likely in the midst of their own dramas. Then again, don't trust that too much, the instant you stop thinking that everyone is watching you is when everyone starts watching you.