In From Marseilles
Francine’s mother was tempted to pay a visit to Los Angeles but thought the better of it and stayed put in Marseilles. She emailed back an introduction to a man in Tijuana she had once worked with, who, it turned out, would be pleased to buy all the cars Francine and...
The Rarest Of Teachers
Caroline found Francine to be the rarest of teachers, one who stitched together the finer points of an exercise with its broader objectives in a way that appeared natural, even anticipated. Francine saw in Caroline the rarest of students, a tempered thirst for...
Vaguely Drawn Into A Study
Only vaguely could he imagine being drawn into reading this study. Detached researchers could only hunt and peck. Rarely would they cross over wretched waters to the essential questions. Would a marriage be more likely to dissolve if a child’s death was sudden and...
Father
Caroline’s father figured that somewhere a study had been published on the impact of a death of a child, how the loss sears the family and ultimately scorches its once sturdy framework.
The Cheltenham Ladies College
Six years of boarding school at the Cheltenham Ladies College did nothing to lure Caroline into British ways. The opposite unfolded. Each passing day intensified her yearning to be back in the States.
Francine
Francine, the girl from Corsica, took Caroline out every day and taught her how to steal cars. At night, in the spare bedroom of their house in Silver Lake, Amira taught them the finer points of forgery.
In A Parking Lot
In a parking lot in Glendale, Caroline and Francine left the cars they had stolen. They had no idea what to do with them so Francine emailed her mother for advice.
Graduated
Somehow she was graduated and flew home to Los Angeles. A week later, Caroline was joined by her two friends from Cheltenham, the girl from the Emirates whose father was still in prison for forging financial documents and the Corsican girl whose parents continued to...
Unwound Again In The Stadium
They couldn’t hear her coming, She was making too much noise. Soaring past the goalposts, Taunting all the boys.
The Mythology Of New Friends
Her two new friends pressed Caroline to tell them stories of California, whose mythology was already embedded in their minds. They soon came to realize that the myths they were so tightly drawn to were actually incorrigible truths.
Caroline
Caroline soon befriended a quiet girl with impossibly large emerald eyes from the Emirates. Her father was in a British prison for forging financial documents. The two of them soon took up with a Corsican girl whose parents, they learned one night when the three of...
Outcast
She was quickly branded as an unsophisticated outcast. There was nothing for Caroline to do but take pride in her new identity. This was not because she was an American. There were other girls from the States she considered as condescending and spineless as the...
Dulwich
When her parents left Dulwich for Southern France, they moved Caroline to a boarding school. Under different circumstances, The Cheltenham Ladies College may have proven satisfactory, but a cruel collection of frictions soon surfaced.
Gipsy Hill
They enrolled Caroline in a school by Gipsy Hill. Somehow, her parents realized how much of a mistake this was before she did.
Marathon on the Florida Keys
After Marathon on the Florida Keys and Wellfleet on Cape Cod they moved on to Great Britain, where they settled in Dulwich for a year. Their pain and restlessness knew no bounds.
Teddy Roosevelt At The Grand Canyon
Teddy Roosevelt At The Grand Canyon made it clear… “In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. I want to ask you to keep this great wonder of nature as it now is. I hope you will not...
Their Own Fashion
In their own fashion, each understood their loss was unique. Caroline knew her mother’s pain differed from her father’s and that her own feelings differed from those of her parents. She also knew she was not of an age to distinguish this.
The Conversation
The conversation each of them looked so forward to never took place. They found they didn’t know how to talk about their loss. No attempt was made to express their feelings, although their feelings were as real as the boundaries which blockaded their expression.
