I just got word from Natalie that she made it back home from Ypsilanti safely (for the most part). Heres her note:
i’m back in brooklyn. had a great time in michigan. on the way home, this half-russian, half-tartar totally draped himself all over me and was stroking my hands through the night. this was on the greyhound. i have to go. i’m being called away.
The first time I read that, I was pretty confident that she was horrified by the fact that this stranger was draped over her, stroking her hands. Upon reading it a second time though, I began to wonder why she didnt just move her hands. And, right now, after having read it a few times, Im pretty much convinced that our young vegan friend has fallen in love with some smooth-talking parolee In fact, when she says that shes being called away, Im picturing that its this guy from the bus doing the calling. I imagine him standing there, shirtless, in his leather trench coat, telling her to sell her last few textbooks so that they can score some speed.
One day she’s happily working on an organic dairy farm, and then this happens. I can see the headline now: Student from Columbia visits Ypsilanti, Throws Promising Life Away.
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I thought that I’d post something here since no one has, but I really don’t have anything to add. I did just get a note from Natalie, but there was no word as to whether or not the man from the bus was still in her life. If he is, my guess is that she’s too ashamed to tell us As for Natalie, I think I may have mentioned it earlier, but she wants to apprentice with a traditional baker that uses a wood-fired oven. Well, she thought that she might have found the right mentor here in Ypsi, but now we hear that the woman who ran the Sourdough bakery recently died. I guess that means Natalie will not be coming to live in Ypsilanti, unless, of course, she decides to buy the old bakery and teach herself.