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gave her a half-smile and said, It s a school in Rhode Island.
Never heard of it.
Well, it s there. I m almost certain.
You d know, Gina agreed. Then you started teaching?
Ah, no. I had to go to grad school. She looked interested, and I was
now certain that she wasn t kidding. The woman didn t know you had to
have a graduate degree to teach at a university! I went to Dartmouth for
grad school, and when I finished, I got the job at NYU. That was three
years ago.
Wow. You re almost thirty, and you just started to work three years
ago?
I nodded. Sounds kinda old when you put it that way.
It is old, she said, laughing harder than seemed appropriate. I
started working when I was eight.
No!
Yes, she said, nodding enthusiastically. I washed cars, cleaned
offices, all sorts of things. I could go on all night, but I want to know
more about you. Tell me about your family.
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Susan X Meagher
Not too much to tell. My dad lives in the house I grew up in, and my
mom and stepfather live near Penn.
Where he works.
Yeah. The University of Pennsylvania. I didn t want to insult her,
but I couldn t tell if she was familiar with it. Many people have never
heard of Brown, but Penn s pretty well known.
Yeah, I know it. They have a good football team most years. Joe
Paterno had some great teams there.
I cringed. No, that s Penn State in State College. Penn is in
Philadelphia.
Mmm. She picked up her glass and drained it. Colleges aren t my
thing.
Did you go?
To college?
Yeah.
Nah. I knew everything I needed to know to do my job by the time I
graduated from high school. I wanted to get busy and start working.
That was a unique perspective. I don t know many make that any
people who know all they need to know by the time they re eighteen years
old. I guess there s no reason to go if you re not interested.
Exactly. My mom wanted me to go, but she knew she was wasting her
breath. She forced my oldest brother to go, and he got a degree, but he
didn t think it was worth it.
Where did he go?
Suffolk.
Is that in New York?
Sure. You don t know it?
No, I don t think I ve heard of it.
Hah! I guess I do know a little bit about colleges. I know one you
don t know.
I couldn t resist her smile. I m sure there are thousands of colleges I
don t know.
He said he basically wasted two years. Why bother?
Two years? He got a degree in two years? Was that even possible?
You d have to take a heavy load every term, including summers.
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Cherry Grove
Yeah. It s a two-year school. He finished in two years, too. Most
people don t.
Holy shit! She doesn t know the difference between a university and a
community college. I didn t know if I looked stunned, but I was trying
hard not to.
Gina continued. I was never good at sitting in a classroom listening to
somebody drone on about something I didn t care about. She must have
realized what she d said because she made a face and added, I m sure
you re good at what you teach. What do you teach?
History.
Her eyes lit up. My favorite subject. I would have gone to college if I
could have just read history books.
I reached out and squeezed her knee. You should have gone to grad
school. That s all I did for years.
Damn, that would be nice. What kinda history do you teach?
European. Ancient European.
No! She slapped her thighs. I love ancient history.
I wasn t sure if she was pulling my leg or not, so I probed a little bit.
What do you like?
Roman, definitely Roman, but Greek s okay, too. I mean, you ve gotta
give em some credit for getting the ball rolling, right?
Right, I said, surprised and pleased that she was genuinely interested
in my field. Of course, I couldn t imagine she d gotten very far into it.
Not many people do, even with a degree. Ancient history has to be one of
the least popular majors in the country. We ll have to compare our
favorite books.
Cool. She was so happy she was practically wriggling in her seat.
I m really into Italian history from the fifteenth century on, but I ve read
some books in your area. I felt like I needed a good foundation, so I
started with the Classics.
All on your own?
She gave me a look that seemed a little insolent. Who else is gonna
read for me?
Good point. She was touchy about school. That much was clear.
Maybe she couldn t afford to go or didn t get into any place decent.
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Susan X Meagher
Without much of a segue, she changed the subject. Tell me more
about your family. What s your sister do?
She teaches, too. High school. Her husband is a sales manager for a
drug company. He travels a lot.
I wouldn t like that, she said without hesitation. I d never want a
partner who was gone a lot. Wouldn t work for me.
I don t think I d mind, I said. I m so busy with school that it might
be nice to have some evenings alone to catch up on things.
We can agree to disagree, she said, nodding decisively. So, that s it?
That s your whole family?
Uh-huh. They re all in Philadelphia, and I m all by myself in New
York.
Where do you live?
The East Village.
In the city?
Yeah, I said, wondering where she could live that she hadn t heard of
it. How about you?
The island.
You live here?
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