Chapter Ten
There are November rains that cut to the bone. Day after day of dreariness. I feel like the sun is cheating this portion of the planet, but I still maintain enough poise to get through classes and meetings and endless grading papers. My mind swims back to the stranger and to Nicholas Riley. I’m not sure I’ve even connected the two distinct beings into one man, not yet. Though I’m often thinking of them both. My mind drifts as I gaze out the window watching the pelting storm rage down the street outside the apartment. There are rivers in gutters, and enormous puddles growing where the street drains are clogged.
Thinking I have work to do in my office, I find myself bold enough to face all that rain, walking toward campus with my umbrella shielding me from the shower of
