Chapter 27

After recovering his cell phone, Eitan caught a ride with Bea’s paralegal who had to drive to the courthouse in Boston for the boss. Thankfully, the man was comfortable with silence, letting Eitan text family and friends as he tried to create a plan. Settling into his seat on Amtrak’s Nor’easter, Eitan continued to follow up on his texting.

His first stop was New Haven. Reggie picked him up at the train station and the two went out for lunch, trying to cram their limited time into catching up on all that they had missed of each other. Playboy Reggie had toned down the party animal persona and become serious about the world. As he put it, “I’ve been in some sewers and seen some shit that is all too possible.”

After lunch, they walked over to the registrar’s office where Eitan had an appointment with an administrator to start the reinstatement process. Reggie assured Eitan that he had a place to crash before making his goodbyes. After the short meeting with an administrative bureaucrat, Eitan sat down with the provost’s office to ascertain where in the curriculum Eitan belonged. The provost herself came in to further inquire about his work with the Navy and now with the CIA. Attempting to capitalize on their curiosity, he argued that his contract work was worth credits toward graduation. He left with good will but without a firm answer.

Eitan continued down the coast to New York City. Leslie Hawthorne welcomed him into her new apartment in Harlem. Akemi was still locked down at Quantico and Leslie’s couch was open and available, at least that is what he thought.

“Just put your bag in the bedroom,” Leslie said. “What? Akemi didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“As you gave your nano to Bea, you are going to give your nano to me,” Leslie said.

“Yeah, I can see my darlin’ sister setting me up like this,” Eitan said. “What else did Akemi say?”

“First, you are taking me out to dinner on your dime,” Leslie said. “I’ll eat anything except cheap Chinese and pizza. I’ve had way too much of both lately. You are going to treat me like a princess on my first date with a boy, and then you are going to sweep me off my feet and onto the bed where my shy stallion shall ride me into oblivion.”

“You’ve been reading way too many romance novels, Leslie. I can see Akemi suggesting I pick up dinner and all the rest is your imagination.”

“Maybe it is,” Leslie said with a sly smile. “Mommy helped me get a reservation at the Red Rooster in two hours. Interested?”

“I need to shower,” Eitan said.

The Fried Bird Royale was more than the two of them could handle. The blueberry waffles brought Eitan to his knees, leaving him pleading with his belly to expand just a little more room. No matter, he had a bag of leftovers in one hand and a fine young woman holding his other one as they walked back to her apartment. As Leslie explained, the no-no mania had little traction in Harlem where people of color wanted more nano, not less. Through their eyes she learned they saw the violence and rioting as another crisis for the white folk who had fallen from the middle class despite being white. The perspective made him wonder if his father had encountered racism at Hobart, which was mostly white. He had never thought to ask.

The walk helped Eitan digest his feast. As soon as the apartment door was shut, Leslie shed her clothes. She posed, giving Eitan a wink as she gently bit the tip of her finger. With her other hand, she waggled her finger, urging him to follow as she disappeared into the bedroom.

What is it about the Hawthorne sisters and the sharpness of their nails? Eitan still enjoyed himself thoroughly.

“When people grow up, they leave the nest,” Leslie began, resting her head on her hand as they lay in bed, basking in post sex bliss. “Some people are close with their sibs, keeping in touch, but going out in the world to make their separate lives.”

“Uh huh,” Eitan said, unsure of where she was going.

“You three are different though,” she said. “Usually adopted kids wander further away, but the three of you are thick as thieves. Even more, I think of Akemi as this headstrong force of nature that destroys swaths of land with her gaze alone. Then the two brothers had to disappear, and she collapses down into this quiet mess of anxiety. You returned and the Akemi of old rebounded.”