Chapter 21
Yun Hee : Teacher sorry to disturb you
Bryony: You have not disturbed me at all. What is up?
Yun Hee : I am gone
Bryony: Gone? Gone... how?
Yun Hee : Not there
Bryony: In Florence? Are you... wanting to be gone? Want gone?
Yun Hee : No
Bryony: Lost?
Yun Hee : Yes. Or yessssssssssssss
Bryony: One “yes” is perfect. No problem. I can help you. What street are you on?
Yun Hee : No street I am on train in New York City
Bryony: What?! Okay. Which train?
Yun Hee : A rapid-transit system. The MTA New York City Transit
Bryony: Yes. The subway. Do you know the letter of the train you are on?
Yun Hee : 2
Bryony: Letter
Yun Hee : A
Bryony: And do you see a name going across the screen?
Yun Hee : NO SMOKING
Bryony: Name of a street?
Yun Hee : NO WEAPONS ALLOWED
Bryony: Nope. Other long, digital name of next stop? Look up. Look. Up.
Yun Hee : URINATING IN PUBLIC WILL COST YOU
Bryony: I’m on my way.
***
Thankfully, swinging by the thirty-three-mile-long route of the A Train with clues of “many trees by church” and “man with
Snoopy balloon” was enough for my sleuthing skills, and it only took three hours to find Yun Hee and make my way to my flat,
where I now drop my purse onto the floor.
I don’t know why I ended up back here.
I suppose it has something to do with the fact that Gloria is waiting at her place right now like a sweet puppy. Eager to
hear how the meeting went. And I don’t have the heart to tell her.
Right now, I don’t have the heart to tell anyone anything.
I am at a new low.
One rung lower than needing to be around my sister to cheer me up. Now I just want to be alone.
Well, except for the random moments I have to wind my way through the city to rescue well-meaning students who thought it
wise to “study” the metro system for the test in real life when they’ve been in America a total of two weeks.
That’s it.
I’ll have to start doing field trips to the subway with my classes. I mean, how many times do I have to go find a student stranded on the metro before I learn this lesson?
I begin to make a note about adding in a “field trip” when I stop myself.
But of course.
Never mind.
I order food in, and somewhere in the next six hours, eat it. The hum of a series of baking shows on television adds noise to the emptiness. I’ll probably shuffle back over to Gloria’s in the morning. It’s too depressing here. Who knows? I’ll probably take her up on the (continuous) offer to bunk together again. I’m on month-to-month now. About to be out of a job. Two jobs. Might as well.
I don’t know what exactly I was hoping to gain by being here, but whatever it was, it never came.
Inspiration?
Hardly.
Just bleak reality.
But then, in the middle of the night, I shoot up in bed.
With a solution.