She was twenty-three, grinning at the admissions counselor and telling her yes, no problem, handling the coursework in the program would be no problem, and the internship, and the field assignment, and the study groups, and the commute? No problem. Not a problem. She was running, always running—running to work, running to eat, running to class, studying at 2 A.M. while Akilah was fast asleep, dozing off at her computer, pinching herself, slapping herself, eating ice cubes to stay awake.
