I never went back to America with my friends. Instead I made do in Rome, where I was happy. I went on to rid myself of the guilt I felt for not having studied economics, and for not having paid attention to my mother when she tried a few times to arrange a marriage for me, with the idea (I’m guessing) of linking me up with her own destiny and passing down her unhappiness. I wasn’t sorry to put a little distance between me and those two, who didn’t even know what to get me for a present.
