Warlight

During the summer, Nathaniel works at a restaurant and begins dating a co-worker. The girl’s brother works at a real estate agency, and she and Nathaniel regularly sneak into vacant listings. She names herself “Agnes Street” after the street of one of the properties. They become lovers, and she teaches him about mutual pleasure. They spend the evenings in the dark, unfurnished flats and eat food stolen from the restaurant they work in. One day, a man follows them during a bus ride, but they evade him.

Nathaniel keeps his home life a secret at school. While at the movie theater, Rachel has a seizure, and Nathaniel helps her recover by using The Darter’s techniques of placing a ruler in her mouth and hugging her as they lie on the floor. 

As an adult, Nathaniel acknowledges that he and his sister have separate memories of their past and are no longer close. He comments on how the Agnes of his youth is not the same person as Agnes the adult. He recalls a charcoal drawing Agnes gave him of them holding hands under a stormy sky. He no longer has the drawing and hopes to find traces of the image in the galleries he visits.