NW

Keisha attends Bristol with Rodney, where they spend time studying together, and they decide to pursue law. Outside of class, they socialize mainly with older people from a church they attend. Keisha feels alienated and notes that her fellow “students were tired of things Keisha had never heard of, and horrified by the only thing she knew well: the Bible” (235-236).

Leah and Keisha visit each other at school occasionally. Leah also feels alienated, asking herself “What am I doing here, with all these smart bastards? Has someone made a mistake somewhere?” (237). She hangs out with artistic types—her boyfriend makes films about boredom—and by her third visit, Keisha hardly recognizes Leah, who has grown dreadlocks and changed her style of clothing.

Keisha undergoes her own evolution, deciding to call herself Natalie. She becomes infatuated with a new classmate, Francesco (Frank) De Angelis, and bored with Rodney. On her third visit, Leah spends the night with Bristol student Alice Nho while Natalie decides it is over with Rodney. She begins to casually date other men but really wants Frank.