In Practice

(To read from the beginning, click here)

She noticed that the message light on the phone was blinking. It was late.

“Christ, what a day,” she muttered, “Who could that be?”

She hit the voice mail button with her pencil.

“Beep. Monday. 6:43 p.m. Hey Katie, it’s Charles. Elena gave me this number and said I could reach you here. Some of us are taking a study break and heading over to Ortlieb’s for a bit. It’s open mike night on Mondays. Maybe we’ll see you? You haven’t been around much this summer. Hope you can make it. We’ll be there around 9:00 p.m.” The machine beeped again, signaling that there were no more messages.

Charles was one of Michael’s friends from law school. He, Michael, Elena and the rest of the Thursday night bar crew were taking a bar exam prep course in Center City during the day. As a result, none of them were working during the summer. Elena had put her job doing insurance defense at a mid-sized Center City firm on hold while she studied. Like Elena, Charles deferred his job defending class action suits while he prepped for the exam. Michael, on the other hand, had a position guaranteed at one of the most prestigious firms in the city waiting for him in the fall, so long as he passed the bar exam.

Katie sighed. She couldn’t afford not to work during the summer, nor could she afford the exam prep course that ran about $2,000. She was working during the day and studying by herself at night, using her old text books and notes from law school. It had put quite a dent in her social life during the week, not to mention creating unneeded extra stress.

She stared at the clock. 8:38 p.m. I’m too tired to go out and I should probably do some studying anyway. She felt underprepared; the bar exam was less than a month away.

She flipped her legal pad shut and tucked it into her briefcase. On her way out of the room, she paused at the light switch and stared again briefly at the house across the way before turning out the light.

The walk to the light rail station was pleasant. Haddonfield definitely had that small town charm going for it. Despite the fact that it wasn’t even 9:00 p.m., most of the small businesses along Kings Highway had already closed for the night, leaving the corridor quite dark with the exception of some interior lights in storefront windows. Nonetheless, Katie felt safe; it was one of the things she liked most about the town. It reminded her of home.

The train was, remarkably, on time. Katie slid her transpass through the turnstile and ran to get on before the doors closed. It was too late to risk having to wait for the next train.

The train crossed the Delaware River via the Ben Franklin Bridge. When she first arrived in town, it had taken Katie awhile to make sense of the fact that the main river in Philadelphia was the Delaware and that it divided Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Philadelphia was located at the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania, which meant that it was just miles away to Delaware and New Jersey. And on the right traffic day, Washington, DC and New York City were a couple hours’ drive away. As cities go, Philadelphia had the perfect location.

The proximity to New Jersey made for an easy commute, especially since Katie did not have a car. The light rail was more or less a straight shot from Haddonfield to her neighborhood and it was a great ride. There was something infinitely inviting about the city’s skyline at night, reflecting just over the river as the train rumbled by. After the train left the bridge, it crossed near Vine Street, just slightly north of Center City. On clear nights, like tonight, you could see Billy Penn high atop City Hall, nestled between the two towers at Liberty Place as you traveled. It was an amazing view.

She loved the city. She loved its energy. She missed hanging out, getting to know what the city had to offer. The constant hours at the firm were draining. Haddonfield was nice enough, but it was still the suburbs.