Three weeks out, it looked like she would be driving to New Haven with two seniors from Owl, but she didn’t know how to announce this fact to Clendenin without making him uncomfortable. Though he tried to hide it, he clearly became threatened every time Dabney mentioned another boy’s name. Dabney and Albert Maku, for example, were just friends, but Clen was jealous because Dabney, apparently, went “on and on” about how much she enjoyed Albert’s accent. “I could never be romantically interested in Albert,” Dabney said with a laugh during one of their Tuesday night phone calls.“Why not?” Clen challenged. “Because he’s black?” Clen was studying journalism and was obsessed with probing “issues.” “Because he’s Albert,” Dabney said. “You know Albert.”“Yes,” Clen said. “I do know Albert.” His tone was accusatory, meant to emphasize the fact that Clen had traveled to Cambridge four times freshman year, had seen her dorm room and strolled her campus and met her friends, while Dabney had yet to visit New Haven even once.There was a reason for that, which they left undiscussed.But at the start of sophomore year, Clen had announced that he would not set foot in Cambridge again unless Dabney came first to New Haven.She had promised to come the third weekend of September and canceled, and then promised again the long weekend in October and canceled, saying she had too much studying to do.
