Summary

In Chapter 28, Phoebe meets with a guidance counselor, Shura, to discuss colleges. Phoebe cannot picture herself anywhere. She decides to hitch a ride with a classmate to visit Sally.

Sally lives in Harriet’s old house and still works with antiques. She greets Phoebe with a hug and is her usual affectionate-yet-brittle self. Phoebe explains that she is in Ithaca to get some answers from Sally about their family’s history. She brings up the letter and asks Sally if she knows who S.S. Western is. Sally warns Phoebe that the Oppenheimer family history is burdensome before saying everything she knows about Stella and Salo. Sally explains how guilty she feels for being such a selfish teenager, for abandoning Phoebe, and for calling Salo a terrible father right before he died. She is in therapy, still trying to heal her trauma.

Phoebe...