When Donna came back from school, she was very happy to see her cousin Ronnie's girlfriend. She secretly said to Ronald: "Your girlfriend is prettier than those female classmates in high school."
Ronald laughed. The four of them put on formal clothes and went to have a meal at the best steakhouse in town. Aunt Karen looked at Ronald and Antonia, smiling and looking very happy.
After dinner, Ronald sent Antonia to the hotel. Antonia went to change clothes and take a shower. Ronald was alone with his thoughts. What Theresa Kate said to him in the afternoon always lingered in his mind.
"My dear, what's wrong with you? I rarely see you looking worried." Antonia came out of the bathroom, hugged Ronald from behind and asked.
"It's nothing, I'm just thinking about the start of school." Ronald made up his mind to seize the time the two of them get together and not let Antonia worry about it. No one can say for sure about the future of young people. Maybe there will be a turn for the better in the future.
Woolen cloth?
"Ronnie, did you know? You like to scratch your ears when you lie." Antonia pointed out with a smile.
"Donia, I..."
"No, don't say it." Antonia gently sealed Ronald's mouth with her lips to prevent him from continuing.
…
Ronald got out of bed, poured a glass of water for his dear Tonya, and brought it to the bedside. Antonia took it and drank half of it, then patted the bed board and motioned for him to lie down.
Ronald lay on the bed, and Antonia put his strong arms around her shoulders, then leaned her head and lay in Ronald's arms. The two of them remained silent, enjoying a moment of tenderness and tranquility.
Ronald looked at the girl in his arms, and felt a warm touch on his hand, indicating that this was really happening. He really loved this self-reliant girl, and looking at her childish face, Ronald
I touched it with my hand.
As soon as the girl moved, Ronald said: "Tonya, did I wake you up?"
"No, I haven't slept yet. I like you to call me Tonya."
"Then I will call you Tonya from now on, my dear."
"Um."
"Tonya."
"Um."
After a while, Antonia remembered something and laughed: "You know, Ronnie, if you really fucked me up that day, I would have no choice but to marry you and become the mother of our child.
.My faith does not allow abortion.”
Ronald also smiled, remembering his anxious mood that morning: "If you gave birth to a child for me, would you prepare breakfast for me every day and pick up the dry cleaning clothes?"
"Of course, I will also make lunch and dinner for you, give birth to a child, and send him to school every day."
Ronald hugged Antonia tightly, "I know, Tonya. But I can't be so selfish. Ballet is your dream."
"I also know that it is your dream to be a film director, Ronnie. Sometimes I think, if only you were a less ambitious stage assistant, I would marry you and meet you every day at the ballet.
"
"Then you won't fall in love with me, Tonya."
"I will, you are so cute." Antonia touched Ronald's ear. "The first time I saw you during the audition, I felt that you were interested in me."
Ronald recalled that when he saw her, she was the same person as the actor in the dream, so he was a little embarrassed. So he smiled and said nothing.
After a while, he spoke:
"When I get rich, I will be the patron of your ballet company. The condition is that you must give birth to my child." Ronald also began to talk about his daydream.
"Pfft, then I'm waiting for this day, New York City Ballet's new patron, Ronald Lee."
"What, you've joined the New York City Ballet? Tonya?"
Antonia nodded, "The founder, Mr. Balanchine, personally selected me. Soon I will graduate early and join New York City, starting as a dance student."
"That's great, Tonya. Congratulations."
The two young people were caught up in the longing for the future and the fear of the unknown.
The next day, Ronald took Antonia to play around on Staten Island, and also went to the Italian settlement in the north of the island to eat pizza. Staten Island is mainly white, and the Italian settlement is near the north of the island.
Beyond that is the black area.
The Italian pizza here is not as good as Little Italy in Manhattan, but the two of them still had a good time eating it.
On Staten Island, which is isolated from direct land transportation from Manhattan, Ronald feels as if he has been cut off from the future, as if he has become a farmer and Antonia has become a peasant woman. The two will live here for the rest of their lives and give birth to several children.
.
However, the holiday finally passed, and the day for Antonia to join the New York City Council was coming soon. The two reluctantly bid farewell to the paradise and returned to Manhattan on earth.
A few days after returning to Manhattan, Antonia joined the New York City Ballet. The training for newbies was very intense. Ronald sometimes didn't see Tonya for several days. The two could only express their feelings on the phone when they had time.
.
Another day passed, and in a blink of an eye, it was the day when Ronald himself started school. Ronald drove to Washington Square to go through the enrollment procedures.
New York University originally had its own campus, but it encountered a financial crisis in the early 1970s. It had no choice but to sell the University Heights campus in the Bronx to the newly established City University of New York in 1973.
Make enough money to avoid bankruptcy.
Today, at New York University, the teaching buildings of various colleges are scattered throughout Manhattan. Each college has its own building. It is euphemistically called: a university without walls.
Near Washington Square, New York University has a student center and school office where new students are admitted.
Ronald parked the car and went to pay his tuition.
There are many new students who are brought here by their parents and the whole family. The father drives the car and the mother is responsible for the logistics. They send the new students to school and then arrange the student apartments.
Like Ronald, not many come by themselves. Even fewer earn their own money to pay for tuition.
Aunt Karen wanted to take a leave of absence to send Ronald to college, but Ronald dissuaded her by saying that it would be better to attend the graduation ceremony than to send him to school. In the future, she could come whenever she wanted, and there was no need to worry about whether to send him to college. Besides,
Ronald also has his own apartment, no dormitory, and no place for Aunt Karen to play.
There was a lot of information on the front desk, and Ronald picked up some to look at.
"Student loans," Ronald put it down with a smile.
In addition, inflation is already heading toward 30% annualized interest rates, which is very high. There are very few low-interest student loans processed by the federal government, and these commercial loans are comparable to loan sharks.
If the people at the bottom want to get ahead, unless they are particularly lucky, they will have to continue to struggle for several generations.
The Tisch School of the Arts is not in Washington Square, not far from where Ronald lives.
Looking at the courses that could be chosen, Ronald was a little confused. He just wanted to try them out after the semester started before deciding whether to choose some courses. Of course, he had to learn the ones related to film and television, and then see if they were interesting.