By the end of this moving story, he has gotten rid of everything; he’s torn up the bus pass from the station where they met, blown the unused condoms into balloons and set them adrift from his balcony, and dropped the pot of lemon balm tea she gave him from the balcony, too.
“She stomped down the hall to her bedroom. In the darkest corner of her closet she found the heavy canvas bag that left over from her father’s days in the Navy, it had Krupnik M A stenciled on the side. Once, when she was smaller, her father had put her into it, pulled the drawstring closed, and carried her around the apartment while she giggled.”
“Scipiak cast an occasional glance in the officer’s direction. He was not used to outsiders, of that Yukin was sure. He had overheard the captain exchanging angry words with the trader over the delay in recapturing the escapees.”