So only two characters lived on my rsum. One was me, and the other was a heightened version of me, the me I imagined I'd be if I'd stayed in North Carolina. Alterna- Me had, for starters, a much thicker drawl, which I could pull off because rather than "doing an accent," I merely tapped into the way I sound when I've had too much to drink. She was young, married, and applying to law schools near her home in Raleigh. She wore pearls and belonged to things like supper clubs and congregations. She grocery shopped at the Harris Teeter and ate lunch on Sundays at the Carolina Country Club. If ever questioned, I could have recited her biography easily. I knew everything about her, even though I am not the one who created her. "Don't you want to come home and go to law school?" my uncle Lucius used to ask nearly every time we spoke. "Raleigh's nice, you know. It's ranked on the list of most livable cities." "I'll throw a luncheon for you!" Aunt Jane, for whom I am named, would add, having picked up another phone in the house. "And get you into all the clubs." "You can join the Episcopal Church." And then my aunt would shout, "I'll give you all my jewelry!" So, yeah, this girl was a big part of my life. And somehow, she worked. I canvassed Canal Street three, occasionally four times a week, always wearing a shade of the same