Narberth

Narberth is the place TifAni FaNelli reaches after a long, confused walk through the night, and where Andrew Larson encounters her near a Wawa at almost one in the morning. The town marks a turn in her attempted journey to Arthur’s house: the route has left her exhausted and distressed, but reaching Narberth brings her into the care of an adult who can offer immediate shelter.

Location and Route

TifAni’s intended route was to reach Montgomery Avenue, continue to Arbor Road, and turn toward Arthur’s house. She kept choosing roads in the hope that one would lead to the main strip. On Glenn Road, she approached a stopped Mercedes to ask for directions; the driver panicked and sped away. TifAni imagines the woman later describing her as a threatening carjacker, a bitter projection that captures how exposed and misread she feels while trying simply to find her way.

Eventually, a turn opened onto a long row of streetlamps, with a Wawa anchoring the curve of the final quarter mile. TifAni ran beneath the station’s fluorescent lights, shielding her eyes from their sudden brightness. Inside, warmth and the enclosed space made her notice how raw she smelled; she stopped short of the counter, concerned that the odor might reach the cashier. When she asked whether Montgomery Avenue was farther up on the right, she realized she was slurring her words.

Arrival and Encounter

TifAni had walked at least seven miles from Olivia’s house by the time she made it to Narberth. It was almost one in the morning. Andrew Larson, returning from bars in Manayunk, had stopped at Wawa for a snack. The juxtaposition is stark: he is making an ordinary late-night stop, while TifAni has spent hours trying to navigate to safety.

Andrew gives TifAni a blanket, water, and an ice pack for her face. He wants to take her to the hospital, but she becomes hysterical at the suggestion, so he agrees to bring her back to his apartment. There, he gives her a soggy slice of Tombstone pizza. His ability to get her somewhere safe, calm her, and help her sober up seems unsurprising to her at the time; looking back, she recognizes that he was only twenty-four, and that his apparent experience with crisis was newer than she had understood.

Narrative Significance

Narberth functions less as a fully described town than as a threshold between TifAni’s isolated effort to reach Arthur and the help she receives from Andrew. The streetlamps and brightly lit Wawa give her a visible destination after repeated wrong turns, but arrival does not immediately make her feel secure: in the station, she is conscious of her smell and slurred speech, and the cashier’s startled reaction leaves her exposed. Andrew’s response provides the contrast. He offers practical care without forcing the hospital on her after she panics, making the encounter a brief passage from disorientation toward shelter.