Nassau Knolls

Nassau Knolls is a cemetery in Port Washington associated with Brian West’s grave. Lillian Kagwa presents it to her son, Apollo Kagwa, as a place to visit together, making the cemetery a concrete destination for a grief Apollo has not yet faced.

Setting

Lillian describes Nassau Knolls as a beautiful location and tells Apollo that it is in Port Washington. The brief description gives the cemetery a calm, inviting quality, in contrast with the emotional weight of the visit she proposes.

The Proposed Visit

After Apollo and Lillian share a moment of laughter and prepare for bed, she asks him to visit Brian West’s grave with her the next morning and suggests bringing flowers. The mention of the grave unsettles Apollo: he feels suddenly in need of the care he had seemed ready to give his mother, and tells her he is not ready. Lillian draws him down beside her and holds his hand.

Later, after Apollo confronts Lillian over his belief that his father left because Apollo was worthless, she writes the Nassau Knolls address on a card. She says he should go to the grave, while making clear that he need not accompany her. Apollo does not take up the invitation then; he shuts and locks his door, and watches Lillian wait in the hallway for a car before leaving at two-thirty in the morning.

Narrative Significance

Nassau Knolls matters in the story not through a depicted visit but as the destination Lillian offers twice, first as a shared act of remembrance and later as something Apollo may undertake alone. His refusal marks the distance between learning about his father and being ready to face his grave. The address left on the floor keeps that possibility open without resolving whether Apollo goes.