December 12, 2019:
When the end comes it's her father who takes her home. Turns up in a pickup truck, throws her things in the back and spirits her away, before the landlord finds out or she can destroy another phone.
She texts to say goodbye, and I'm so happy she's thought of me, in her moment of crisis and surprise, when there are far more important things for her to have in mind.
I text to tell our friend the waitress at our favorite restaurant. I tell her I don't think I'll be in anymore. I'm not seeing a reason for leaving the house.
She's been more important to me than perhaps either she or I knew. The friend who conjured incentive, without whom four walls are totally fine.