ISSUE: Spring/Summer 2023
I don’t lie, but I try to make myself
sound worse off than I am. Unemployed?
Yes. Uninsured? Definitely. She wipes
her hands and napkin-pats her lips before
returning to the keyboard, working on
a jelly donut as we go. Any prospects?
No. Any temporary benefits? No.
Do you take medication? Shamelessly
I weigh what’s most mysterious.
Undiagnosed, I say, but whatever she types
is much longer than that. She takes
the next bite. Address? None
at the moment. Connections? I ask
what she means. Do you have people?
I hesitate, then make them vanish.
