Her last painting was of you, slouching against the front door: only your drowning I-had-a-lousy-Third-World-childhood-and-all-I-got-was-this-attitude eyes recognizable.

“It was the curse that made me do it, you know. I don't believe in that sh*t, Os…”

“That's about it. In the months that follow you bend to the work. Because it fee…”

“It would have broken my heart if it hadn't been so damn familiar. I guess I'd g…”

“She would be a new person, she vowed. They said no matter how far a mule travel…”