Part1: For months I left food at my neighbor’s door without knowing that that plate was the only thing keeping him going. The day he died, his family knocked on my door with a note that broke me in two.
She sat on the kitchen chair and placed the bag on her lap. I turned off the stove because the oil was starting to smoke. The smell of onion hung between us, harsh, familiar, much like any given afternoon with Mr. Arthur yelling at me from the hallway that my soup looked like mop water. —”My name is Claire,” she said. “I’m the oldest daughter.” I didn’t know what to say.

