Miri and I talked into the evening, sharing leftover Chinese from Lucy’s fridge. Then Miri walked through the apartment with me, listening to my commentary on all the things Lucy had surrounded herself with and what I thought they might have meant to her. On her dresser, I found a collection of photographs in colorful wooden frames. There was Lucy and her mom, who’d died when Lucy was thirteen. Lucy and her older sister who had died in a car accident six months before Lucy ran away from home. And there was a picture of Lucy…and me.
My breath caught in my throat when I saw it. Miri came to stand at my shoulder and her presence gave me the strength to pick up the frame, even though my fingers trembled. I remembered this picture being taken, remembered it perfectly.