Ellen felt out of place welcoming people to an apartment that she herself had never set foot in until the previous day. But there was nothing to be done for it. Her brother Jake, who had visited the apartment many times over the last 10 years, was already drinking and talking too loudly and threatening to play their father’s scratchy 50s records on the old RCA machine. Dreading the music, Ellen stood on the dark landing just outside the apartment and helped people off with their heavy winter coats and scarves. Everyone was out of breath after trudging up the four flights of stairs. On the ground floor, a handwritten sign taped to the wall announced that the elevator was broken. “Wednesday” was written at the top of the sign, then crossed out and“Thursday” written beneath, which was also crossed out and “Friday” scrawled below that.
“You must be Milt’s...
