We want you to have what is yours.”

“I have my salary,” I said.

“I do not need the pearls.”

“You need to think about your family,” she said.

Her eyes were rimmed with red, her skin looking thin and grey in the harsh fluorescent light of the diner.

“We are trying to keep everything from falling apart.”

“The police came to my apartment last night,” I said.

Evelyn stopped twisting her ring.