“Twenty-two years I’ve been carrying trash out of this building.

You learn which bin takes what.” He turned a page and flattened it with two fingers.

“And the county won’t take a call from you.

They’ll take one from the building.

So don’t go calling anybody just yet.”

Twenty-two years.

He said it the way a man says what day of the week it is.

I did the math twice and came up with the same answer both times, and it sat in front of me like a bill.