I Paid My Father $250 in Rent Every Month for Five Years. After His Funeral, His Best Friend Gave Me a Key and a Box.

I had spent years fighting for permission to make music.

Now I was beginning to enjoy it without asking anyone.

PART 16

By the following summer, Open Door Recording had enough steady work that I hired a part-time assistant.

Her name was Maya, and she had recently completed a community-college audio program.

She was organized, curious, and far less intimidated by new software than I was.