I wanted to know what the room cost before it told me.

Marcus said Frank would have liked that.

I said maybe.

He could have tried saying so while he was alive.

Marcus did not defend him.

On November 16 I returned to the studio at 8:20 p.m. with the microphone, the guitar, and a small notebook of song ideas I had not opened in months.

Marcus was already there, checking a cable connection behind the mixing desk.

I recorded a short guitar track.