My friends are waiting for me in Miami!

I don’t have anywhere to sleep tonight!

Just give me a small stipend, please, anything!”

I looked down at her hand on my coat, and I removed it, gently but completely, the way you remove a burr from a sleeve.

“You wanted to look like a millionaire online, Bristol,” I said, and there was no cruelty in it, only a flat and final clarity.

“Now you get to find out what it’s actually like to earn what you have.” It was not a punishment.