There is only luck, and a floor that can give way beneath anyone, on any night, without warning.

I was not safe from her fate because I was better than her.

I had simply, so far, been luckier.

Once you understand that all the way down, you cannot look at a person on a cold bench the same way again.

You cannot.

I have tried.

It is not possible, and I am grateful that it is not.

So one morning I asked Alejandro to take me back to the soup kitchen.