That second application is the document the state attorney’s office eventually cared about, and the reason is that it is not a decision.

It is a decision made twice, ninety-nine days apart, in a public office, in front of a clerk.

I asked, months later, why the first licence expired.

The answer turned out to be entirely ordinary and it is worse for being ordinary.

The venue on Cordova Street had a cancellation in September and Giselle wanted the courtyard.

Part Eight: Monday Morning