Michael, Beckett and I are in Brooklyn, specifically in Red Hook, under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. We are walking to Carol Gardens. Things have changed. The neighborhood doesn't feel as rough. We're looking for an apartment to live in and end up seeing one that we like. It's giant and has multiple windows, a porch and a big kitchen. But the current tenants smoke. They are younger college boys who are throwing a party at the place while people are there to hunt for an apartment. Everyone searching for an apartment has kids. Later my sister, Beckett and I find an atrium with parrots. We song it's a hard knock life and the parrots mimic us. Beckett loves this and we are all laughing. I sing like a Mexican crooner, surprised how close and clear my voice sounds in this way. I think to myself that I haven't been funny in a while, or playful, and how good it feels to do this. My sister and I laugh.
