I let it ring four times before answering. “Hello, Gavin,” I said calmly. He was shouting so loudly that I held the phone away from my ear. “The card got declined at the gas station! The cashier says the whole account is frozen! What did you do?!” Behind him, I heard angry customers and a horn blaring outside. I took a slow sip of cold coffee and stayed silent, the same way he had kept me waiting for eighteen years.

Then his voice cracked. “The tank is almost empty, and my phone is at four percent. Just unfreeze everything, please.” I stood up from the cold metal bench. “Gavin, put me on speaker,” I said. “I think everyone at that counter should hear about apartment 4B on Maple Street, and who has been paying its rent for fourteen months.” The line went completely silent.