Summary

The narrator remembers a photo of herself as a child at her grandmother’s house. She is “carrying a broom” because it was her job “to sweep the garden,” which her grandmother let go around the time she swallowed the coin and her parents died (46).

The narrator starts to feel out of sorts. One night, she cannot sleep because of the light on her printer. She considers smashing it but accidentally knocks over her perfume instead. She takes the broken glass out to the bin, where she ends up sorting the recycling. Afterwards, she stops at the liquor store before visiting Sasha. They have sex and she returns home, glad to wake up in her orderly apartment.

The next day, the narrator sees a man outside her building wearing the Burberry trench she discarded. They chat before agreeing to meet up again soon...