"Yeah. Yeah, me too." She shakes her head. "I know what the brochure says but I kept expecting I'd find a way out. I didn't think I'd still be here after all these months. But it gets to be like beating your head on a brick wall after a while. It's hard not to feel like the place is winning or you're giving in. But you can't sustain it."

She shrugs, glancing up at him. "I guess it's like I said a while back, about finding work. I try not to think of doing that, settling in, building something for myself here or with other people, as giving in or letting the place get the better of me. If anything, I feel like I'm striking a blow back. I'll be here if the city makes me be here, sure. But it'll goddamn well be on my terms, not the city's terms."