Judith had been my closest friend for fifteen years, which predated Gabriel by three years, and she had the quality of a close friend of fifteen years, which was that she knew me well enough to receive information without filling the space around it with her own reaction.
I told her what had happened.
She said: what are you going to do?
I said: I want to make a point.
She said: what kind of point?
I said: the specific kind that Gabriel cannot argue with.
She said: what does that mean?
I said: he says this is his house. He says he’s the man of the house.
She said: yes.
I said: I want to demonstrate to him what his house looks like without what I contribute to it.
