upset tender_square at the society shop, i ran into my best friend's mother. she was stooped over the earrings, trawling for treasures, months after we took hundreds of garbage bags from her apartment to donations. "please don't tell her," the mother begged. "it'll only upset her and she already has enough she's dealing with." my friend found out yesterday that the lump she felt in her cat's belly is a tumor, which she feared. "i had a feeling it wasn't good when she didn't text back," the mother said. she spoke of selling some clothes she has with new tags out of her trunk at the sportmen's club. "i have a big car repair i need to pay for," she said. "it's worth a shot." the last time i saw her, i was collecting two boxes of brand new clothes she wanted me and her daughter to go through. they all smelled like cats and were covered in hair though they'd never been worn. "it'll be our secret," she said to me. and immediately, i had guilt for becoming complicit in her addiction. 230720 what's it to you? who go blather from