Re: 9pm Oliver and OPEN
"I'll keep that in mind, for real." At home, Avram usually accepted these requests from friendly outsiders but never cashed in, choosing instead to just vent periodically to his cousin over the phone. But that was at home, where the situation was more under his control; here, the people running this place seemed bent on finding a way to squeeze a reaction out of him.
"And likewise, anytime you want to talk, my door's open," he said. "People our age—listen to me, I'm talking like we're eighty—but around forty you've been through some shit, you know? Not that younger people have no problems, obviously." Especially here, although he didn't want to say so; Kiley hadn't been completely wrong to label everyone as damaged. It didn't seem to be a pattern across the board, but he wouldn't have been surprised to learn that people here were disproportionately chosen for having painful backgrounds. Vulnerable people were easier to take and easier to manipulate. "This place is a hell of a midlife crisis though."