32
Four years before the Community
The music that had been playing through her earbuds cut off when Sara answered the phone, replaced by her mother’s voice.
“You doing okay, sweetie?”
“Let’s just cut straight to it, then?”
She could practically hear her mother rolling her eyes. “You can’t blame me for worrying.”
Sara looked up from the cutting board and out the window. The smoke was so thick that she couldn’t even see across the courtyard outside her apartment. “I guess I can’t.”
“So?”
She laughed a little and resumed mincing garlic. The whole apartment smelled comfortingly of tomato sauce and onions, simmering in the pan. “I’m fine, Mom. I have an air purifier running in every room.”
“Are the filters fresh?”
“I’d hope so,” Sara replied. She pulled a pot out of the cabinet and st
