11
The week after my firing had been difficult. I felt uneasy, adrift, unsure what my next steps would be, let alone how to take them. The alopecia I’d battled since childhood began to flare up. I wasn’t surprised; it had happened all through my life, during difficult periods. I mostly hid it by pulling my thin, extension-enhanced hair into a ponytail, but my extensions were old and it was becoming harder to hide the patches of bald that decorated the back of my scalp. I recognized the hair loss was speeding up, and maybe there would be no stopping it this time, but it wasn’t as if I could afford any quick fixes.
A few hours after the incident at brunch, I removed the extensions, one by one. I combed what was left as best I could and popped into the kitchen for a quick midday snack. Emil
