“Like I thought I might need it, that I could use it for something. Not like this, but for something else. Or the fact that it was the last thing Frank had, that we had together. I don’t know. It all sounds stupid when I say it.”

Casey didn’t say anything. We sat at the table in her apartment and didn’t say anything. Then she got up and went into her room. I thought she was done with me. I really did. Then she came back and sat at the table again.

“Have I told you the story about Frank and the watch?” she said.

I couldn’t remember.

“Tell me,” I said.

“Frank was at some party, a New Year’s Eve party, I think. And there was some girl there flashing around an expensive watch she’d gotten for Christmas. At some point in the night, she dropped it, or it slipped off, or whatever, and was lying there on the couch. Frank went over and took it. The girl saw him do it, or thought she saw him, and told her boyfriend. When Frank was leaving, the boyfriend confronted him. ‘I don’t understand,’ Frank said. You know him; he just stood there with that calm look on his face and denied it. ‘You think I took it,’ he said. There was a crowd around them and Frank was calm and the boyfriend was getting agitated. ‘Just say you took it as a joke and we’ll leave it at that,’ the boy-friend said. ‘But I didn’t take it,’ Frank said. ‘And I can prove it.’ He took off his coat and handed it the girl to inspect. He pulled everything out of his pockets and pulled out his pockets. There was no watch. ‘I saw him take it,’ the girl said. ‘He doesn’t have it,’ somebody said, and the crowd turned against the girl. ‘You want me to strip,’ Frank said and started to unbutton his shirt. ‘He doesn’t have it,’ somebody else said. Frank put on his coat and apologized to the girl. ‘I’m sorry about your watch, but I had nothing to do with it. Maybe it was someone else. Maybe you lost it. I don’t know. But I hope you find it. Happy New Year.’ And he left.”

“With the watch.”

“The boyfriend and two other guys followed Frank and confronted him on the street. They demanded the watch and Frank still denied that he had it. They beat him up, beat him bad, and then went through his clothes. There was no watch.