The car cornered the waterfall fountain in the compound and pulled up close to the front porch.

I got out of the car, feeling instantly nostalgic and somewhat guilty at the sight of my friends.

Richard came to me first. “Thank you for coming.” We shook hands. I took a second to access him. He looked fucking miserable. Ghostly.

Eyes are puffy. Voice gone sickly croaky. He seemed to have lost more weight than was considered healthy. The situation was killing him slowly. It made my heart ...