"Sweetheart, listen to how lively it is out here. I know you love your brother so much that you gave up your room for him, but you still need to eat. Come say hello to Ms. Finch, okay?"
She raised her voice deliberately so everyone in the living room could hear.
From behind the door, nothing. Not a sound.
Director Finch reached over and patted Mom's shoulder.
"Your older daughter sounds like a good kid too."
"She is. Just headstrong."
Terence sighed on cue from the side.
"Teenage girls get jealous easily. She's been sulking ever since her brother arrived. Nothing we say gets through. Last night she threw a fit and locked herself in her room. She still won't come out."
"Oh, that's nothing. You two are doing more than enough."
After the director left, Mom went back to the table to clear the dishes.
Terence's phone was buzzing nonstop in the residents' group chat.
The neighbor from the floor below had sent a long voice message.
"Mr. Chavez, is something leaking in your apartment? Black water's been dripping from my bathroom ceiling since last night, and the whole place reeks like something's burning. What is going on up there?"
Terence typed back immediately.