Summary

In "The Great Escape," the worse the narrator's aunt Chani’s Alzheimer's became, the more locks she put on her apartment. She thought thieves would steal her paintings, sculptures, furniture, and jewelry (97).

The narrator was the only person in the family Chani listened to.

Because Chani was always losing her keys, she could not let the family inside the apartment. They would visit outside her door. With time, Chani added "metal gates," "chains," "bars on the windows," and "a grate on the trash chute" (98).

The narrator liked Chani. She tells all her friends about Chani, describing her as "unpredictable and independent" (99). One day, the narrator brought her boyfriend to meet Chani. Chani could not find the keys, so they visited through the "bars and grates" (99). They talked about many things, but Chani kept losing the thread of the...