Summary

In Part 1, Chapter 7, the narrator discusses her neighbor, who is an 86-year-old woman. The neighbor has lived on her own ever since her husband died 20 years ago. Sometimes, the neighbor’s adult son comes to visit her. The narrator occasionally converses with the son. The son has told the narrator that his mother receives frequent calls from scammers on the telephone. She has not yet fallen for a scam, but she always picks up the phone to talk to them. Once, the son asked the narrator to visit his mother sometime and keep her company. The narrator hesitantly agreed. When the narrator visited the neighbor, the neighbor spent most of the conversation complaining. The narrator has visited the neighbor multiple times now, and the neighbor has reacted with horror and confusion at the fact that the narrator is unmarried and has no children. In...