“Who am I? Who am I?鈥
鈥淵ou鈥檙e Jude St. Francis. You are my oldest, dearest friend. You鈥檙e the son of Harold Stein and Julia Altman. You鈥檙e the friend of Malcolm Irvine, of Jean-Baptiste Marion, of Richard Goldfarb, of Andy Contractor, of Lucien Voigt, of Citizen van Straaten, of Rhodes Arrowsmith, of Elijah Kozma, of Phaedra de los Santos, of the Henry Youngs. You鈥檙e a New Yorker. You live in SoHo. You volunteer for an arts organization; you volunteer for a food kitchen. You鈥檙e a swimmer. You鈥檙e a baker. You鈥檙e a cook. You鈥檙e a reader. You have a beautiful voice, though you never sing anymore. You鈥檙e an excellent pianist. You鈥檙e an art collector. You write me lovely messages when I鈥檓 away. You鈥檙e patient. You鈥檙e generous. You鈥檙e the best listener I know. You鈥檙e the smartest person I know, in every way. You鈥檙e the bravest person I know, in every way. You鈥檙e a lawyer. You鈥檙e the chair of the litigation department at Rosen Pritchard and Klein. You love your job; you work hard at it. You鈥檙e a mathematician. You鈥檙e a logician. You鈥檝e tried to teach me, again and again. You were treated horribly. You came out on the other end. You were always you.鈥
"And who are you?"
"I'm Willem Ragnarsson. And I will never let you go.”
―
Hanya Yanagihara,
A Little Life