Falling Man

Lianne remembers when Keith arrived on her doorstep on the day of the attack. Unable to contact the medical services, she cleaned him up as best she could. Most of the blood on his skin “came from somebody else” (53). Keith returns to Florence’s apartment, and they talk about their lives. Florence cannot resolve the tension between what happened to her and her belief in God, especially as the terrorists were also devout believers in their own way. Florence recalls her experience in the tower again, and Keith understands that they can “talk about these things only with each other” (55), though he mostly listens. When they stop talking, Florence dances to Brazilian music while Keith watches and undresses.

Lianne’s writing therapy group members begin to lose their memory because of their Alzheimer’s diagnoses. They become lost, lose items, and forget how to perform routine actions. Lianne tells Keith about her anger regarding the music from the downstairs apartment. Keith remembers the weekly poker games he played with his friends. Over time, the games grew steadily more serious as more rules were introduced and the stakes were increased. The friends loved their silly rituals and rules until one night when all the rules were abandoned, and they returned to the more free-flowing version of their game.