you wanted to scrape the paint from the coffee table, said there’s nice wood underneath the shell. the chemical stripper you bought was a lazy choice of lingerie, so fingernails made applicable sense. steel wool in the trash, lacerated plastic, foil for the spackling. i tended to crumble the receipts, but still put them in the bag. the coffee table as a dining table, the pseudonym for togetherness – an assembly to my name, because my body didn’t bear structural integrity. you were right, the natural finish never needed any added veneer. perhaps worth more by chiseling away what’s lesser. it was a good idea & i didn’t trust you. i still don’t.