A small Devil’s Food chocolate cake lined with strawberries is cut up and distributed on napkins. The room is bare, stripped of all furniture except a thick rug in the center patterned with flowers and an overturned plastic basin in the corner. On top of the rug is a paper plate smeared with a chunk of brie beside a knife, surrounded by a loose circle of plastic wine glasses and paper cups filled with cheap Bourdeaux. A chorus of “Happy Birthday” is sung for the apartment’s new resident, Stephen Rettger, who has just turned 22, which means he’s three years away from being able to rent a car; then he’ll really be an adult.
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