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My hands trembled as I passed the letter to Ted.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
“He did, hon,” Jennifer said. “He just said it in his death.”
Later that evening, we drove to Rick’s childhood home.
Jennifer had told us it would be sold soon. The house was dark, windows hollow.
We sat on the front steps, knees brushing, the cold creeping up our backs. Ted reached into his coat and pulled out the small cassette player Jennifer had given us.
Rick’s voice filtered through the static, softer than I remembered, but still his.
“If you’re hearing this, then I didn’t break the pact…
I just needed help keeping it. Don’t turn this into regret. Turn it into memory.
That’s all I ever wanted. There’s a playlist here, all our favorite songs from our youth.”
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