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May–June 2023 · Christian Ives Solis
RECORD XI — May–June 2023: the deposit as border
The move-out turned into a logistics operation that resembled freedom, but was really emotional accounting. Packing a year and a half into boxes. Cleaning my room until it erased the fact that I had been there. What gets paid first, what gets returned, what gets left in writing. Leaving the keys on the kitchen counter without any hallway goodbyes.
The deposit was nine hundred euros. That number was no longer a guarantee; it was the limit of who got to decide the ending. I paid my full last month in good faith. I swallowed the impulse to turn the conversation into a formal record; by then I had already learned that what is spoken evaporates if it does not remain in the hands of whoever administers the narrative.
I was already settled into my new home with Camilo. Claudio and Estela returned from their trip to Paris, and the final method went into effect. Their version of events arrived by email.
Subject: Apartment deposit settlement and outstanding expenses.
It did not contain the full conversation. It contained their budget. Their cut. Reality converted into an attached file. I closed the laptop and rolled a joint so I would not have to open another interface.
They returned €399.28 to me.
This ended in Excel.
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