If I Survive You

Trelawny is now employed at Silver Towers, an independent living facility for seniors. Although his official job title is administrative assistant, he also covers the duties of the assistant property manager, albeit without any additional compensation. The property manager is not entirely honest, trying to squeeze “every cent” from his residents, largely through rent increases. It is Trelawny’s job to communicate with the residents. The property manager uses Trelawny’s findings to determine how and when he can charge residents more money. Because Trelawny is the face of rent increases at the facility, he is unpopular with the tenants. Nonetheless, he identifies with the residents, many of whom are immigrants and all of whom are poor. They remind him in some ways of his mother, who has just moved back to Jamaica, where she feels like she “can breathe” again.

Many of the residents are Cuban, and Trelawney struggles to communicate with them in his rudimentary Spanish. His boss, the property manager, is also Cuban, but is mistrusted by the residents because of his dark skin. The residents consistently ask the manager if he is, in fact, Dominican and not Cuban, and the manager takes great offense at this enquiry.