The Busted Latch

[Verse 1]
(sound of a key fumbling, phone static)
Hey. It's me. I'm on your stoop again on Patapsco Street.
The mail slot's cold, feels like it's holding its breath.
Just... checking. The way the streetlight hits the brick here...
...reminds me of that one key we lost, the one for the place back in Baltimore.

[Chorus]
And if he comes around tonight
I'll show him how the pavement bites.
A new lock for a different life.
I swear to god if he comes around tonight.

[Verse 2]
(a distant siren wails and fades)
Look, I know what you said last Tuesday night.
"It's just the building settling," you said. Right.
I saw the scuff marks by the window frame. The busted latch.
Heard the floorboards upstairs try to whisper his name.

[Chorus]
And if he comes around tonight
I'll show him how the pavement bites.
A new lock for a different life.
I swear to god if he comes around tonight.

[Bridge]
(voice drops, closer to the mic, almost a whisper)
This isn't... this isn't about being strong.
It's about how the smell of wet asphalt always feels wrong.
Like something's about to break.

[Outro]
(melody reharmonized, distant)
...he comes around tonight.
I'm here. I'm right here.
(click)