How is Apples an important part of the narrator's life in the novel, All-Night Pharmacy?

Sasha's iguana Apples is symbolic of companionship. After the narrator breaks up with Sasha and returns to Los Angeles, she assumes control of Apples's care. The pet grants the narrator the semblance of companionship without the debilitating, distracting, or dysfunctional elements to which the narrator is accustomed in her other relationships.