The bell tinkles
as the door swings closed behind me. At the counter is a punky looking boy with
jet black hair and a black and white stripped t-shirt. He is reading a
newspaper that is opened and in front of him. He doesn’t respond or look up to
the sound of the bell but yells out “Let me know if you need help with
something.”
The store has
that overpowering smell of antique and used clothing. I walk past a rolling
rack of old furs and hats and make a beeline for the guy at the counter.
“Hello,” I say standing directly in front of him. Quickly I blurt out “Do you buy antique clothing or do
people donate the clothes to you?”
He places his finger on the paper to hold
his place in the story he is reading and looks up. “You got something to sell?”
he asks raising one eyebrow. “No, but I’m interested in the smoking jackets in
the front window.” “Yeah, there nice aren’t they?” he says returning to his
place in the paper. “Where did you get them?” I ask and his finger returns to
the paper and he looks up. “Dunno,” he says and returns to reading. “Are you
the manager?” I ask. His finger returns to the paper, he looks up this time
clearly annoyed. “Nope.” He says and returns to reading. “Will the manager be
here soon?” I ask. This time he doesn’t look up. “Is there something you need
help with?” he asks. I blurt out my whole story.
“My roommate and
I went our separate ways and he told me that he threw out all my clothes and
now I see my smoking jackets hanging in your window.” He now pauses and looks
up at me. “Do you have a receipt that says they are yours?” “I do not.” I
respond. He sighs; clearly over my line of questioning “Well the manager will
be here in about three hours, you can stop back in here then.” “I have to warn
you though, she will ask you the same question.”
It is clear that
I am chasing my own tail and I need to let it go.
“Ok thanks,” I
say turning on my heel, I head towards the door. “Uh-huh,” is his response.
“Let it go,” I say as I walk back onto the street “Let it go.” The bell tingles
as the door shuts behind me.
Time passes with
David and it’s clear that Anne and I have nothing but contempt for each other.
She goes out of her way to constantly tell David how much she doesn’t like me
and doesn’t trust me, after awhile it starts to add pressure and stress to our
relationship. David and I discuss my moving out and finding a new apartment.
That way we can work on us. David never seems to be able to tell me why Anne is
so important to him. She brings nothing to the table that I can see. David lost
his mother as a child and it’s the only concrete thing I can get out of him
when talking about Anne. My feeling is that Anne is a big girl and she should
move out.
Kim at The Half
moon Café tells me that I should live with her. Her apartment is six bedrooms,
a full kitchen, full bath, dining room and a living room. She and I can share
her room, its big enough for two, so after work, I decide to stop by and take a
look.
The apartment is
located half way up the block on Dana and close to Lark Street. It is a two
floor house, Kim and her roommates have the top floor and someone named Ingrid
owns the bottom floor with her three children. Kim’s apartment is huge but she
asks me to be quiet because her roommates are all sleeping. “They work at The 8
Balls Saloon on Western Avenue.”
8 Balls as it is
affectionately known is a seedy gay bar where you can find anything that you
might need. An Evil Drag Queen named Miss Kenny holds court at the door and
looks at ids. If you are cute and
flatter her, you’re in. If, you’re not or you piss her off God help you. I once
saw Miss Kenny get hit in the nose with a beer bottle by a biker and Miss
Kenny, face covered in blood picked up anything she could find to smash over
his head after she knocked him out with a punch to the face. It took five men
to pull her off after the guy was clearly out cold.
Kim gives me a
whole tour of the house and I love it, I ask to use the bathroom and lock the
door behind me. I look in the mirror and as I splash water on my face as a
cockroach brazenly walks out of the medicine cabinet, then another and another.
I look around the bathroom and there are a couple more cockroaches hanging out
on the ceiling.
I quickly leave the bathroom and find Kim in the kitchen making
a grilled cheese. The smell of the melting cheese seems to bring at first a
couple of cockroaches onto the counter. Kim takes the spatula and swats at
them, they scatter and then return. “These fuckers are brazen, “Kim says
swatting at them again. They run and return and I spot a couple running on the
ceiling. “Uh, we got a roach problem,” Kim says as she places her sandwich on a
plate and heads for the fridge. Several cockroaches make a run for the sandwich
on the counter but after grabbing a soda Kim beats them to it.
To be continued…..
Geoffrey Doig-Marx holds all written and electronic rights to his writing "A Day in the Life". It can not be reprinted in part or whole without his written consent.
Geoffrey Doig-Marx holds all written and electronic rights to his writing "A Day in the Life". It can not be reprinted in part or whole without his written consent.
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