Well, it looked like it would be a second consecutive good day for the floating bookshop. I laid out four CD's, two AC/DC, a Bon Jovi and a Pearl Jam, and soon a young man stopped and asked about them. When he heard they were a dollar each, he scooped them all up. Thanks, sir. And a while later one of my regulars, whose named I finally learned, showed. I was holding a mint hardcover version of Lee Child's Bad Luck and Trouble. I told David I'd read it and recommended it. He didn't hesitate to fork over the cash. Thanks, buddy.
And I was visited by friends I've made while running the shop. I'd been worried about Morty, 75, who I hadn't seen in a month. He'd taken a flop inside a bus, broken his shoulder. He asked the driver to call an ambulance. The guy left him at the curb and took off. A lawsuit is underway.
A while later Steve got off the B36. He will be going to Mexico City for a jazz concert in ten days. He will be interviewing a saxophonist who speaks no English, through a translator, of course. The dialogue will appear in a magazine. Minutes later Antonin, aka Mr. Su Do Ku, stopped and told me about his latest creation - a book wherein he compares relationships and a Rubik's cube. As I've said before, he is on a higher intellectual plane than most of us.
So I headed to the car in good spirits - then the hour struck. My keys were gone. I looked through all the bags and boxes in the milk crates, to no avail. Fortunately, I always keep a spare car key in my wallet. I opened the trunk, hoping the keys were there. No. I knew they weren't inside the car because I'd gone right to the trunk and walked 50 yards to the corner of East 13th. I retraced my steps. Nothing. I wondered if I'd left them in the trunk's lock and if they'd been retrieved by a good samaritan, but there was no note. I checked the glove compartment and the well where I keep CD's, just in case. No again. I drove to my sister's, certain I had a spare set there. Of course, no one was home. I waited an hour. No keys. I went to the ATM, downcast that it would now be a losing day monetarily. I rang the Super's bell to ask if the building had a contract with a locksmith. Luis volunteered to take a look at it himself. An hour later I was in the apartment. Thank God for guys who know how to do things. Only the top lock needed to be broken. I haven't been locking the dead bolt because the cylinder has been balky. So I lucked out there. I wanted to give Lou a twenty, but he wouldn't take it. My eyes glazed in thanks. I found a spare to the mailbox, but none for the door or lobby. I will ask my friend Arlynn to buzz me into the building. And Lou says he might have an old replacement lock, so the financial damage may be minimal. There is one problem: I'm accompanying Arlynn to the doctor tomorrow morning. I may have to take all my money with me and maybe the laptop too. The TV may be gone when we get back.
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