As I was eating lunch at my sister's, she was on the phone, sending Easter greetings to relatives overseas. She spoke to Sebastiano, 80, a WWII orphan the family raised who has lived his adult life in Argentina. She told him I spoke Spanish and handed me the receiver. I tensed, as I'm so out of practice in foreign tongues, and I have a hard time hearing phone conversation, especially when I'm nervous. I wound up speaking a motley blend of Spanish and Italian. As soon as the call was finished the phone rang and the electronic voice said it was from Germania, our mom's former home attendant, who still is in contact with us a decade after mom's death. I managed to get off a few "Bien, bien" and "felicidades." I felt like a big phony.
The floating book shop was witness to three incidents involving cars today. The large SUV parked directly at my back got a ticket for an expired meter. The driver arrived ten minutes after the traffic guy. It didn't seem to bother him. He dozed behind the wheel until his wife showed a half hour later. The owner of an SUV parked at the corner of 85th Street had quite an adventure. He dropped his keys into the sewer. His alarm sounded for at least ten minutes. He tried to fish out the keys with an elongated wire hanger. I suggested he stick a piece of chewing gum at the end of a long stick, which wily entrepreneurs use to fish money out of the gratings in Manhattan. I'm not sure if he managed to hook his prey or if his wife brought a spare key. Next thing I knew they were gone. The third incident was ugly. A young white male wearing a jacket that had the word "Drama" emblazoned on its back had words with a black male, who stopped his car, popped his trunk and pulled out an aluminum bat. As far as I can ascertain, the drama queen was crossing the intersection when the car was passing. Fortunately, there was enough distance between them that the situation didn't get even more stupid. Unfortunately, there were racial epithets.
All three customers bought in bulk today. I sold three books in English and three in Russian, then, as I was packing up, a couple who spoke with eastern accents approach and, to my surprise, wanted fiction only in English. They overpaid for six books. Love those last minute sales. Thanks, folks.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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