Private Eye: Eugene Leftowicz
26 November 2013
Joy was surrounded by packages. I asked, “Have you been Christmas shopping?”
”A lady brought me some winter boots. She said, ‘I hope you don’t mind, they’re used.’ I said, “Thanks, I don’t care if they’re used. I only care if they keep my feet warm.’
I looked at them. “They’re in good shape and they have felt liners. These will keep you really warm.”
Joy was looking at a hole in her woolen glove. “That reminds me,” I said, ” I found a pair of winter gloves on the bus. They’re too small for me. Try them on.”
“They fit great, thanks! Jacques brought this little fake Christmas tree. I asked him if he was coming down tomorrow. He said, ‘Tomorrow, haven’t you heard? There is going to be a big snowstorm. Me, I’m going home to hide until it’s over.’ So, I won’t be leaving home either, but I’ll be here most mornings. I need money for Christmas.”
I asked, “Were you able to contact your worker? Did he bring over some groceries?”
“No, he said he’d been busy. I said to him, ‘You’re not the only one in the office, couldn’t you have sent somebody over with a bag of groceries?’ He said he’d try to get over today. I must have lost twenty pounds in the past three weeks.
“I hope I get my check before the end of the month because my worker said he’d help me get a futon. They have the metal ones on sale at Crappy Tire for a hundred and twenty-nine. If I don’t get my check in time I miss out.
I said, “I guess this is the day that Big Jake gets out. How do you feel about that?”
“I don’t know what’s happening. He hasn’t answered my letters. Maybe he’s been revoked. In that case, he’ll be getting out in January. That will be the full term of his sentence. I hope he doesn’t get out today. I guess it’s mean of me to say that, but I’ve just got too much to deal with now.
“For all I know he’ll be waiting at my place when I get home.”
“That’ll be a parole violation, won’t it?”
“Yep.”
“And he’ll get sent back to prison, just like last time, right?”
“That’s right. It’s his problem. I don’t care what happens.
“I need to get some Orajel. I’ve got an ear infection. The pain goes right down to my jaw. I’m trying to keep my mouth closed because the cold air makes the pain worse.”
“Can you go to your doctor? It sounds like you need antibiotics.”
“I guess I could go to my old doctor without my Health Card. I don’t really like him, because he’s a turban-head.”
I said, “He’ll only be looking in your ear. Are you expecting him to say, ‘Okay, take off all your clothes and I’ll have a look at your ear.’
“No, I don’t expect him to say anything like that.”
“A lot of doctors have been charged with sexual misconduct. One of my former doctors lost his license to practice because of that.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard.
“My neighbors upstairs have been going at it again. First, she came home and was banging around. That lasted until about eleven. My head was just splitting by then. He must have started a new shift because he started banging around at about four this morning. I like it when Buck comes over with Dillinger. When he hears a noise he starts barking. They’ve seen Dillinger and know enough not to get him riled.”
“How is Mariah?”
“Same old, same old. She has her problems. I was up to see her yesterday. She’s okay.”
I said Chuck Senior was telling me stories about the old Gladstone Hotel. He used to be a busboy there. He said there are all kinds of tunnels running under downtown. There was one from the kitchen of the Gladstone to the Lisgar Apartments, down the block.”
“I remember the Lisgar Apartments near Gladstone. That’s where Jacques use to live. They tore it down. It’s a high-rise with the housing department in it.”
“Chuck was saying that hookers would go from the Gladstone to meet their clients at the Lisgar. Everything was below ground, complete privacy. They’d also have their beer delivered through the tunnel.”
“That sounds neat. I think that was before my time. I’ve only been here since ninety-three.”
I checked my watch. It was ten minutes to nine. I said, “I’ll have to get going. Do you think anyone will be going to the park at noon?”
Joy said, “I think it’s too cold. I’m going straight home to bed.”
~~~
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