As the days got longer and warmer, I looked forward to seeing Al on the stoop and having a reason to avoid going indoors to work. We spent hours commiserating about life in general and work in particular. I had clients who didn’t pay on time, he had bosses who were cracking down on News drivers. “They’re doing random drug testing now,” he told me. “I didn’t pass.” I didn’t ask him what he got nailed for. It didn’t really matter. Whatever it was, I got the sense that it wasn’t anything he was planning on quitting anytime soon. Turns out the Marlboros were the least of his problems.
Sometimes my work would get the best of me and I’d go weeks without ever running into Al. Whenever I saw him again, he’d always remember the last thing we’d talked about. “You get that check from Disney?” he’d ask. Or, “How’s your Hollywood professor friend?” One of my best friends moved to California for a teaching position and got to be one of the talking head academics on an A&E special about child actors growing up in Hollywood. When I knew the show was going to be aired, I told Al I needed to find out if any of my friends were going to tape it because I didn’t have cable. The next morning I found a tape on my doormat.
One of Al’s problems, which endeared him to me, was his need to collect things of potential value—even if not for himself. He collected a massive amount of music, art magazines, miscellaneous trinkets, and of course, plenty of Marlboro swag. Often I’d come home and see the stairs leading to Al’s door filled with stacks of his latest stuff-sorting project. “Monique, what size are you?” he asked one day from the top of the stairs as I was just getting home from yoga class. “I dunno, why?” I lied. Al was rummaging through a black garbage bag. “I found these perfectly good clothes in the parking lot at the bank. They’re brand new, all designer names.” He held up pants, skirts, jackets. “I don’t think so, Al. I’m trying to clean my closet out, not get new things,” I told him. He insisted. I declined. He persisted. I gave in. “I’ll never wear this stuff, Al. This is stuff my mother would wear. Maybe,” I said. “Send it to your mom, then,” he said. “This is too good to pass up. I already gave Tanya a bunch, too.”
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