16
Toronto 1961
I dropped Birdie off downtown where he faded into the streets.
I drove back to the old neighbourhood, past Mendel Black’s house sitting forlornly now in the fading light. I parked the Chevy a few blocks up and sat for a moment wondering if this was a good idea. Most impulses I had turned out to be colossal mistakes especially ones involving women and more precisely, women I had loved. Or thought I had loved.
Flicking the Sweet Cap on the curb, I ground it out with my heel then proceeded up the cracked cement walk. There was no bell, so I let the doorknocker drop once. Miryam’s Aunt Helen answered. She must have been pushing seventy but hadn’t allowed circumstances to suck the life out of her. Miryam and I snuck around and Helen let us use her den, although she kept the
