“That"s fine, son. Ye"ll huv yer meal here and stay the night. I huv nae seen ye fur a good while.”
We walked to the close and up the stairs, where I"d lived. What is it you notice about a place you once knew well? It wasn"t the appearance of the tenement that brought everything back, though it helped; it was the smells. Homey, family smells of lives lived here. My nose wrinkled at the aromas of home.
Cliesh was worried. I had been vague about who I was bringing. I put the knuckles of my right hand to the door and rattled out the old familiar knock.
“Son. Ah"m gled tae see ye.” He just about shook the hand off me.
“Hello, Dad.”
The Old Man looked fit and well, but older in the year since I"d seen him. His aging vexed me; I wanted him to remain the same. “This is my friend from Paris,
