Page 86 - www.composition1.com

type of person he is.

I am relieved of duty early because the two nephews are able to handle the bed by themselves, and
after about ten minutes I watch from my window as they drive off in a moving truck with Joe's
possessions. So little in so much space. It almost makes you terrified of living a long but
meaningless life.

The truck is no longer visible, but what does come into vision is a person named Mary. She gets
out of a car and begins to yell at the driver. After a few seconds the driver drives off. "She needs to
relax more," I think to myself. As she gets closer to the building I begin to see the added weight
Tao mentioned, and I wonder where it all came from. Maybe stress from her job? Maybe from the
men in her life? Maybe life itself.

After she has entered the building I go to the kitchen to get food, and not more than five minutes
have passed before I hear her yelling outside again. When I go to the window I see the same car I
saw before, but this time I see the man who she is yelling at. The man doesn't have much to say, but
Mary is going on and on about how he is suppose to buy her things. I'm guessing he forgot her
birthday.

After some time the man says something that gets him a slap across the face and causes Mary to
walk away. While she is walking away he yells something at her, and then gets into his car and
drives away. The efforts that humans make at romantic relationships are sometimes comical.

Chapter 39:
HEADS, TAILS, CALL IT IN THE AIR

"yo its derek how have you been? jus sendin this letter to let you know whats up... and to say
thanks for havin our back. i been thinkin about them short stories you wrote, and i been tryin to
write one myself but i cant think of anything to write about. anyway ima keep tryin and maybe ill
send you something so you can tell me if its good or not. besides all that im guessin you heard
about what happened to jamal, but if you didnt hear he got shot over some bullshit. it aint have
nothin to do with the beef over that drug shit, spider said he died because he never listened. anyway
jamal and the main guy here were tight so hes lookin after me i guess, he gave me a job but im
smart enough to know that i cant be around these people because they will influence who i become.
learned that from one of your stories. aight so ill probly send you another message sometime... ill
be sure to send the story to. peace. ps: spider is the guy who came and got me forgot to mention
that."

The line that continues to repeat itself in my head is "he got shot over some bullshit." Derek's
demeanor seems to represent a person who has been around so long that death is just another part
of life to them. Even if it's the death of a close one.

There is no return address on the envelope, so I assume he didn't want me to reply. Or maybe he
didn't expect one. I also notice that the address on the envelope only has a street number and a
street name. I put the letter back in the envelope and place the envelope next to a desk near my
shelf of composition notebooks, and then I go outside, walk through the alley behind my apartment
building, and turn the corner to see that Spider is still there.