Laurie assured the man she’d be fine and got out of the cab.

Reaching the sidewalk she looked up at the facade of Jack’s building. It looked as sad as always with only a small piece of its decorative cornice still intact and two windows on the third floor boarded up.

Every time Laurie visited she couldn’t help but marvel anew that Jack was still living there. She understood about the basketball, but she thought he could find a better maintained building even if he wanted to stay in the neighborhood.

The foyer was in worse shape than the facade. At one time it had been rather grand, with a mosaic floor and marble walls. Now it was only a shadow of its former self. The floor was missing more than half of its tesserae and the walls were stained and graffiti-filled. None of the mailboxes had functioning locks. Trash littered the corners.

Laurie didn’t bother with the buzzer system. She knew it didn’t work. Besides, the inner door had been broken into in the distant past and never repaired.

As Laurie climbed the stairs, her resolve waned. After all, it was late, and she’d not called and was coming uninvited. She also wasn’t even sure how much she wanted to talk about her evening before she’d had time to mull it over herself.

On the second-floor landing she stopped. From behind the door of the front apartment she heard yelling and screaming. She remembered that Jack had said there was an interminable argument going on in there. It made her sad to think people had such trouble getting along with each other.

Laurie debated whether she should proceed. It wasn’t until she thought about how she’d feel if the tables were turned— how she’d feel if Jack showed up suddenly at her apartment when he was needing a friend. Realizing she’d be flattered, she pushed on. When she got to his door, she knocked. There was no bell.

When the door was yanked open, Laurie had to suppress a smile. The look of surprise on Jack’s stubbled face reminded her of the kind of exaggerated expression a pantomimist might employ. Jack was in his boxer shorts, a V-necked T-shirt, and backless slippers. A medical book was in his hand. He obviously hadn’t expected company except, perhaps, for Warren or one of his other local basketball cronies.

“Laurie!” Jack said as if she were an apparition.

Laurie merely nodded.

For an extended moment they just looked at each other.

“Can I come in?” Laurie finally asked.

“Of course,” Jack said, embarrassed that he’d not invited her in sooner. He stepped to the side. As he closed the door, he remembered his state of undress. Quickly he disappeared into the bedroom to find some shorts.