about seeing Tony again. And kind of hating myself for feeling that way, too.
Why did he want to see me? At Al en’s building no, less.
What did Tony want?
I’d find out soon enough.
Al the doormen at Al en’s place knew me by now.
“Kevin!” the cute young one who admitted me when I got there exclaimed, “how ya doing, buddy?” He smiled broadly, revealing perfectly white teeth against his dark Latino skin. Like many of the real y handsome young men working jobs like these in New York City, Ricky was an aspiring actor/model.
“I’m OK,” I said, not smiling back. “You heard about Al en.”
“Right, right.” Ricky’s expression turned to one of concern. “Aw, man, that’s too bad about your friend.
I’m sorry.”
“Yeah.”
“So, I guess you’re not going to be coming around much anymore, huh?”
“Probably not.”
“Hey, I’m not supposed to be doing this but,” Ricky reached into his pocket for a notepad and pen, “why don’t you take my number. Maybe we can get together or something,” he said writing.
He handed me the paper.
I liked Ricky, but I wouldn’t be cal ing him. I had enough on my plate. Stil, I thought, looking at his striking features, maybe I could pass his number along to Freddy as an early Christmas present.
“Thanks,” I said, pocketing the note. “You take care.”
Tony was standing a few feet away with a glare on his face. “What was that al about?” he asked as I approached.
“He was expressing his condolences.”
“By giving you his number?”
“You could see what he wrote from here?”
“I’m a cop. I see everything. Besides, what else would he be giving you? A prayer card?”
Tony looked genuinely annoyed. He also looked extra-yummy in his navy suit, starched white shirt, and red- and-gold striped tie. The only concession to the day’s heat was the undone top button of his shirt.
Just that little suggestion of impending nudity was enough to fixate my attention on his bobbing Adam’s apple, which distractingly screamed “lick me, lick me!” Was Tony’s irritation at Ricky giving me his number a sign of jealousy? God, I hoped so.
“Why am I here?” I asked him.
“I want you to see something.” He showed me a key in his hand. “In Al en’s apartment.”
Walking into Al en’s apartment was an eerie experience. Although I had been there before when he wasn’t home, this felt entirely different. It was as if the wal s and floors and tables and chairs al knew their owner wasn’t coming back. His absence was a vacuum sucking out al the air. I felt lightheaded and took a deep breath.
“You OK?” Tony asked.
“Fine.” But I real y wasn’t.
“Look around,” Tony said. “What do you see?
I did as instructed. Al en’s place was, as always, immaculate. Even an alien, landing on Earth for the very first time, would have known that a man of wealth and good taste lived here.
On a smal table by two wingback chairs was the open bottle of wine Tony had told me about, along with two glasses.
On his smal antique desk, Al en’s reading glasses sat next to a pen and a scattered pile of papers. Some kind of financial forms. An uncapped fountain pen lay on top of a printed out Excel spreadsheet dense with numbers on which Al en had apparently jotted his last written words. “Cal T. S.”
The pen was an expensive Mont Blanc.
Al en had a thing for nice writing instruments. A row of similar pens stood like soldiers in a mahogany holder at the back of his desk. Any one of them could have paid half my monthly rent.
His last written words, I thought to myself. I ran my finger over them. Just a few days ago, Al en’s gentle hand had rested there. I sighed.
“Something interesting?” Tony asked.
“No, just…” what could I say? “Nothing.”
I continued to look around. Everything seemed normal. Horribly wrong without Al en there, but normal nonetheless.
“I don’t get it,” I said. “What did you want to show me?”
“What do you see?”
“Nothing,” I said. “Wel, nothing weird or anything.
What’s the point?”
“Sit down,” Tony said to me. I settled on the couch.
Tony sat in a chair across from me.
“So, everything looks normal?”
I nodded.
“Nothing broken? Nothing missing? No blood?”
I could see where he was going.
“No signs of a struggle? Or a robbery?” Tony continued.
“I get it,” I said.
“I wanted you to see,” Tony said, “because I know how you are. You’re not going to let this go unless you see for yourself. So I showed you.”
This was Tony’s way of looking out for me. It was actual y pretty sweet. But he was wrong.
Something about the note.
“Come here.” I took him over to Al en’s desk. “He had just written this.” I pointed out the note. “Cal T. S.”
“Who’s T. S.?” Tony asked.
“I don’t know,” I said curtly. “That’s not the point.
This is: Why would he make a note to cal someone if he was going to kil himself? Wouldn’t he have known that he wasn’t going to be around to make that cal?”
“He could have written that days ago,” Tony answered.
“No,” I said. “That’s a good fountain pen. You can’t leave it uncapped like that, it’l dry out. Al en was very careful with his pens.”
“Kevin, look around. This place is untouched.
There was plenty of cash in a drawer in his dresser, and a lot of expensive…” he gestured at the paintings and furnishings, “stuff here that nobody bothered to take. There’s no reason to think that this man was murdered. I don’t think an uncapped pen is evidence of a crime.”
He looked at me with serious eyes. “Nothing here is evidence of a crime.”
Suddenly, I noticed how warm it was in there. Had someone turned off the air conditioning? I felt a little woozy again.
I thought a hug from Tony might be the perfect antidote, but that didn’t look likely.
“I need a drink,” I told him. “Can I grab a bottle of water from the frig?”
“Go ahead,” Tony said. I went into the smal kitchen and opened the refrigerator. A rush of warm air whooshed out. I looked around the side and saw that it was unplugged. Apparently, the air conditioning isn’t the only thing turned off when someone dies.
Al the fresh food had been removed. There was stil bottled water, but it was warm and unappealing.
Also left behind were a few other non-perishables, including a six pack of Budweiser beer, which I knew Al en would never drink. He must have gotten it for a guest.
Al en was always considerate like that.
Now, I felt like I was going to cry again. Which I was determined not to do in front of Tony.
“There’s nothing cold,” I said, coming back into the living room. Again, Al en’s absence weighed on me like an anchor. “Can we get out of here?”
