Farley

   

   Farley woke up from his afternoon nap and searched the nightstand by his bed for his glasses.  He placed them gently on his face while he lay there in waning light of early evening coming through his window.  He took a few deep breaths and stretched, hearing his back crack in a few places, before sitting up and placing his feet on the dusty wooden floor of his bedroom.  His transistor radio was playing classical music softly and he knew that it must be before five o’clock because the news was not yet on.  He liked to be up before five and he didn’t care for the evening news on the radio.  It was usually just a replay of the news that he listened to at five o’clock in the morning. 

   He stretched and yawned.  He stood up with the aid of the cane he kept against the nightstand and walked slowly to the bathroom.  Farley filled the glass on the sink with water and took a long drink.  He took off his glasses, splashed water on his face, put his glasses back on and straightened his hair with a comb.  He used the toilet then walked back into the front room, sat in the recliner by the window, and put his shoes on.  He rested a bit and then tied them.  He looked out the window at the street below.  It was a clear day and there was not much traffic.  The sidewalks were practically empty.  The sun felt warm but he knew that the evening would be chilly.  He stood up, walked over to his closet, and pulled out his old blazer.  He brushed it gently with his hand before putting it on.  Then he took his worn gray fedora off the door hook and put it on his head.

   Farley locked the front door behind him and made his way down the hallway to the stairs.  The elevator worked fine but he liked to take the stairs for the exercise.  He used the elevator when he bought groceries on Wednesday but that was it.  Outside it was a beautiful day and he could smell Fall in the air.  A mixture of leaves lay scattered before him on the sidewalk and his cane made a satisfying crunching noise as he made his way to the corner newspaper machine.  He reached into his front pocket for his change purse and fished two quarters out.  He fed them into the machine, pulled out a paper and folded it under his arm.  The paper came out early in the morning but Farley liked reading it at night instead.  He reserved his mornings for heavier reading like the collection of Byron he’d checked out of the library last week.  He could concentrate better in the mornings.  In the evening he liked to read the sports section.

   Farley turned around to walk to down the street to Mercutio’s bar on the opposite corner.  He didn’t drink anything but coffee but there were no coffee shops near his apartment.  Besides, they had all become too trendy for Farley’s tastes.  He liked Mercutio’s because you could still talk about baseball and tell off-color jokes without worrying about offending anyone.  Not that he did those things either, but he liked it that other people could. 

   Mercutio’s was filling up with people just getting off work.  Farley sat down at the bar and laid his paper carefully out in front of him.  Kelly, the bartender, was the third the owner had hired this year and she was younger and prettier than either of her predecessors.  Farley understood, but he felt bad for the other two who had both been pleasant enough.  Kelly smiled when she saw him sitting there.  She brought over his coffee without asking what he needed.

   “How are you doing today, Mr. Farley?”  She spoke loud and clear.  Farley’s hearing wasn’t very good.  Farley took off his hat and set it next to his paper and coffee.

   “I’m doing great, Kelly, how are you?”

   Kelly rolled her eyes, “Busy with all these no good drunks that come in here everyday, when are you going to run away with me and rescue me from this life?”

   Farley chuckled politely.  It was an old joke and not a very good one but he appreciated Kelly’s attempts to flirt with him.  She turned her attention back to refilling the beers of the younger men who no doubt tipped her better for her efforts.  Farley never married and seeing the way that Kelly flashed her eyes at him as though he were twenty made him glad that he hadn’t.  Women were the most beautiful and dangerous creatures in the world.

   He sipped his coffee.  It was hot, foul-tasting, and weak.  Coffee didn’t wake him much so much as it kept him awake these days anyway.  He turned his attention to the paper.  The Pirates had started the season looking good but now they were back nine games.  He looked at the stats of the previous evening’s game.  The starter had thrown a pretty lousy game which was unusual for him.  Farley hadn’t seen any of the players because he didn’t watch the games but he knew them by name and position.  He liked the catcher who had a fair batting average but seemed to get on base more often than not.  Not a power hitter but a good tactician behind the plate.  There was another game tonight but Farley wasn’t too hopeful for their prospects.  There was another article about NASCAR but Farley had never considered car racing a sport and he didn’t read it.

   He set the paper down, took another drink of coffee, and looked around the bar at the gathering crowd.  Most had just gotten off work and were glad of it.  The crowd at Mercutio’s was always pleasant at this time of day.  It probably got rowdier later on but Farley always left before anything bad happened. 

   “Hey Farley,” Shannon appeared to his left.  She put her hand on his back and smiled at him.  He gestured at the empty stool next to him and she sat down.

   “How are you this afternoon, Shannon, let me buy you a drink?’ he asked.  She looked at little more haggard than usual.  She talked about her kids all the time but she was here everyday before Farley came and she stayed after he had gone.

   “I’ve been better Farley, but I’ve been a hell of lot worse.”  She placed her empty glass into the bar well and Kelly refilled it.

   “Well, that’s a good attitude.”  Kelly brought the full pint and Farley pulled out his wallet to pay for it.

   “Thanks Farley, you’re the best!”  She made a show of hugging him.  They sat there half listening to the babble around them.  She drank her pint quickly, having just started the evening.  Farley didn’t mind.  She was young and entitled to enjoy herself.  He was thankful he’d never had children.

   “Karen?  Did you know that it is a full moon tonight?”

   Karen looked surprised, “I didn’t.  How come you always know that stuff?”

   “I listen to the news every morning.  They announce it.”

   “Thanks for letting me know, I’ll have to check it out later.”

   She spotted a friend across the bar, thanked him again and left.  He folded his paper and finished his coffee.  He pushed the empty mug across the bar and Kelly came back over.

   “All finished Mr. Farley?”

   He stood up, grabbed his cane, and doffed his hat.

   “Yes, Kelly, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

   He made his way across the bar and walked outside.  Night had descended suddenly the way that it did in the Fall.  The air was crisp but he’d worn the blazer and wasn’t cold.  He shuffled along the sidewalk towards his building stopping occasionally to rest and admire the silvery fullness of the moon that was rising in the sky.  The was a faint breeze and the leaves rustled around his feet as he walked.  Finally he stepped inside the lobby of his building.

   He’d run away from home at sixteen and run cattle on horseback.  He’d picked apples in Oregon and worked the assembly lines at Ford.  He’d worked for cash and for food.  He’d sailed merchant ships in the Caribbean sea and the Gulf of Mexico.  He’d been to every state in the continental United States.  He had fights and won and lost.  He’d slept with sixteen women and he could remember every one of their faces.  If he had regrets he couldn’t think of any.

   He started towards the staircase then changed his mind.

   Tonight, Farley thought, I’m taking the elevator.