Part 3

James’ apartment was a complete and utter mess. A fourth floor walkup 40 blocks from the Comfort Diner. When Daniel opened the door to apartment 4C one thing was clear in his mind; he wasn’t going to like it here a bit. The carpeting was beige, or at least it was when it was installed. Years of dirty shoes and a distinct lack of vacuuming had allowed the once fuzzy floor covering to diminish to a disgusting shade of brown that reminded Daniel of a muddy river. The walls were covered with floral print wallpaper that one might choose for a the walls of a young girls room. The bathroom, the only one in the whole apartment, was located in the entry hallway across from James’ room. The hallway led from the front door past the bathroom and James’ room and opened up into one larger room that functioned as both the kitchen and the living room. Black and white checkered tiles covered the kitchen floor (the only area of the apartment not infested with dirt beige carpet). The sink was filled with dirty dishes and located under a small window, on the sill of which was a potted orchid. It was white with a small violet band that ran up the middle of the largest petal and vanished into the center of the flower. In the living room there was a small TV and on top of it was an antenna adorned with balls of tin foil. To the right of the TV was the couch. It was a black vinyl couch that pulled out into a full sized bed with a mattress that was about 6 inches too thin.

“And heres the pull out Danny. I cleaned the sheets for you last night. If you need extra blankets there are some over there by the recliner.” James motioned at the corner behind the Lazy-Boy and there laid a few felt blankets with various disney characters on each of them. They looked terribly dirty. Daniel really hoped he didn’t cold that night.

“Ok thanks James, well I am pretty tired so I think I am going to go to bed soon, can I put my toothbrush in your bathroom?”

“Sure thing!”

That night Daniel couldn’t sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. The thin mattress bottomed out onto the bed frame and made his back uncomfortable. He had one clean sheet with which he tried desperately to stay warm in order to avoid using the disgusting cartoon blankets in the corner. The only thing that could take his mind off of the fact that he was staying in a 300 square foot apartment, on a pull out sofa, in the living room of a man who he disliked, was the orchid on the window sill. The orange beams of light coming from the street lamps below shone in through the window and turned the white orchid a light peach color and cast an orchid shaped shadow across the kitchen ceiling. Daniel didn’t know why but looking at the orchid calmed him and was responsible for the few precious minutes of sleep he managed to get that night.

Daniel awoke to the sound of the Saturday morning cartoons on the TV.

“Mornin’ roomie!” exclaimed James who was sitting in the Lazy-Boy enjoying a re-run of Ed, Edd n’ Eddy on Nickelodeon. 

“Yah... g’morning to you James. What time is it?”

“5:30” replied James

“Why the heck are you up so early?” said Daniel extremely irritated. “We don’t go to the diner til 8.” 

Daniel had no idea what time it was without his bedside alarm clock which was currently a melted heap of plastic covered in the ashes of his old bedside table.

“Oh I always get up this early. Early to bed, early to get the worm I always say. Besides this is when Nick has all the best stuff on, none of those stupid new shows, these are the classics.”

“Since when is Ed, Edd, n’ Eddy a classic?” questioned Daniel.

“Since like forever ya dummy! Jeez, talk about uncultured.”

“Well hold up a second there pal, you don’t think I know anything about cartoons? How about Tom and Jerry huh? Popeye? I watched cartoons too ya know. I just stopped when I was twelve or thirteen.” 

“You got no idea what you’re talkin’ about, that old stuff is garbage, this is quality television right here! So what if I’m 29 years old, just because you are old doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a good cartoon once in a while, it’s not like they are gonna kick you out of the grown-up club.” James said with a smile.

Daniel and James talked for another hour and a half about their favorite cartoons and TV shows before heading to the Comfort Diner for breakfast and Daniel’s shift.

As Daniel and James were walking down the four floors of the apartment complex to the street level Daniel realized that he would not be able to walk to the Comfort Diner from James’ apartment. James didn’t own a car and even if he did there was no way Daniel would want to drive anyway. He would have to take the subway to work every day that he lived with James.

“Hey James?” 

“What’s up Danny?”

“How do you get to the diner every day?” Although he already knew the answer to his own question Daniel was hoping that by some miracle James had another, less stressful way planned to get across town. 

“Well, the subway of course, doofus! How else would you expect?”

“Shit... Well, OK then...” said Daniel with a slight quiver in his voice. And the two of them proceeded down the steps to the entry of the Canal St. Station.



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