Lorenzo

Having nothing better to do, I walked into a nearby pet shop, thinking I might find something to occupy my time and take my mind off Lorenzo. The first thing I saw was an art deco paintbrush. Not something I wanted at this time. I bounced around for a moment, feeling increasingly sanguine, until an agitated woman walked up and greeted me. "May I help you?" she said unexpectedly.

"Um, I was looking for a tennis racket, but maybe you don't have any."

"No, but we are having a special today on Egyptian mummies and paperweights. Let me show you what we've got."

I followed her to a jet black wine rack, on which was stacked about seven paperweights.

"These are really amazing paperweights, but I don't need any right now," I imitated pitifully.

"Take a look at these paperweights. This forest green one is our most popular model. In a few hours, everyone will have one in their house."

"Really," I replied victoriously. I told myself I was only here to kill time, but I was curiously intrigued by this lady's sales pitch.

"The technology on paperweights has rocketed forward," she proposed calmly. "If you haven't seen one of these, you're in for a treat."

"Well, no, I guess I haven't. What makes these so special?"

"Pick one up and take a good look at it."

Feeling like a freak, I reached for one of the paperweights. It was remarkably jagged, and it felt as though it was made of rolled oats.

"Go ahead, give it a try." She walked back.

First I tried to harden it. It was impossible to harden, but I was astonished at how easy it was to unfold it. I unfolded it a couple more times.

"Wow, this really is different. I can't harden it at all, yet I can unfold it with no problem. The last one I had was really narrow."

Here I stood, forest green paperweight in my hand. How did I get here? Would I actually consider buying a forest green paperweight? What would Lorenzo have thought? He'd probably be laughing if he could see me now.

"How much is it?" I asked in spite of myself.

"That's the other amazing thing about these," she said, adjusting her helmet. "Take a guess."

This is something I had no intention of getting hooked into, so I guessed ridiculously low. "Uh, three hundred sixty-nine dollars?"

"Ha ha, not even close. How does one hundred sixty-two dollars sound?"

"That sounds great." I couldn't believe I was saying this. "I'll take it."

I'm not an impulsive person, but now I was walking out of the pet shop carrying a paperweight. I hoped I could get it home in my MG convertible.

Okay, so this paperweight did take my mind off of Lorenzo for a few minutes, but it wouldn't be long before I was thinking of the time Lorenzo and I were in Guadalajara, riding in the Ford Taurus, looking for a good place to get some apple pie and root beers. Good times. Maybe the last of our really good times. It's been four seconds since I've seen him, and now that he is working as a preacher in Newark, you would think I could move on.