And Then There Were Two

“No boom today. Boom tomorrow. Always boom tomorrow.” -Babylon 5


So after the post where I said I felt I reached a good plateau in my changes, the universe throws me another loop. It’s not one that I can’t deal with, but a loop nonetheless. I come home from work last night. I was all excited because I was going to see John Williams, the world best classical guitarist, in concert at Carnegie Hall. My friend, who works there, hooked me up with some good seats and I was going with a friend from Purchase College who is also a guitarist. (To those who don’t know, I have played guitar for 15.5 years now. My senior recital, on classical and jazz guitar, at Greensboro College drew the largest audience of any recital in the ten years prior.) So I open the door to the apartment and find that my roommate, who lives in the living room, has all his stuff in boxes.

He isn’t there so I text message him to call me. While I wait, I take stock of the situation. I knew that he owed the landlord money. I know that they have been pestering him about it. And they told him that he “needs to get his shit together.” And Joey, my roommate, a month ago when this all started was like, “I know, I am going to buckle down at work. Stop going out and get the money to them.” Apparently, he hasn’t. I saw this coming. There were nights when he wouldn’t come home. Others where he go out after work and get home very late. Then he’d be late for work the next day and the job would send him home. The landlords got tired off putting up with it and said, “If you can’t give us $500 by tonight, you’re out!” Hence me coming home to find his stuff in boxes.

Also, I get a little concerned. Is the landlord going to raise my other roommate and I’s rent by half of what Joey was paying? This had me worried because I am on a fixed budget right now and can’t afford that much of an increase. I took this apartment for the price that it was $525, utilities included, and that it was close to work. (For those who don’t know about NYC rents, that is really good. I know at that price I could get an 2 bedroom apartment by myself in North Carolina, but rents in NYC are sky-high.) I knew it wasn’t the ideal living situation, but I would deal with it. If the landlord was going to raise the rent that much, I’d have to move again. Something I really didn’t want to do for awhile.

So Joey calls me and tells me what happened. He talks about where he going to stay and what he is going to do. I feel for him. The boy has talent. A lot. He has a gift for poetry and delivering in such a great cadence. I wanted to record him to make a spoken-word cd to go along with a published book of his poetry, whenever that would happen. But he has his issues. And when you are partying too much, or trying to drown your pain and sorrows, consequences happen. “We may ignore our responsibilities. But we can never ignore the consequences of our ignoring of those responsibilities.” (Can’t find who said that quote. I’ll edit the post when I do.) So I am a tad worried about what he’ll do, but also I know it is his concern.

And that brings me back to mine. Before leaving I go upstairs and talk with the landlord’s wife and express my concerns. She said not to worry. They aren’t going to increase my rent, nor my other roommate’s. At least not for the time being. My other roommate is out on tour until Friday. The landlord’s wife said that we’ll all sit down and talk things out this weekend. That eased me. For now. I know I can handle a small increase, which I told her, but not a big increase.

So I go to the concert and was blown away. It was like sitting in the presence of a Zen Master. I drive my friend back home afterwards. I return to my apartment after midnight, and walk in feeling the emptiness. Even though I have come home many nights to see that Joey was still out, I knew that when I woke up I would find him in his bed (sometimes with his girlfriend lying next to him). Tonight I walked in knowing that Joey wouldn’t be there in the morning. And while he has his issues, I like him. Joey made the transition to the new place a little easier just by being there. I’ll miss him.