923 Garden Street was a place where I had spent a lot of time and ruined many brain cells. It was all in good fun, which is what we call those explanations for our dissipated youth. Doris, Carla and Janine lived together in a first floor railroad flat. They had gone to school with Dolph, and Drew and Jorge. Some toothpaste college in upstate New York.

I first met Dolph and Jorge when we all worked for the same book publisher and I was soon drawn into their gravitational pull. There were a few planets and satellites that I became acquainted with. These fresh faced college graduates all hung out together and I found them to be welcoming and intelligent. They couldn’t afford to hangout at Maxwell’s so it was usually 923.

Dolph lived a block or two away with his sister who wasn’t too welcoming with a bunch of malcontents. One couldn’t blame her really. Dolph and his sister got along but butted heads quite a bit. Dolph soon moved to his own place with Drew, across from Maxwell’s at 1105 Washington St. It was a top floor abode which made the first floor of 923 all the more appealing.

I met Doris and Carla first, Janine was on the road, traveling. They were welcoming and funny. They all were actually and made me feel somewhat intelligent. Doris and Carla had clear notions about not succumbing to society’s ideas about beauty and rarely wore makeup or dressed according to what society dictated. They had brains that they used which could not be said about their contemporaries.

I kept hearing about Janine and how great she was. The hype was so great and when I finally met Janine I found she had surpassed all the praise thrust upon her. I am still friends with 2 of the 3 fates, though time and distance decides how often our paths cross.

Many hours I had driven down to Hoboken and double parked outside of 923. Someone always had an ear out for a honking car horn trying to get out with my car blocking them. It was a different time, over 40 years ago in Hoboken. We usually sat around the kitchen table smoking weed and watching a black and white television named Kid fuggin Devi. I remember the Aaron Spelling tv show Hotel was a popular and stoned choice.

Whippets were a gift given to me one year at 923 for my birthday. That was fun. Occasionally powders entered the picture and up the nose. That was a rare occasion though. The majority of us enjoyed the white powders and some preferred the yellow tinged sort. I wrote about that a few weeks ago.

I was moreover and more involved with the toothpaste set and having a good time. Through them I met their guitarist classmate, Leigh James, Paul America and Robert Hirsch as well as people who brushed their teeth with a different toothpaste, Doug and Kate from Louisville.

Back in reality, I decided that since yesterday riding the Path train was so crowded from 14th St, I walked up to 23rd St, the stop before 14th St. I thought, maybe, just maybe it would be an easier ride. I was woefully mistaken. The platform at 23rd St is very narrow and nervewracking. When the Hoboken train pulled in, it was crowded even more so than the day before.

Tomorrow I am due back in the bell of the fruit stand which is also the last stop as well as the beginning when going home. We’ll see how that works out.

Monday, October 26. Back at work. Yesterday I had hoped to go for a bike ride but it was a little too nippy. Plus I had promised to go to the Newport mall with Mike. We’d been planning on going for a few weeks and it was important to Mike that we go. He’s been at his crib for over a. Year and his parole officer commented that it looked like a trap house.

that seemed to be enough for Mike to do something about. Bill came home on Saturday. It was only a stop of a few hour, he was out of the apartment at 3:30 am headed to Pennsylvania. I slept until a little bit after 9 am and puttered about. Bill set up the coffee maker on Saturday before he left so life was somewhat easier.

I was thinking about doing a bike ride but it wasn’t as warm as I would have hoped and Mike was coming over sooner rather then later. Mike showed up and after a short while, we started towards the mall. It was a beautiful day as we walked through the train station and onto the waterfront in Jersey City. Mike enjoys these walks and talks and I do too.

Mike really wants to buy me something, clothes, appliances, but I hesitate since I have enough clothes and can’t think of any appliances we might need. It frustrates Mike and he resolves to get me something at some point.

Bill is heading back home and has nothing scheduled for the rest of the week, but that could change. He was funny and annoying on Saturday. He wanted to go to the supermarket with me on Saturday but he had just gotten home and needed to rest. The supermarket was fine, I was in and out in no time.

While shopping, I almost walked down the bread aisle and figured that I had half a loaf left so no need. I was going to buy Bill things that he liked but was uncertain. I knew Bill liked bread though. Enough bread that when I came home there was maybe a quarter loaf left.

That was the annoying part. I almost bought more bread but figured that I had
enough left. Now I didn’t and would need to go back to the supermarket. It wasn’t so bad, it was more of a hassle. It was a nice day. There was an idea for Mike to come over on Saturday but it didn’t seem like that good of an idea at that point.

Things were back to normal with Bill and we enjoyed each other’s company until it was time for him to go to sleep, needing to be up and on the road by 3:30 am. And that brings it all back to the beginning. And the beginning was yesterday, today is not that.

Today has been a good enough, quiet day. I hope that it stays that way. Wednesday all day in the belly of the fruit stand and Friday morning a meeting there in that same belly.