to open my door and get my suitcase out of the trunk. She slid over to wave. I took my suitcase, smiled and thanked her, and then turned to look at the doorway to my new home.
The building was nothing like I had envisioned. It was a narrow brownstone about four stories high, with a short stoop to a small gray concrete platform with black pipe railings. The street itself was quite busy with traffic and pedestrians. No one gave me much more than a passing glance as I carried my suitcase to the steps. It was obviously a busy rush hour. Everyone was hurrying to get somewhere, and the taxi drivers and other drivers on the street were impatiently pressuring one another. Someone double-parked and caused a cacophony of horns and shouts. When I looked at the faces of those upset, I thought I saw a dozen potential serial killers. The double-parked driver emerged indifferently and opened his car trunk to take out someone’s luggage, moving at his own slow pace. The horns grew louder.
Patience is obviously not a virtue here, I thought. The driver glanced back at the traffic behind him with indifference and moved casually into his vehicle. When he pulled away, it was like watching a clogged pipe empty out. How different from the traffic in Guildford, I thought.
Get used to it, Emma Corey, I told myself. This is going to be your new world.
I started up the stoop. At the side of the door was the directory. I saw there were eight units, all having names beside the buttons. Which one was going to be mine with whoever I talked into sharing the cost with me? I wondered. The bottom slot listed Leo Abbot, manager, so I pressed that button and waited, expecting him to come to the door to greet me, but instead, I heard a buzzer, which I understood to mean the unlocking of the front door. I stepped into the short entryway, where there was a second door opening to the hallway. I quickly realized there was no elevator.
A door on my right opened, and a short, balding gray-haired man, with glasses that had lenses so thick that they looked like deep-sea goggles, stepped out. He was about my height, very slight in build but with large hands. He impressed me as someone who had shrunk with age, every part of him except his hands. He was wearing a well-worn dark-brown leather vest over a faded white shirt and black slacks, with a pair of what looked like black, furry leather slippers.
“Emma Corey?” he asked.
“Yes.”
When he smiled, he looked more like someone’s granddad than a landlord. There was warmth and delight in his eyes. I never knew how important it was to have someone look and see you when he or she spoke to you. Most of the people along the way were practically robotic. This was like a warm embrace, and with the way my heart was pounding, I needed that.
“You got here faster than I thought. Good for you. C’mon. I’ll show you the apartment. I put some water, bread, eggs and butter, and some coffee and milk in the kitchen for you. Donald Manning sent it over earlier today from his restaurant. He also sent over some fresh bedding and some towels and hand towels. Soap, too. Someone’s looking after you. Donald’s a good guy, heart o’ gold, but he ain’t no pushover when it comes to working for him,” he warned. “I eat dinner at his place on occasion and see how he cracks the whip.”
He paused and looked at me more closely.
“You don’t look much more than sixteen. You’re eighteen, right? You’re gonna need proof of it at times.”
“That doesn’t bother me, sir,” I said.
He smiled. “Oh, you can call me Leo.” He leaned toward me to speak in a loud whisper. “ ’Course, there are a few tenants here that have other names for me, names that would dirty your ears. Let me carry that for you,” he said, reaching for my suitcase.
“I’m fine, thank you.” I did think I was stronger than he was.
“Always take advantage of people who want to do something for you,” he advised. “This here is New York. It’s as rare as a two-dollar bill.”
“Oh, I don’t wish to take advantage of anyone, Leo.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Eager and trusting. Youth is wasted on the young,” he declared, and smiled. “You’re on the third floor. You ain’t gonna gain weight