My new Friend

My new friend is Lee, whom I met on my walk this morning. I decided to go a different route today, and on Old Lascassas, I hear a voice say "Hey, Big Man, how's it going?"

I see a man sitting on the sidewalk in front of the crappy little plaza with Campus Subs in it. He's sitting in front of Campus subs.

"Good," I say.

Since we're pals now, he asks "Can you do me a favor?"

I'm still walking. He gets up and starts following. It is then that I notice he's got a prosthetic leg.

"What do you need?" I ask.

"Can you buy me some beer?"

"I can't, man. Just a personal rule."

"I got ya, I got ya," he says.

"Can I walk with you?"

"Can't say why not."

And in the space of the walk from Campus Subs up to the Kwik Sak, I learn that his name is Lee, and that he came to Murfreesboro 11 years ago, he grew up in Colorado on a reservation, and had to go to Colorado last month to bury his mother. His car died two days ago and he just had it towed to the shop this morning. He lost his leg in Vietnam and he doesn't appreciate being carded by foreigners at the Kwik Sak when he tries to buy beer.

The walk from Campus Subs to Kwik Sak is maybe 1000 feet. And I'd say it's probably less than that.

We get to Kwik Sak, where he asks if I'm sure I can't buy him some beer. He's paying. I pull the pockets out of my shorts to illustrate that I'm not carrying ID. "They won't sell to me, either," I say. I hope he gets the message that I'm not carrying more than 50 cents, too just in case.

"Oh," he says. "Tough world."

"I reckon."

And he walks with me a little while longer before he spots a fellow out in front of the new coffee shop to also make friends with.

He tells me, though, as he's walking away: "You're a good dude, and good things will happen to you...whatever your name is"

That's me. Whatever my name is.