An Arab, a Jew, and a Truck

David felt guilty about seeing his roommate and friend as a rent check, but he couldn’t help it. David needed a different kind of life support and he needed it now. His own father’s health was in decline. He unselfishly gave his meager savings to pay for tuition and books. David couldn’t turn to him for rent money.

The day after his roommate’s emergency exit, he placed a four by ten-inch card on the synagogue bulletin board advertising a room for rent while emphasizing a kosher kitchen and the proximity to both the synagogue and Marty’s Deli. On the school bulletin board, he promoted the subway, the vibrant Bronx life, and of course the cheap rent.

Free ads, including the craigslist, produced zilch. This time he bought a two lines ad in the New York Times:

Share clean 2 bdrm 1 bath nr subway, shops, restaurants

avail. immed. $500 plus util. 555-289-1345

David placed a lot of hope on that ad. He dreaded facing Dorothy, his gentile landlady who invested in this 1960s eyesore with the insurance money left by her dead husband ten years ago. David saw Dorothy as a kind person who was good looking for her undetermined age. She liked and respected him, and treated him as a friend. But Dorothy was a businesswoman and she expected to receive the rent on the first day of the month. David didn’t want to damage their friendship or lose his status as a model tenant.

Suddenly, Mr. Model Tenant’s thoughts were interrupted by a soft taping. Damn, Dorothy must already be playing rent hardball. David was always punctual with his rent. Personal delivery was his style. Every month he placed the check in an envelope and knocked on her door. If she were home, she’d ask him in for a hot or cold drink depending on the weather. Like a schoolboy, he looked forward to those brief encounters. It wasn’t difficult to erase a few facial lines and imagine the younger, flawless, All-American Dorothy. Her flirting skills hadn’t diminished with time. She still had a way of holding a gaze a little longer than David was comfortable with. It excited and embarrassed him at the same time.

Now his embarrassment was about money. Let me get it over with and face the debt collector.