I tracked the beeping to a house and knocked on the door. A man inebriated on some substance told me he couldn't hear it and largely seemed indifferent. When he closed the door, I scaled his house, got onto his porch and unplugged the offending party. What looked like a DVD player (no TV in sight) was the source of the loathsome tone. I climbed back down and went to bed.
A couple of days later, after I got off work, I saw a girl smoking a cigarette on the aforementioned porch. I told her how and why the beeping stopped and then invited myself up. We introduced ourselves, me being Joshua and her being Kelly. We chatted for a bit and after a few subtle clues, I asked her if she smoked weed, she agreed and I trotted back down to my place, packed up a bowl for us to blaze, and walked back up the stairs. We smoked and talked, and kept talking long after the bowl had been cashed. We talked for a few hours and it felt like we already knew each other. Turns out she'd just been fired from where I currently work. Small world.
A night or two after that I was restless and eager to be anywhere but here and when I went outside there were two on the porch again. I ascended the stairs and effectively broke into all of these people's lives. They had just packed a bowl and were all too willing to let me in on it. We puffed and passed and the rest of the crew came out to join. The pipe kicked, I wandered into their apartment, so similar to my own, and they all pretty much immediately accepted me. Only one was reluctant. Only one was aware. The girl in the Steelers jersey. Kelly's little sister, "Fudge". She was the only one to acknowledge how weird it is to just accept a completely random stranger into your life and home. She eventually warmed up to me and dubbed me "BeardJosh" as one of the tenants was already named Josh.
I took these videos.
I regaled them with thrilling tales of Vish adventure and they hungrily inquired for more. They volunteered their own hopes and dreams, fears and misgivings. I showed Fudge how to walk on her hands and helped her heat up a bowl of Chef Boyardee. Their apartment didn't have a microwave yet, so I ran it down to mine, nuked it and then brought it back up. Fudge insisted on sharing. Afterward, I invited them all down to my place to share a nice big fat bowl. Kelly and Josh declined to attend. I showed them my place, we talked, we smoked. The night sorta dissolved after that, but the memory and feelings remain strong.
I finally got my wish of seeing just what everyone else is "up to" in their own homes. Any time I go for a walk, especially if it's at night, I find myself inordinately concerned with what's going on in everyone's houses. I'm a curious fellow. I want to know what's going on in there. And now I know. It's not much different than anywhere else. The feeling I got being there, sitting in the corner, recording this video, was one of the most pure I've ever experienced in my life.
A feeling of immediately belonging, and being accepted, running simultaneous (and juxtaposed) to feeling completely foreign and alien. An outside observer/an inside participant. Both at the same time.
Some people recoil when a stray comes knocking and others let it inside, pour a bowl of milk, and pet with all the fervor of a lifelong owner.
Who knows where I've been?
Thank you. Thank you Kelly, Josh, Fudge, Alex and Snack. Thanks for giving this stray a feeling of home, even if it was only for a little bit. I wish we coulda been neighbors a little longer. We were only just getting started...
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