37/46
:
Caught 2/2
:
Lena meets me on the way to the front door. Standing about 4’6, slow, yet moving with elegance. A beggar. Her eyes are large and soft. She wears a straw sun hat with gloves cropped at the knuckles. “Will you kindly buy me a coffee?” This white woman can’t be homeless. I spy her bag, full of recycled paper cups.
:
Maybe she's an actress, an old eccentric finding marks to buy her goodies out of guilt. “Well, I don’t do expensive coffees.” Her hands fly up like a puppy excited for a scrap. Inside, Lena settles on yogurt instead -- starts telling stories about her favorite screen actresses, Carole Channing and a few others, mostly Jewish.
:
Then she switches. Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Louis Armstrong. “My grand momma was born in Jamaica. They all visited there.“ I look at her again. She takes off her hat and I see small holes in the crown. Lena goes on talking with hardly a pause. I say, “I could buy you coffee tomorrow.” She suggests 11am.
