A Friend, From Lilli Ann, to China Town (A Short Sketch)

From the very first moment we'd meet, Dan woulddrinking, she told Dan so, and Dan told me, and I told
give off a sudden and odd sense of a personDan to tell her, "Mind her own business." Fine, she took
understanding my undertaking in life. But it came at theit lightly and somewhat avoided me when visiting Dan,
oddest time, under odd circumstances. I was living inand at work she smiled as usual. I think she was torn in
San Francisco, back in 1968, and Dan just startedthat she'd have liked to have had a closer relationship
working at Lilli Ann, where I was working, I had beenwith me, but it didn't turn out that way, surely drinking
there for four months, Lilli Ann was dress designingwas part of the issue.
company. We kind of bumped into one another, and heAs I implied, I came in drunk a lot, and fell to sleep a lot,
was looking for a place to live, he and his spunkyor passed out a lot, and it was Colleen who was living
brother, half brother, a few years younger than us two,in one of the rooms near Dan, and she was drinking
at present they were being kicked out because ofand laughing with Dan and his brother a lot, and one
their rent being raised, and unaffordable for them.evening, I came home, and heard them, they were
I was working out at the karate dojo in Castro, living onhaving a party in their room and she was flirting, trying
Dolores Street in an old mansion, a female Colonial,to kiss Dan, and yelled at her and Dan and the brother,
retired from the Army, rented the rooms out. She wasless at the brother, and of course she scolded me for
tall, with short blond hair, medium size boned, and kindbeing jealous, and I told Dan, stay away, even if I didn't
of orderly. What you'd expect I suppose from such acare to date her anymore, and he said ok, with a
person.slanting eye, and she said no, with a grudge. She said, "I
On the other hand, Dan was about my height, fiveam not your property, I am free to date and do as I
food eight, perhaps Irish, like me, sandy brown hair, andplease, I am not subject to you."
took a different style of karate up, but was interestedIt did come to pass, she left, and probably for the
in some of my moves. He was considered good in hiswiser. But I thought a lot of Dan for doing what he did,
style, but I was considered better, if it came down tohe avoided her, told her, and I heard him say it, "It's best
testing one another under fire.we keep our distance, I don't want to lose Dennis as a
Now I had been dating Colleen, she was ten-years myfriend, he was my friend first." I guess he felt he owed
senior and she was looking for a place to live also. Sheit to me, I mean, I got him the apartment, and perhaps
had a white Cadillac car, and a good job. I'd often get athe girlfriend, at least the first date, and his brother got
ride to work from her, and she'd have me buy herto smoke his pot unworried about the law, in his
material, for making cloths, Lilli Ann was considered toapartment, life was good. Plus, he didn't really want an
have some of the best textiles in the world, Adolphaffair with her that might leak back to his new
Schuman, often went to France, checked out the millsunofficial girlfriend.
to insure he got the best. In any case, it was a goodAs time moved on, Dan got more involved with his
arrangement, and we'd drink, got drunk and made lovegirlfriend, and I respected that, and we did less and less
together when we were both available.together, which was ok, but I seemed to have lost a
Well, she moved in, after Dan, but I met both of themgood friend in the process, one I took time to cultivated
around the same time, Dan a month earlier. And we alla friendship with, and that hurt. But I would find out in
got along together. I suppose back then, it was all welife, there was much ahead of me, and perhaps there
could do to hold together, drink, and work together, andwould not have been time to cultivate that friendship
flop out together. We were all becoming a group ofbeyond what we did. Consequently, we did in our short
sorts. Dan's brother was part of the group, but less atime all we really could do. When my mother visited
part.the city he even went to China Town with us, she liked
I drank quite a lot in those days, and Dan found ahim as well as I, and that was not a surprise to me.
girlfriend at work, a Spanish gal and had me talk to her,I learned back then, I suppose, a good friend is worth
kind of fixing him up, I knew her better than he. Andits weight in any kind of precious metal; they are far
thus, they started dating, and she became part of theand in-between, in one's life time.
group. She liked me, and was concerned about my