Excuse me but if I gave you a quarter would you run down to the market and buy me a watermelon The nurse peered down at the frail old woman After supper mam Her warm Jamaican accent ricocheted of the linoleum tile walls of the Bayside Rest Home on South Eliseo Road then were muffled by the soft grey carpeting splotched with dinners long long past their prime The nurse turned about on her heels and plodded off to the dining room and the retiree croaked out a sigh Thank you it will be gratefully appreciated Down the hall a man was in his room asleep again He was short in stature and a tad overweight No one would be heard calling him fat though His head was bare except for small white tufts along his head His teeth were gone and in their place were some ceramic replicas which he ignored to his dentist s chagrin The result of this was his lower lip curled in above his gum and caused a wrinkle in his chin that showed when he napped head rolled back and mouth agape In his prime he had been a pilot for the Air Force in World War Two A hotshot they d called him and he d almost flown the Enola Gay Phil had been a little reckless wild with the drink He d stomped away from the base now and then to woo locals Hey GI you wan Japanese gir fren the women would croon to him And that was the highlight of his life that island that time But Phil had begun to forget all that The nights spent with exotic women and the days he had spent with his wife Edith dead ten years now and six feet under He d also forgotten how to play cards and his children s names A few hours ago he forgot he needed to go to the bathroom It can wait he snorted It can dang well hold on Phil s bladder had forgotten how to do that As odor piled upon odor and a musty stench arose through the building it merged with all the other smells that lived there The food the urine the blood the tears the body odor the foot stench All of the aromas slept in the home like a fog in England and lived in the walls the grout between the tile the linoleum which were mopped twice daily Pedro was in charge of mopping those very floors Seven dollars an hour he raked in Good money damn good money He was going down to Fresno next weekend and get hammered with his friends from the barrato from Mexico City Pedro didn t mind the stench of the home any more then he could tolerate the stench of alcohol Made you step back brave it like a man and let you know you were still alive Georgia didn t like the stench at all Clashed with her perfume it did This southern belle knew when a smell was ripe and this one stood out like a Well she wasn t quite sure what it stood out like but it sure did Nurse! she shouted No one came The humming of a fan was grating on her nerves Nurse! she padded on her rouge and applied her lipstick Georgia carefully placed her slippers on her feet and took a look at herself in the mirror Hehe I was good lookin then Still am I think Well it s Saturday and I must get ready My hair appointment is today She powdered herself An orange highlight would be good It would go well with my robe She put on the lime bathrobe and strolled out The nurse appeared in the hall Georgia aren t you a little cold Why it s a fine summer day! Why should I feel a draft hon Well it s March its raining and Well you might want to wear something under your robe Or maybe button up Georgia went pale Oh dear I ve off and done it again haven t I Georgia went to her room struggled in to a nightgown and walked out again She passed by Phil Looks like you forgot something too! Your zipper is down! She cackled Humph Never done me any good before Phil tipped his hat and then put it on a chair Pedro on his rounds took the paper hat which the nurse had made for Phil in arts and crafts He put it in a black plastic bag to be sent to the fire that burned in the east wing A woman rolled up to Phil G day mam He tipped his nonexistent hat and put it on the chair Hello Phil If I gave you a quarter would you go and buy me a watermelon It d be greatly appreciated said a frail old woman who really really didn t want to wait until dinner * * * About a month after this Phil died He was one hundred and something It was in the Marin IJ in the Obits Also I think the place changed names because when I went they were all wearing tags that said Sunrise Nursing Home or something