Smoke

1:29:00

He'd dropped something along the way, and since I didn't
feel like running anymore, I bent down to see what it was.

1:29:08

It turned out to be his wallet.

1:29:11

There wasn't any money inside,
but his driver's license was there,

1:29:14

along with three or four snapshots.

1:29:18

I suppose I could have called
the cops and had him arrested.

1:29:20

I had his name and
address from the license,

1:29:22

but I felt kind of sorry for him.

1:29:24

He was just a measly little punk,

1:29:26

and once I looked at those
pictures in his wallet,

1:29:31

I couldn't bring myself to
feel very angry at him...

1:29:35

Roger Goodwin.

1:29:38

That was his name.

1:29:40

In one of the pictures, I remember,
he was standing next to his mother.

1:29:43

In another one, he was holding some trophy he got from
school and smiling like he just won the Irish Sweepstakes.

1:29:51

I just didn't have the heart.
A poor kid from Brooklyn

1:29:55

without much going for him,

1:29:57

and who cared about a couple
of dirty magazines, anyway?

1:30:03

So I held onto the wallet.

1:30:06

Every once in a while I'd get a little urge to send it back
to him, but I kept delaying and never did anything about it.

1:30:13

Then Christmas rolls around,
and I'm stuck with nothing to do.

1:30:19

Vinnie was going to invite me over,
but his mother got sick, and he and his

1:30:21

wife had to go down to
Miami at the last minute.

1:30:26

So I'm sitting in my
apartment that morning,

1:30:28

feeling a little sorry for myself, and then
I see Roger Goodwin's wallet lying on a shelf.

1:30:35

I figure what the hell, why
not do something nice for once,

1:30:38

and I put on my coat and go
out to return the wallet....

1:30:42

The address was over in Boerum
Hill, somewherein the projects.

1:30:46

It was freezing out that day, and I remember getting
lost a few times trying to find the right building.

1:30:50

Everything looks the same in that place, and you keep
going over the same ground thinking you're somewhere else.

1:30:56

Anyway, I finally get to the apartment
I'm looking for and ring the bell...