"You wanna stop by my place some evening and share some?" "You know, I haven't had a toke for, oh, maybe five years, certainly not since I got married." I was acutely aware of the ring it was probably the third or fourth thing I noticed about him the first time I'd seen him.
It's the only drug I use, and I like the results better than alcohol." "You have some around?", he asked, looking surreptitiously about for anyone who might be listening. "The stuff is expensive enough as it is."
One day, we were talking about current events, in particular, CAMP (California Against Marijuana Production) and the recent big crop they had confiscated. He managed to arrange his schedule and I mine so we could take a break at about the same time daily for coffee, shooting the shit for 10 or 15 minutes. Not friends in the sense of having deep conversations or anything, but buddies. "Hey, that's really neat!" The next day, I had a printout of it ready for him as a surprise.įrom that day on, we were sort of friends. Primitive by today's graphics standards since it was done on a standard line printer, utilizing overprinting and differing alphanumeric characters to produce its effect, nevertheless it was an impressive sight, covering about 16 pages of computer paper once assembled. One day, I had put up a huge computer printout depicting the Starship Enterprise from the 60's TV series. I always brightened up when he came by my desk. His dark hair shimmered under the fluorescent lights of the office that same dark hair grew profusely on his powerful forearms, heightening the aura of masculinity about him.
His Mediterranean good looks seemed enhanced by the standard brown uniform all UPS drivers wore. Nick, Nicholas on his UPS nametag but he preferred the diminutive, had been delivering to my office since I started working there two years earlier.