A L F O N Z O
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- Alfonzo looked over his shoulder when Lucy spoke, smiling, and nodded. “I’ll be back,” he confirmed, pushing the door open to the soft tinkle of a bell and setting out into the sunny street outside. He unlocked a tall, dark green bike from a nearby tree and mounted it energetically, letting a car pass on the road before pushing out into the cyclist lane and heading happily for home. He had a couple close swipes and lost a firecracker or two on the road but didn’t really worry about it, his focus almost like broad tunnel vision. Travelling in New York, regardless of how, where, and when, was some kind of intense journey from point A to point B that could easily become a traffic disaster. Washington Heights was no different, and a collision with another cyclist was barely avoided as he hopped the curb on the tall 10 speed and came to a stop at the door. He waved to Senora. She squinted at him, snipping a leaf from a porch plant.
Carrying a bike up four flights of stairs had become Alfie’s daily workout, and kids on the stairs made way for the usual stranger. The cat sniffed at him as he passed the second floor, and on the third he stopped to breathe for a minute, the bike still hitched up off of the floor. He had a short conversation with a woman who attended the local ballet school and had stopped into the cafe once a while ago, then he was up onto the fourth, and he walked it down the hallway as a bug zipped past his head. The white wallpaper on the hallways was stained a little bit beige in a few places, drawn on in others by the children of his neighbours, but Alfonzo’s door had always stayed a consistent slate grey throughout his residency. The apartment he lived in could be described as cozy by some, cramped by others, but it was home and he loved it all the same. The yorkie and elderly chihuahua who inhabited it with the men greeted him at the door, Nagini jovial and Senator tottering along as always. His fanclub, as Karesh, who was sleeping on the couch, so often lovingly called it.
Alfonso stepped over them happily, shaking his roommate’s shoulder and kneeling to speak quietly in his ear. He explained through the mess of dark curls shadowing Karesh’s face that he was taking Senator down to the coffee shop and received a mumbled greeting and murmur of approval seconds after. It wasn’t much, just a simple ‘hey, i’m leaving,’ but Karesh appreciated being in the know and Alf liked him being happy. Senator, who seemed to know where they were going, yapped. Alfonzo smiled. He lifted the red and white chi and strapped him into the little harness he’d grown into a year ago, but didn’t really grab a leash, cause Senator wouldn’t walk that far anyway. They had tried to deny it, but the signs of age were showing through and Senator just couldn’t do it. The chilean man didn’t mind; he snatched a hoodie off of the coat rack and slipped it on over his fluorescent orange shirt, settling Senator in the pocket with the chi’s head and tail sticking out of either end. The dog was happy to ride along, squinting when the front door opened as Karesh had the lights off. Alfonzo popped some earbuds in and started the walk back to the cafe, in his own little world.
This was New York, where dreams were made, and maybe falling in love was a dream to some people but to Alfonzo it was destiny and everything else could wait. It made him think as he walked, though. He had a life. He had a roommate and a dog and a steady job. Washington Heights was home. Normally, he had met Lucille in a place where both of them were in in-between periods and ready to do something new, but now they were adults and they lived crazy different lives. From her clothes and what he’d gathered, she had some big corporate job - her complex probably had an elevator, if she wasn’t living in an actual house. He was sharing an apartment and climbed up and down four flights of stairs every day. She liked black coffee and he liked tea that tasted like gingerbread. She was so well-put together and he was a landmark of the Heights, a fixture that saw everything; he told everyone’s stories, instead of them telling his. She stepped into the coffee shop and he immediately assumed she wasn’t from around here. Thought maybe she had come over from East Caucus, just across the bridge. As he stroked Senator’s head, Alfonzo bit his lip. He would go with her in a heartbeat, but she wasn’t rushing anything, so he wouldn’t either.
The cafe was kind of quiet when Alfie stepped in with the senior chihuahua, Benito giving them a warm greeting and Johanna waving minutely. Alfie was only worried about turning a chair around and joining Lucille at her table, though, and positioning Senator on his lap carefully. The chihuahua nestled in and Alfonzo relaxed. “That was probably too long, huh?”
