. a narrow courtyard packed with overgrown shrubbery and dark shadows divided the two inits of cara 's duplex . the halves met up in the back to complete the shape of the building into a U . well tended birds paradise in big , heavy urns flanked the substantial oak door on cara 's side of the building .
the init on the other hlaf of the U had no urns and no flowers gracing its door . on that side of the duplex all the curtains were drawn and newspapers and flyers were yellowing on the tiled landing .
i couldn't find a bell , so i rapped on cara's door with my knuckles .
the brass mail slot by the door had an evlope sticking out , waiting to be collected by the letter carrier . the rerurn address was cara's , but the name on the evelop was kanyn gray . wallace had said his daughter had roommtes . i guessed that kanyn was one .
i turned and looked beyond an intervening ridge , the view toward the central bussiness district to LA . from the front of the home was spalendid , or at least my imagination allowed that it would have been spalendid on one of thoes crystal days when ;la'S AIR is as clear as tropical water .
that wasn't one of thoes . the skyscrapers downtown - much more numerous than remembered -loomed like raised fingers in haze . i tied to decide if the color of the air that day was closer to gray or closer to brown . a woman answered the door before i reached a conclusion .
kanyn , i wondered ? cara ?
th woman wasn't at all cautious about opening her ront door to a stranger . whether that said more about the neiborhood or more about her i wasn't in a position to know . she flung the door open wide and stood silhoueted against an orange wall , her feet set wide apart . behind her , flaking shellac marred the finish of the old mahogany door of a coat closet . the wood on the door was stained , or had aged , until it was almost black . the door had a cut-glass knob and wasn't close all the way .
the init on the other hlaf of the U had no urns and no flowers gracing its door . on that side of the duplex all the curtains were drawn and newspapers and flyers were yellowing on the tiled landing .
i couldn't find a bell , so i rapped on cara's door with my knuckles .
the brass mail slot by the door had an evlope sticking out , waiting to be collected by the letter carrier . the rerurn address was cara's , but the name on the evelop was kanyn gray . wallace had said his daughter had roommtes . i guessed that kanyn was one .
i turned and looked beyond an intervening ridge , the view toward the central bussiness district to LA . from the front of the home was spalendid , or at least my imagination allowed that it would have been spalendid on one of thoes crystal days when ;la'S AIR is as clear as tropical water .
that wasn't one of thoes . the skyscrapers downtown - much more numerous than remembered -loomed like raised fingers in haze . i tied to decide if the color of the air that day was closer to gray or closer to brown . a woman answered the door before i reached a conclusion .
kanyn , i wondered ? cara ?
th woman wasn't at all cautious about opening her ront door to a stranger . whether that said more about the neiborhood or more about her i wasn't in a position to know . she flung the door open wide and stood silhoueted against an orange wall , her feet set wide apart . behind her , flaking shellac marred the finish of the old mahogany door of a coat closet . the wood on the door was stained , or had aged , until it was almost black . the door had a cut-glass knob and wasn't close all the way .
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