A Good Man
It's a late Saturday afternoon in early March, and I am sweating in search of the only gift my son wants from Los Angeles: a 1 to the homes of the stars such as Brad Pitt and Jet Li.
A cheerful taxi driver says, “No problem. Map sellers are everywhere!” When the taxi stops, a fellow 2 with a thin folded sheet and says: “Ten dollars.”
Ten dollars! With absolute 3I inform him, “That's too much.” The map man leaves. I begin walking, certain I'll find a (an)4 star map soon.
I am 5. There's hardly anybody on the street. There don't seem to be many real stores, just cars and bars. No maps. No stars. Blocks pass. The sun begins to sink. At the edge of West Hollywood6fellow wanders ahead, selling star maps to some teenage girls.
Ten dollars7. Forget it. My son will 8.
That night, I call my wife. “Did you get one of those maps to the stars? He's been talking about 9else.”
This10is hard to ignore. It's late. At all-night markets: no maps. I head back to the hotel. Morning is coming. There will be one last11. After I check out, I take a taxi. But at nine in the morning, map sellers are 12 to be found.
“You know,” says the driver, “The guys with the maps just aren't up yet!” He's right.
“Forget it. Let's go to the airport.”
“Well,” says the driver, “I could 13 you one if you like.”
Sure. Trust this guy? I might as well throw cash onto the freeway. But exiting the taxi, I14 my last chance. I hand him $13 and my business card. Three weeks pass. I've15 on the star map. My son has stopped mentioning it.
Then one afternoon, sticking out from under piles of flyers, there it is: a big white envelope. There is a small note. I can hardly read it16 I make out a few phrases一“forgive17 “taxi's been down” and, finally, “here's map for your son.” There's no return address. It's signed, “kind regards, M.”
I hold the note in my hand18 what my son said to me when I got back from Los Angeles.
“Did you meet any 19 Dad?” he asked.
Now I know what to tell him.
“Yes, I did. I met a guy named M.”
If you never 20 anybody, you'll never find the good guys.
