Serenading Stanley Read Online Free PDF

Marlboros.
    Stanley had been a student his entire life. Was still a student, in fact, and would be until he finished his master’s degree at Beaumont University. Already he was almost giddy with excitement at embarking on this solo adventure. He was about to be on his own for the very first time in his life, with his very own apartment . What young man wouldn’t be giddy about that?
    As Stanley and his last box made its way out the front door, he said, “Bye, Ma,” but his mother remained as silent as a glacier. Shaking his head, Stanley gently closed the door between them.
    On the way to his new digs, Stanley stopped at the post office to drop off a change of address form because of all the letters of introduction he had sent out to various museums and the dozen or so established archaeologists he had heard might be seeking interns sometime in the not too distant future. He hoped to land himself a slot fairly quickly after he earned his master’s. He didn’t want any possible responses to those queries lost in the mail. His mother was being such a bitch, if they came to the condo, she’d probably stuff them down the toilet out of spite.
    At the apartment, it took Stanley exactly forty-five minutes to unload the car and lug everything up six flights of stairs. Without Arthur hanging on his belt like an anchor, the stairs didn’t seem bad at all. Stanley figured he’d get used to them in no time.
    On his last trip up the stairs with a box of books in his arms, he spotted a young man peeking down the stairwell at him from above. Stanley straightened his glasses and took a good look at him. The man wore a pocket protector with several pens poking out of it in his shirt pocket, which was about all Stanley could see as he leaned over the railing above Stanley’s head. Although he did notice a couple of really big ears. The guy was kind of cute, though, in spite of the ears. Since he couldn’t wave, Stanley simply called out, “Hi! Moving in! Hope I’m not making too much noise!”
    To his surprise, the man scurried off as if Stanley had lobbed a cannonball at him.
    “Well, huh!” Stanley said, vaguely offended, then forgot about the man completely.
    Stanley had everything in place in his new apartment before his heart quieted down from lugging that last box of books up the stairs. Since the place was furnished, getting settled was a breeze. The furniture was well used but serviceable. Actually, Stanley was mostly psyched about the place not reeking of cigarette smoke. That was a blessing he hadn’t anticipated.
    In the living room, he had a lumpy sofa, a coffee table with a few horrific scratches dug into it as if by a runaway Rototiller, a bookcase just big enough to hold all his books, and a desk in the corner for his computer. What more could he possibly need?
    The bedroom was tiny, but Stanley didn’t mind. There was a double bed and chest of drawers and a chair with a floor lamp beside it standing in the corner. The closet was small but big enough for Stanley’s needs. He didn’t have that many clothes to begin with, and most of those he never hung up anyway.
    The bathroom had a small window that overlooked the Coronado Bridge in the distance and a shower stall in need of a curtain. He’d run to the store later and buy one.
    The kitchen was miniscule. Just big enough for a fridge, a stove, and a kitchen table with three chairs. One chair was missing.
    Back in the living room, Stanley gravitated to the wide window beside the couch, which looked out on the eucalyptus tree outside. Wow! He had a view of a tree! How great was that? Arthur had spoken the truth when he’d told Stanley the butter-yellow curtains Arthur had installed were darling. They were darling indeed. Nice and cheerful.
    Stanley wangled the windows all the way open, which wasn’t easy since they were old and painted shut, but when he finally got them up as far as they would go, he felt the tiniest breath of fresh air creep into the unit. The