Albert

I was looking through old photographs, and I happened to find a picture of Albert, one of Howard's friends. It reminded me of him and made me wonder what he is up to. The last time I saw him was during the summer when we had to work on the swing-stage together. We got a big fight and he took off, never to be seen again. Knowing Howard, I'm surprised he hasn't come back or called or anything. He really bothered me sometimes because he seemed to so uppity, but I used to learn a lot of things just being around him. He never ceased to surprise me about what one man can do and see in a lifetime. He could be anywhere right now: Egypt, France, but I'm really shocked that he hasn't even reported back to me. He was a rude bugger, but I hope nothing bad happened to him. I hope he still has his damn Howardianism. I don't have any pictures of Howard because he'd never stay still for long enough to capture him on film, but anyway.

This was his friend Albert who I met one time near the maple ranch which was owned by Howard's uncle. Albert operated the cooling machines and he smoked incessantly. It wasn't a very demanding job. It was maybe an hour of labour a day. Howard's uncle had let him set up his own poker lounge on the side where people could come and play and be offered the best martini's. It was kind of a ramshackle room with lots of posters and lights everywhere right in the plant. Since it wasn't a legal casino, Albert was a very mysterious kind of character who kept to himself. I only heard him say "what happens in this room, stays in this room" in an old raspy voice. Besides that, Albert would just stand there silently watching the people that came in, from behind his big sunglasses.