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Three things occurred on or about May 5, which is not only Cinco de Mayo in California, but Happy Birthday to me Aside from the fact that I turned thirty-three (after what see thirty-two), the following also came to pass:

1 The reconstruction of my apartment was completed and I moved back in

2 I was hired by a Mrs Clyde Gersh to bring her mother back from the Mojave desert

3 I made one of the top slots on Tyrone Patty's hit list

I report these events not necessarily in the order of importance, but in the order most easily explained

For the record, ator, licensed by the State of California, (now) thirty-three years old, 118 pounds of female in a five-foot six-inch fraht I'd been accustorow out just to see what it would look like My usual practice is to crop my own mop every six weeks or so with a pair of nail scissors This I do because I'ht bucks in a beauty salon I have hazel eyes, a nose that's been busted twice, but still es to function pretty well I think If I were asked to rate my looks on a scale of one to ten, I wouldn't I have to say, however, that I seldo in theat least remains consistent as the day wears on

I'd been living since New Year's with ent whose converted single-car garage apart for two years This nondescript but otherwise serviceable abode had been blown sky-high and Henry had suggested that Irebuilt There is, apparently, so that all home construction er than originally anticipated This would explain why, after fivehad finally been scheduled with all the fanfare of a movie premiere I was uneasy about the new place because I wasn't at all sure I'd like what Henry had come up with in the way of a floor plan and interior "day-core" He'd been very secretive and extreotten city approval for the blueprints I orried that I'd take one look at the place and not be able to concealwhat I feel Still, as I'd told myselfhe pleased For two hundred bucks ato complain? I don't think so

I woke at six o'clock that Thursdayclothes I brushed my teeth, splashed so stretch, and headed out Henry's back door May and June, in Santa Teresa, are often -the weather as blank and dreary as the white noise on a TV set when the broadcast day is done The winter beaches are stripped bare, massive boulders exposed as the tides sweep away the summer sand We'd had a rainy March and April, but May had co returned as the spring currents shifted, the beaches restored for the tourists ould begin to pour into the town around Meain until Labor Day weekend had coone

This daas spectacular, early ray tufts, sun tinting the underbelly an intense rose shade The tide was out and the beach seemed to stretch toward the horizon in a silvery reen and the air felt soft, saturated with the sed three ain thirty"Happy birthday to yooouuu!" as he pulled a pan of freshly baked cinna serenaded is not my favorite activity, but he did it so badly, I could only be aratified I showered, pulled on jeans, a T-shirt, and ift-wrapped jeweler's box that contained the newlylike a kid, his lean, tanned face wreathed in shy s with barely suppressed excitement In a two-person ceremonial procession, alked frostone patio, to the front door of my place

I knehat the exterior looked like-two stories of cream-colored stucco with rounded corners in a style I'd have to call Art Deco Numerous hand-crankable s had been installed and there was new landscaping, which Henry had done himself To tell you the truth, the outward effect was unprepossessing, which I didn't object to a bit My prime anxiety had always been that he'd make the apartment too fancy for my taste