phillip's porch

this is phillip's porch. we would hang out between my porch on the left and his on the right. his grandfather, mr. lawrence, was a great character, and a great man. in a difficult new orleans neighborhood he was the firm hand that led to most of his children and grandchildren finishing school and going to college. he was a man who was always working, getting things done. he worked estates in other parts of louisiana, and when he was home he helped my landlord, who was dying of aids, with everything a homeowner would normally have to do. he once went out in his pickup truck with a shotgun to get back a water heater taken from an abandoned property across the street. i had watched the whole thing transpire, saw the men and the heater disappear, but in my new orleans summer haze i thought maybe it belonged to the men who took it. they seemed to know exactly what they were doing. he came out on his porch, as if through some sixth sense he knew something was up, and asked me what happened. i told him. it had been wheeled away in a shopping cart. he went back into the house, came out with the rifle, jumped in his truck and said "i'll get that water heater back". he was back in a few minutes. when i asked him what happened he said, "i found 'em up the road and i said 'put that man's water heater back.' they kept walkin' so i got out in front of 'em, raised the rifle and i said 'you put that water heater back up in my truck', and they did." later he explained that if he let them start taking things then everything in the neighborhood would disappear. there really wasn't much more to it than that.