November 1926
The Mysterious Mr. Mann: Part I
I met Mr. Mann one November sunset at The Americana cafe.
I had just come off a shift at the factory, and now sat alone at a table watching the Hudson River. My greasestained shirt did not blend well with the other patrons’ dress, so I took a seat away from the suits and gowns and took my drink alone. A few customers were dancing to the soft music playing from the window of some neighboring apartment. No doubt they would be dancing to the same tune later in the night at some stranger’ s house. I do not know why I continued to mingle with a crowd so different from me, except for some deep desire to one day be like them. As I considered my plans for the night( which, I’ ll admit, were considerably less exciting than the other customers’), a hand from behind me tapped my shoulder.“ Mr. Gold, I presume?” I turned around to respond, and laid my eyes on a well-dressed gentleman in advanced years. The intonations of his voice suggested he was from somewhere in the West. His coat was black as the night and of fine Italian by Tote L. Selou T.
wool, and on his wrist a golden Rolex gleamed. His tie was of the purest silk, and he held a cane with a golden handle with his left hand, though he didn’ t seem like he needed it. Yet it was not all this that made me pause in my response. There was glint in his eye, like a glint of golden coins being passed through the sunlight, and in a glance they spake my entire soul.
“ Excuse me, sir, are you not Mr. Gold?” he demanded.
“ I-- I think you are mistaken. I d-- don’ t know of any Mr. Gold,” I stuttered, still transfixed by that unutterable glint.
“ We shall see. Come, I have much to show you.” He beckoned to a shining black Ford just out the door, which I could have sworn was not there a second before.
“ Who are you?” I asked, trying to sound indignant. Yet even as the words came out of my mouth, I found myself standing and following him out of the cafe. That unutterable flash in his eyes beckoned me forward, and I soon found myself sitting next to him in the rich leather back seat.
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