The Porch People

On the other side of the tracks, literally, is a row of old apartments that has been less than desirable for as long as I can remember. I drive past these apartments every morning and every afternoon. The one on the end has captured my attention and my imagination. It is inhabited by a family I call "The Porch People".

This apartment is two stories, two bedrooms I imagine. There is a front stoop and a side porch. It's that side porch that has captured my attention. It is filled with indoor furniture. An oversized recliner, a bistro table and chairs. A bookcase. A buffet lamp. A laptop. Sometimes a television. From my observations, there are two boys, a little girl, a man and a woman living there. The large teenage boy must live fulltime on the porch. Every morning he is asleep in the oversized recliner. The smaller boy comes out and kicks the chair to wake him. The little girl is always sitting on the front step while her mother sits on the stoop nursing what appears from a distance to be a hangover.

In the afternoons, they sit at the bistro table eating or staring into the computer. Some days, they bring chairs from somewhere to entertain guests on the porch.

I have wondered why, when it is a scorching 90 degrees, they don't go inside. Then I noticed most of the windows are now missing so I guess it makes little difference, inside or out. Today, the window fan was hanging out of the upstairs window, apparently still plugged into the wall.

The porch people have been shopping. They have purchased a gas grill that is nearly as big as the porch. It's in the yard along with various other pieces of inside furniture.

I am fascinated by the porch people. I wonder if they have furniture inside. I wonder if the big teenage boy every goes inside. I just wonder about the porch people. Wouldn't you?