The knocks on the door continued, he went to see who it was only to find himself in a pool of piss and shit. 

“Anthony, are you in there? Are you ok?” It was Lydia. 

“I am fine, I fell asleep – can I call on you later on?” 

“Yes, of course. I will be in my apartment – come by I will make us some tea.” 

He smiled – this old Italian still had it and he would find out soon enough if this Lydia was the queen of Tattoos. 

“OK I will be up there at,” He looked at his watch, surprised it was already seven, “around seven thirty, is that ok?”

“Yes of course, see you then.” 

This wasn’t the first episode he had experienced. This was happening way too frequently lately and although he was nervous about what its cause was – the last thing he wanted to do was to go to the Doctor and have them run tests on him. Poke, prod, put to sleep, poke, wake up, ask questions…he had seen it done to Marie and he was not about to let them do it to himself. 

The elevator came and Lydia walked in.

The lady in the red and black suit stood there with a knowing smile. Gold tooth, gap in between the two front teeth and the knit cap was in her right hand. 

“Oh my…” Lydia said. 

“Hello Lady.” The gypsy spoke in her gravelly voice which made one want to clear her throat for her. 

“Do you live here?” 

“I live. I live here, I live.” She smiled a creepy smile. 

“What apartment are you in?” Lydia asked her. 

“Oh no, I don’t live here – but I do live,” She spread her arms, “Here.”

The Tarot Card reading Gypsy Woman pulled out an amulet. 

“I want you to wear this on your chest tonight.” She pulled out a second one. “Give this one to Anthony and tell him to do the same. You are both suffering from an illness that will eventually take away your thoughts, your memories and your soul.”

“What are you speaking about?” Lydia was scared. 

“I know about your ‘episodes’ where you are in a dreamlike state and the world is all…helter skelter. You are not alone, Anthony shares this with you and the Gods have brought you together to form a bond. I have been sent to perform, hmm how should I phrase this? To help facilitate an age regression and heal the infected lobes of – to make you younger and healthy again.” 

“How do you know about my…episodes? and how do you even know Anthony’s name – we didn’t introduce ourselves to you? 

“You are not alone, Lydia. No one is, really. Oh you may feel lonely and you may feel a sense of a cold wind blowing. But you are not alone.”

The elevator moved. Lydia hadn’t noticed the elevator had not moved throughout the conversation. The elevator stopped at her floor. She hadn’t even pressed the buttons…the lady was gone. 

Anthony finished cleaning up, showering and splashed on some Old Spice. Took out a comb and pushed his hair back, pulled on a buttoned down shirt and looked in the mirror. 

“God I am old…then why am I mentally so young?” He said out loud as if expecting an answer. The phone rang. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey Pop, its Nicky. How you feeling?” 

“Hey, hey Nicky. I am fine, fine.” He didnt want to let on about Lydia – he felt that Nicky would be upset if he knew that he was interested in another woman.” 

“I want to come up with Bella and the girls on Saturday, will you be around?” 

“Yes of course I will be. I will take you all out for lunch, we can go to L & B like the old days.” 

“Oh man – I can smell it and taste it pop.” 

“I am meeting a friend of mine for tea. Lets speak on Friday so we can confirm the time, ok?” 

“OK, good night dad. Oh and dad?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.” 

Anthony smiled, “Thank you, good night.”