Denzel Washington

“Well, hello there, Miss 202!”

The voice rang out from across the atrium in the doorway of 201.  A handsome and animated black man in his Mailman uniform hurried over to my side of the walkway.  He was wearing those cute Mailman shorts I like so much.

“I was wondering where you are.  Have you been in and out since you moved?  I have some mail and a package for you.  I worry when I can’t get my mail to my folks.”

His teeth are as white as any I’ve ever seen and his smile is wide and contagious.  I smiled back as we got on the elevator to go down to the garage where the mailboxes are.

I stuck out my hand.

“Hi, I’m Claudia.”

“Denzel Washington,” he said with a straight face as he gave my hand a firm and friendly shake.  There was a glint in his eye that made me want to hug him.  

“My name’s really Melvin.”  

“Well, it will always be Denzel to me!”     

“I was out with shoulder surgery for a while and just about the time I was ready to come back to work, somebody busted the other one. I missed you moving in and I've been trying to catch you since I got back.”

I decided not to ask any questions about his shoulder.  After all, it was our first meeting and the idea of someone hurting this man makes me queasy.  Maybe he will tell me about it later.

He showed me how to open the big box in our mail stack where he puts packages.  I wondered what the extra key in my mailbox was for, and now I know.

He handed me the package.

“Here you go, Missy.  Be careful.  It’s heavy.  Must be full of money.”

I laughed

"Bye, Miss Claudia," he called as he climbed into his mail truck and drove off to deliver a few smiles someplace else.

“Bye, Denzel!”

I stood a moment and watched him pull away.

I love it here.

© 2013 cjschlottman