dumpling

I found myself in Scotland serving beer and cheese covered fish to drunk people one summer. It took me three days to find my apartment.

The apartment was on the fifth floor of an old stone row house, two doors down from The Exploited who sold us drugs. When I first went to see the place there was one Scottish boy living there who was disorganized and later called me provocative but not in a good way. He showed me the place, we agreed on a price and I got a copy of the key.

I moved in the next day and there was no one home. It was a stranger's house.

I opened all the drawers and I touched the inside of my cupboard. I took my camera and I leaned out the window. I took two shots. One looking east and the other looking west. I went pee and looked at the bathtub which was black on the bottom.

I found a cloth and some dish soap and I scrubbed the bathtub for the next 30 minutes. When I was done I took off my clothes and drew a bath. There was no hot water - so I ran naked back and forth from the kettle in the kitchen to the bathroom. I sat curled up in the bath for a long time, and I was shivering badly when I got out. But by the time I was getting dressed, I knew the apartment was mine.