This thing.

Yes.

This thing you have. Is it deadly? Can you die from it? I mean, I’d hate to see you die. But, I guess we all die sometime. Right? The old man nodded his gray head. Where do you think you caught it?

Don’t know. Might’ve been it came from inside. Could be it’s always been there, he said. Some kind of growth. Something growing inside my body all these years. Might’ve been a toilet seat, they laughed. Not sure. Neither are the doctors.

You never smoked? the old man shook his head. Wasn’t much of a drinker either were you? again he shoook his head. How’d you wind up here? In this place. We’re surrounded by death. Every day someone is dying from something. Like I said. We all gotta go sometime, he took a sip of coffee.

The two old men looked out the window at the busy street in front. Cars and trucks going places. Mothers taking sons to baseball practice, men and women driving to business meetings, truckers delivering goods, lovers checking into hotels. They sat there for awhile in silence. Just watching the traffic go back and forth.

I wanna go some place.

You wanna leave?

Yes. Before I die I want to go someplace, he said.

How much time do they say you got?

Not sure. Couple of months. Don’t know.

Yeah.

I’ve never been anywhere, he said. Never left Ohio. Never been to Cleveland. Or, Dayton for that matter. Just been here all my life.

Should’ve joined the Army. Could’ve seen the world.

Yeah. I was too much of a coward. Besides, never liked people telling me what to do. When to do it. How.

I was in the Navy.

Like it?

It was alright. Good for me back then. Whipped me into shape. Made me a man.

Yeah?

Yep. So. You’re going to die soon. Sorry to hear that, the two continued looking out the window. Just kept looking at traffic. People going somewhere.