A Morning in September

from As It Were: The Long-Lost Blue-Noted Romance Yarn by Amos Bankhead

On Pontoon Place, two lights burned before dawn.
Charlie Birks was our next-door neighbor, a Camel-puffing, straight-talking retired roustabout—and one of the most honest humans I've ever known. He and I were always up at this hour, in the garage and on the front porch respectively, reading or doing the daily crossword puzzle. I’d walk alone through the …