GLORIA

Gloria. She’s the 53-year-old alcoholic who lives across the hall from my roommate Sid and I. When I get home from work at night she’s got her door wide open and her TV blasting because she’s going deaf. Or maybe she just wants to share Jeopardy with the entire neighborhood. I can’t count how many times she’s asked me if I would like a martini as I walk into my apartment, or worse, asked the 12-year-old girl downstairs if she wants one. She lives alone, but her “boyfriend” comes over every once in a while. I think his name is Shane, or maybe it’s,.. it doesn’t matter. He’s an ass. In fact, Gloria is being kicked out of the building because of him. But I can’t help feeling like it’s my fault. I was sitting in my living room reading and I kept hearing Shane scream at the top of his lungs. I wasn’t surprised. He always creates a disturbance when he’s around. But I was getting more annoyed with each scream. Finally, I lowered myself to his level. “Shut the fuck up!” I slammed the door and went back to my reading. Four seconds later a knock came at the door followed by a scream of “Hello, you fucking bitch!” I opened the door and had an embarrassing screaming match with him as Sid called the landlord. The landlord came over and told Shane to leave. He also said that if he was ever seen in our building again, Gloria would be evicted. Well, Shane isn’t pleasant at all, but he is all Gloria has. No friends or family. Or none that want to hang out with an alcoholic who reeks of smoke and liquor, anyway. And now she wasn’t allowed to have him over. Of course he came over again two nights later and caused a drunken scene again. I called the landlord again. That was it. Gloria was out. The other night I came home from work and her door was open. The TV wasn’t on, she was just sitting on her couch in silence, staring nowhere. I felt awful. But how much can you deal with? It’s a hard call when you have someone in a position they’ve put themselves in, but can’t help themselves out of. Should you try to help or give up? I bet Gloria was a really cool person. She just got wrapped up in something stronger than she was.