EVERYTIME

He was standing back against the wall when I turned the corner.
‘Aw man,’ he said.
‘Gets a sweat on, doesn’t it?’ I said.
He laughed. I noticed his forehead was shiny and wondered if we’d talk in the lift.
‘It’s like walking a mile,’ he said on our way up.
I looked at him and said, ‘you’re a young man you should be running up those stairs.’
‘I don’t think so man,’ he said.
I laughed. He was smoking a joint.
‘Yeh,’ I said, ‘I suppose after town and the hill it’s the stairs that get you.’
‘Everytime,’ he said before getting out on the floor below mine.