The Deaf Man

I am a big fan of Evan Hunter a/k/a Ed McBain, and his 87th Precinct books. Anyone who knows the series knows that Steve Carella's nemesis of sorts is the deaf man. And it appears that I, too, have a deaf man nemesis.

The Deaf Man has a house that is literally falling down around his head. And he is literally deaf. From what I can tell, he has lived in the house all his life. His parents lived there, he grew up there, and he lives there now. I think he may have siblings, but I don't know where they are. He is older than I, I believe, so he probably had little formal education. My friend who is a deaf ed teacher tells me that he probably doesn't have a vocabulary much past third or fourth grade, because "back in the old days," schools didn't provide an education for deaf people.

He is my nemesis because I don't know what to do about him and his house. The law says that he has to bring his house up to code, but the City is now saying that the house is uninhabitable. That means that the house, the one with trees and bushes growing up through the porch roof, the one with holes in the roof, the one with plants climbing up the walls so that the house looks like an apparition in a Disney movie, will be condemned and torn down. And that will leave the deaf man homeless.

Services for senior citizens in the county will provide him with a place to live, but he is not a social being. I don't know if he has ever held a job. He does not drive. He dons heavy down-filled, shearling-lined clothing and goggles and rides a bicycle all over town. I don't know if he has meaningful exchanges with anyone. When we mention finding a new place to live, he becomes not only defensive, but belligerent.

I don't know where he eats. I don't know if his place has running water. All I know is that this is his home, and it is the only place he knows and has ever lived. Senior services cannot take the place of the comfort, safety, and familiarity of home.

And so, he stands in front of me, defiant, angry, and I know, frightened. All he has is endangered. The life he knows teeters on the edge. What next?

The deaf man.