We sat on my porch way back then, and I taught him what was in the Texas Driver Handbook, so he could get his license.

Some years later, after that pretty black car called it a day, another of his retinue of customer-friends gave him a Taurus. He kept his lawnmower and rake in the trunk.

About once a month, someone new to the Hollywood-Santa Moncia neighborhood would call the police to say they just saw a black guy with a lawnmower in his trunk. To help him in those situations, he carried with him, in addition to every receipt he had and every form of ID, a letter I wrote that started: “To Whom It May Concern: I have known James Rochelle for more than 20 years, and know him to be an honest and hard-working man who carries in his car the tools of his business …”

His car was stolen along with all of his possessions, ID, and my letter.

When his mother died, not long after mine did, we hugged each other real tight on my front porch and we cried.