15.
   I stepped in. Everyone had a rose in their lapel and I passed muster. It seemed more than a little strange that a rose could make up the difference between my rags and their riches, but they looked like a happy group. You can’t turn down a well-dressed person with a drink in their hand. One of them pushed the button for the eleventh floor. A party on the eleventh floor? Why not? The elevator doors closed.  The crowd gathered around me smiling and chortling. They shook my hand and patted me on the back. A woman with huge breasts touched my hair. “What a nice-looking young man.”

   I gave her a winning smile. Maybe something was going to come of this evening after all. What a remarkable coincidence. A tossed rose gets me into an exclusive party. My spirits lifted. I offered smiles all around and introduced myself. “What’s the party about?”, I asked.
   A young man with apple cheeks took a gulp out of his drink. “We’re going to give the man upstairs a present!”
   One woman’s hair looked like a pile of figs. She squinted at me through thick glasses. “You’ll make him happy!”
   I’ll be damned, I thought. Rich people with a sense of humor. This was going to be fun, a chance to meet the elite, nibble on caviar, sip the best scotch. If there were drugs, they would be the finest drugs. I might even take one home or better yet be taken home by one of them.
   I caught a glance of the two dogs from the previous crowd screwing away in a corner. One of them looked me right in the eye.