84. Interview with Catherine D’Amico: Part 12
26 June 2011; 11:35:
– Tony was already living here for a month by time we met.
– By then he’d found a couple of side jobs around the area; yard work, some construction gigs. He’d stumbled on the Home Depot over by Glades Road, with the Mexican guys that hang out by the corner at like six AM every day. They all don’t have any papers either, so they’re out there every morning, waiting for people to pull up in their pickups so they can hop in and go make a couple bucks doing whatever.
– Tony had a bit of an advantage with the jobs because he spoke English, but it was overall pretty good work for everybody.
– Everybody who lives around here knows about that spot. Need some roofing done and don’t want to hire somebody? Stop by Home Depot. Plumbing issues? Home Depot. Gardening, laying concrete, bootlegging cable, whatever. You get over to Home Depot and it’s done by the end of the day for half the price. All without ever actually going into the store.
– It’s an honest day’s work. And it’s not like slave labor or anything. From what Tony told me, they handle their own. They’ll do what you ask, but you get too feisty with them and you’re liable to be paying a little bit more than you bargained for.
– Tony got to know some of them. Can’t tell you where to find the ones he knew though. I mean, like I said, half the people over there don’t speak English and the other half would pretend they didn’t just to avoid an interrogation, you know? What with INS and all that.
– Yeah, well, that’s what Tony did when he got here. And I mean, it’s okay money but it’s also hard work. He never really talked about it except to say that’s what he did sometimes. Every once in a while I’d ask him what’s the last thing he worked on and he’d say something like: a house. Two words, like that. Didn’t like to talk about it.
– He didn’t seem worried about money though so I’m guessing it was good income. Had to be hard though. Enough days of that and anybody’d need a drink. Which is where I came in. [Cathy leans back in her seat and sighs] I think back on it even now and it still seems so natural how he and I got together.
– I don’t even really remember not being with him, you ever felt like that? Like the feelings, they just sort of sprang up after a conversation or two and embedded themselves in me.
– He looked so lost that first time I saw him. But strong too. I don’t know.
– He kind of reminded me of myself. When I moved to Boca from West Palm, I did it for the same reasons he did […][1]
– I think I recognized the similarities between us, right from our first conversation. And Tony, well—Tony seemed like an opportunity, that’s the best way I can explain it.
– After talking to him for like an hour, it was like this voice in my head was telling me, if you ever want to say you’ve really experienced something, keep talking to this guy. Get to know him. Help him.
– That’s the impression Tony gave me. That he was a whole lifetime of experiences in one condensed, dysfunctional package.
– I don’t know, not long. Pretty quickly, actually. Our relationship just sort of felt like instinct. We started hanging out a lot more and he let me into his life a little bit at a time. I saw the motel where he lived and some things stood out as blatantly odd and I got curious and started asking questions and then [Ms. D’Amico shrugs] you know.
– And then things got complicated.
[1] Cathy explains her stint in community college and how she dropped out after her freshman year due to a lack of motivation. She also explains the strained relationship between her and her mother resulting in her move to Boca Raton to be closer to her aunt, a move that Ms. D’Amico’s mother firmly disagreed with. Apparently the Veicht/D’Amico sisters had a falling out after Ms. Veicht’s divorce.
Who Is Anthony Stephens? 
What Do You Think About The Story Progression So Far? Any Suggestions?