a long story short

no good deed goes unpunished 
said my #1 boss 
after 
his brother asked me
 to
 locate the owner of a mobile
 his
 cousin
 found 
outside
 on the street 
where he lives in soho

 sure i'll do it 

the short version is
 the owner eventually called the phone
he would pick it up from security in the lobby
but
during our last call his phone minutes ran out
 the call dropped
  i called him back using the number on the caller list 
got his home address
mailed it off wednesday afternoon 

initially searching the phone for leads
the names in his address book
 i opined
might he be a terrorist
nah 
i decided 
 just a poor immigrant 
from a third world country 
who lost his ancient flip phone

 i asked his address
he said
2465 Valentine Avenue 

i said
 in the bronx

he said
 yes

 i smiled to myself 
my grandparents
 lived on 
valentine avenue 
in the bronx
 as
 immigrants 
too