It was at least twenty years ago when I received an unexpected call from a friend I'd known in college. We had not spoken since college days and his call was a pleasant surprise.
It was also a warning.
He was living in another city and he'd learned that a mutual friend, who'd been staying at his place, was heading to Phoenix on his way to the coast. I confirmed that fact and he said, "No matter what you do, don't let him stay at your house."
"Why's that?"
"I'll say nothing further. Just don't let him stay at your house."
I hadn't planned on that in any event. My wife and I were ripping apart rooms and I just expected to have a nice lunch with him.
Which is what we had. I never learned what his great transgression had been with my other friend but I suspect it was something along the lines of The Man Who Came to Dinner where the guest arrives and never leaves. True, he dropped some hints about needing some rest but I can be marvelously dim when circumstances require and so they were never seized. We shook hands, wished each other the best, and he went on his way.
I felt no need to issue an alert to anyone from here to the Pacific and continued my friendship with both the "warner" and the warned-about. I never learned the basis for the alert.
That story came back while reading Christopher Caldwell's amusing account of an unforgettable house guest.
Unfortunately, both of my friends have since passed away. They were far better people.
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