a good man made better

…Zeitoun felt the presence of some divine hand. The Williamses needed help immediately, help he had not been able to provide, and here was Todd, with precisely the vehicle they needed, at precisely the right moment.


Todd did not hesitate. Zeitoun agreed to care for the dog while he was gone, and Todd was off. He picked up Alvin and Beulah, cradling them one by one into the motorboat. Then he sped off toward the staging ground at Napoleon and St. Charles.

The mission took all of twenty minutes. Soon Todd was back, drinking a beer and relaxing again on the porch, his hand stroking the rescued dog’s matted fur.

“Some things you just have to do yourself,” he said with a smile.

Zeitoun had known Todd to be a good tenant, but he didn’t know this side of him. They talked for a time on the porch, and Todd told him stories of his own rescues – how he’d picked up dozens of people already, how he’d been shuttling them to hospitals and staging grounds, how easy it was with a motorboat. Todd had always been, to Zeitoun’s mind, a bit of a wanderer, something of a playboy. He liked to have a good time, didn’t want to be too tied down with rules and responsibilities. He smoked, he drank, he kept irregular hours. But here he was, his eyes alight, talking about carrying people to safety, how his arrival at any given house or overpass was met with cheers and thanks. A time like this could change a man, Zeitoun knew, and he was happy to see it happening here and now to Todd: a good man made better.



Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. Random House. 2010.