i met a nurse from NYC who was in California on vacation.
she looked like Claire Forlini, though with larger mammaries.
at the time, she was working the graveyard shift at a hospital
in Harlem. she had a sixth sense about how to walk, where
to walk, when to cross the street.
only time she got hassled in NYC was on the escalator at Bloomingdale's.
some kid grabbed her adoptive mother's purse. she, uh, changed
his mind, without hitting him. just gave him a tongue lashing, he
felt so bad he slunk out of the store.
i was in LA for the 2001 Academy Awards, which were held at
the Temple theatre, about a mile north of the corner of Florence
& Normandie, the flashpoint for the LA riots in 1992. i made it a
point to look over my shoulder; where i parked, in a warehouse
district, was right in South Central. i guess it was just a calm
day or something, didn't even hear a police siren. though there
were a boatload of police at the Academy Awards.
I used to walk all over San Francisco, out to Hunter's Point,
also in West Oakland. both supposed to be real dangerous.
one time i was walking in West Oakland and a car drove by
and the guys said, "hey, white boy", with a big smile on their
face, but no hassle.
the only time i got mugged in SF was on Geary.
i had been walking past some housing projects in the
Western Addition, aware that i was getting some really
nasty looks. that one day, i changed my route, and
was walking down Geary, near Masonic.
when i woke up, i was laying on the ground, staring
at 4 pairs of legs. all i could think of was to look for
the blue-black look of a gun barrel. i grabbed $15
out of my pocket and threw it on the ground.
they didn't actually break anything, except my
faith in the police, perhaps. i called the cops to
report it and they said and i quote, "we know who
they are, but we don't have enough evidence to
prosecute." i offered my soiled pants as evidence,
i peed in my pants somewhere during the process.
a year or 2 later someone was shot dead at the bus
stop 50 yards from where i got mugged. the
scuttlebutt was, same group of kids from the
Divisadero projects.
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