Wednesday, February 01, 2006
takeout: 43rd & indiana avenue
"can a memory make a kiss out of an illusion
is love confusion that we must all go through
is that true..."
--"was that you"
adam guettel/lindy robbins, 1992
i think i'm overcoming my fear of dogs, as my friend's dog gizmo doesn't make me want to run away screaming
like i want to run when i see the teenagers waiting inside the j&j fish restaurant; girls wearing jackets that barely cover their asses, rising to reveal bare midriffs & skin as they sit on the laps of these young men with their phones charging from the wall outlet where the atm machine is plugged
no one is legal, save for one guy who might've graduated from high school when i did 15 years ago.
everyone else was probably no older than 17...
patiently, orders 69, 70 & 71 were called
my friend is 76
patiently, we waited while the teenagers hyped one of the young ladies up to dance while he taped her with his video-phone contraption & she moved this & that way, cussing at no one in particular. her girlfriend too busy on the lap of another gentleman who had returned from selling a sack to number 70 in the parking lot
72, 73 & 74 came up next
my friend is 76
& we move closer to the bullet-proof glass where the revolving door that turns your food over to you is so that we can just get our food & go. it is five minutes to eight & we both wonder if any of their parents have had any idea of where they've probably been for the past five hours--the infamous 3pm-8pm mark where researchers have found that most 12-17 year olds do most of their "dirt"
75 finally comes out & for the past six minutes that we have waited on a catfish dinner for my friend & nothing for myself, the young ladies have sat on the laps of many of the older boys as well as one being called out & claimed when a more quiet young lady came in & unknowing caught the attention of one of them.
watching all this, 76 is called & before i know it, my friend has signaled me to roll out with her & without looking back, she is at the door before i am. i try to keep my eyes on the door, but i caught the eye with the woman who sat just to the right of the exit. she: maybe a few years older than myself, watching, too.
it was report card day today
i heard them talk about how much fun they had fighting, smoking weed & fucking
while merely hanging out in the restaurant that serves food behind bulletproof glass; where unless you don't want lemon pepper seasoning on your food, you'd better tell them not to...this place that i sneak off to for my bi-monthly guilty pleasure of fried mushrooms, fried okra & cheese sticks.
not one of them had anything to say about grades...
at three minutes past 8pm, they were still there when my friend & i left.
them: waiting outside to sell their last sacks
her: not minding the grown-ass man inconspicuously touching the space between her two-back pockets while she sits on his lap
her: doing the same as her friend
him: campainging for customers to buy his wares
her: leaning on the shoulder of the guy with the camera
him: videotaping the whole event saying, "everything y'all just did, i got on camera...what'chu thought?"
is love confusion that we must all go through
is that true..."
--"was that you"
adam guettel/lindy robbins, 1992
i think i'm overcoming my fear of dogs, as my friend's dog gizmo doesn't make me want to run away screaming
like i want to run when i see the teenagers waiting inside the j&j fish restaurant; girls wearing jackets that barely cover their asses, rising to reveal bare midriffs & skin as they sit on the laps of these young men with their phones charging from the wall outlet where the atm machine is plugged
no one is legal, save for one guy who might've graduated from high school when i did 15 years ago.
everyone else was probably no older than 17...
patiently, orders 69, 70 & 71 were called
my friend is 76
patiently, we waited while the teenagers hyped one of the young ladies up to dance while he taped her with his video-phone contraption & she moved this & that way, cussing at no one in particular. her girlfriend too busy on the lap of another gentleman who had returned from selling a sack to number 70 in the parking lot
72, 73 & 74 came up next
my friend is 76
& we move closer to the bullet-proof glass where the revolving door that turns your food over to you is so that we can just get our food & go. it is five minutes to eight & we both wonder if any of their parents have had any idea of where they've probably been for the past five hours--the infamous 3pm-8pm mark where researchers have found that most 12-17 year olds do most of their "dirt"
75 finally comes out & for the past six minutes that we have waited on a catfish dinner for my friend & nothing for myself, the young ladies have sat on the laps of many of the older boys as well as one being called out & claimed when a more quiet young lady came in & unknowing caught the attention of one of them.
watching all this, 76 is called & before i know it, my friend has signaled me to roll out with her & without looking back, she is at the door before i am. i try to keep my eyes on the door, but i caught the eye with the woman who sat just to the right of the exit. she: maybe a few years older than myself, watching, too.
it was report card day today
i heard them talk about how much fun they had fighting, smoking weed & fucking
while merely hanging out in the restaurant that serves food behind bulletproof glass; where unless you don't want lemon pepper seasoning on your food, you'd better tell them not to...this place that i sneak off to for my bi-monthly guilty pleasure of fried mushrooms, fried okra & cheese sticks.
not one of them had anything to say about grades...
at three minutes past 8pm, they were still there when my friend & i left.
them: waiting outside to sell their last sacks
her: not minding the grown-ass man inconspicuously touching the space between her two-back pockets while she sits on his lap
her: doing the same as her friend
him: campainging for customers to buy his wares
her: leaning on the shoulder of the guy with the camera
him: videotaping the whole event saying, "everything y'all just did, i got on camera...what'chu thought?"
