Threat

Tonight I hung out in the Ea$t Vi11age. It was a bit surreal and I felt very nostalgic and a bit sad. I was there to meet up with my high school friend J. but before meeting her I shopped for apartment things at a couple of the 99 cent stores on 14th Street. The one between A and B was very amusing. The place is kind of dumpy and always smells a bit funky. Tonight it appeared the whole family was working. There's always the dad who appears learning disabled and spends a lot of time yelling (in Spanish) with his family. Everyone had plates of food, rice and fried chicken. I sort of felt like an intruder, like I happened to walk into their living room or something. I was looking for a plastic lid for a catfood can and went to ask for it at the counter. There I found a young boy working the register. I was skeptical he'd know anything and asked who the boss was. He said it was him which made me even more skeptical but he seemed pretty confident. Before I left I asked him how old he was...14. That was just icing on the cake. I love how New Y0rkers are so bold and people come from around the world and transplant their families and culture here. Child labor laws? Yeah, what about them?

Then I went to an Asian restaurant on the block and ordered some vegetarian dumplings to go. Aw, I missed that place so much. That restaurant helped feed me for years. I remembered when it first open and the Singaporean owner tried so hard to make a nice place with special ingredients, different from the regular Chinese fast food take out places more common in the 'hood. As I stood outside waiting for J. to meet me, I watched all the people walk past. I love the diversity of that neighborhood and being there made me feel both at home and homesick for a place that was no longer my home.

J. and I went to Mona's, a bar on Avenue B. Geez, more memories. My roommate back in 1992-3 used to hang out there when it was a real dive. She knew the place well and being a big drinker and poor student, knew all the beers they served so she could sneak in bottles under her coat and hang out and drink for cheaper. Tonight I hung out with J. and her college friend D. till about 1:30-2:00am and then I decided I should probably head uptown. They were very concerned and thought I should take a cab. J. even wanted to walk me to the train and I was like "This is my neighborhood; I'm fine!" But I didn't realize that recently there has been a string of rapes in the neighborhood. And most surprisingly, one occurred on J.'s block which is the block I lived on before I moved to Mexxico. And it actually occurred in my old building.

I'm a little surprised at my reaction to this news. I felt really angry. I didn't get a feeling of fear. Just anger like I wanted to beat the shit out of that asshole. Walking down the street back to the subway, I felt really angry and defiant. Yeah, motherfucker, bring it on baby. You want to prey on fear and weakness. Just fucking try it. Bring it the fuck on and you better be ready. I wanted to come across this guy trying to mess with some other woman and just beat him senseless. Obviously I am not stupid and if I was attacked and felt real danger or if there was a weapon involved, I would react appropriately.

It does make you think. Back in the early 90s, it truly was a scary neighborhood at times. But it was more related to the crack epidemic and guns and robberies. I don't remember ever hearing about rapists.