Sitting in a grungy seat on the orange line headed to the 145 like every other working night, taking a train that went from party people to broken buildings and ran through the midnight hour.   Empty platforms and hollow shouts give the first impression of a deserted neighborhood.  Walking to a home filled with Spanish and hand signals, broken ideals and a confused boy.  The man at the top of the stairs was always there, a smoke and a well wish didn’t get him anywhere. 151 was the goal, like every other early morning, a pack of Dunhill’s and pockets tucked away.  A jazz club dim after the last round and a convenient store that kept caramel ice cream in stock, not once did they ask for my non-existent ID.  Never expected a hit after 147, for the worst before had been a follower in the first days.  Perhaps he was crazy, seems he had intent but the man was not of passive persuasion.  Shock and pain but simple graciousness to the person who ran the window dealing tobacco.  Far past the witching hour safety was too far away in the back of my mind.  A helpful hand from someone who saw the world long before I came.  Maybe he saw him on the other side, either way I was saved from his expectation.  A strait away to the triangle park led with a left to the paste colored building was the way to go.

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I use to live up in Harlem, a few years ago, up at 480 Convent Ave. by the triangle park.  On the way home from my job down by West 4^th, I was attacked by a man who was hidden behind a stoop.  It could have been one of the worst experiences of my life but the man who worked at the store window thankfully came to help me.   He was the only other person at attention that night and managed to chase the attacker off.  From then on the homeless man at the top of the stairs would follow me to the store and the shopkeeper would stand at the door as I walked to the park.  Within a week there was an inconsistently parked cop car at the north side of the park.  It is strange when you realize that the areas with the worst reputations are the first to stand in preventing the violence they are so well known for, while the most ideal places will go to extreme lengths to cover actions and restrict people in order to maintain a facade.