Summertime in New York City, circa 1980’s,
usually signaled fun and freedom from the
repetitive “dunundrums
” associated
with its counterpart…Winter
. With
school eradicated from the daily equation, pre-adolescent
crews had all day to sleep and all night to “creep”.
Eight million people with eight million stories spread out
over five distinct areas, in which native New Yorker’s
call them boroughs, constructed the macro-neighborhood.
Toss into this mix the ability to travel to your
destination via a mere 75 cent fare and the curiosity of a
young lad treading on the cusp of becoming a teenager and
you get a picture of an ever changing playground.
Harry’s family lived in the Bedford Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy)
area of Brooklyn and he lived in the Bronx. On the weekends
Harry would travel to Brooklyn because it felt like home to
him. See, Harry was born in Brooklyn, lived in Brooklyn as
a small child and relentlessly ventured to Brooklyn as if
Brooklyn couldn’t make it without him.
Project Housing was all too familiar for Harry and his
friends. To stick out your chest and rep your hood was
something of an honor badge but truth be told there is no
difference from one to the other. Some were bigger, some
were taller, some were cleaner and some were more
intimidating but they all shared multiple consistencies –
the biggest being POVERTY
.
Spending nights in a crowded apartment with pissy bed-
neighbors was the price to pay when you became an overnight
guest. Gun shots were as recognizable as the ice cream
truck. Animals thrown from the rooftops were not surprising
and alcohol was the favorite choice of beverage for the
adults.
When the alcohol took over, Harry took to the streets. He
and his clan did what regular pre-teen and teens did. They
played with the other kids, harassed the pretty little
girls and boasted superiority in whatever activity proved
most popular to the masses. During this time the emergence
of the video arcade game was exploding and kids were more
than obliged to do their part by donating “cased” quarters
to feed the machines.
At the local corner Pizza Shop Harry became a Space
Invaders junkie. He would be there eating Pizza and playing
as if he lived there. Any money that he managed to obtain
would be already allocated to his battle to save the world
from invading green martians.
As Harry’s neighborhood popularity grew so did his hood-
knowledge. Keep your money in different places on your body
as others would try to dig in your pockets and claim your
buried treasure; The arcade screen should always serve a
dual role and be used as a two way mirror to see behind you
and to the side of you, for lack of awareness could get you
knocked out cold; Keep one eye fixed on your food server as
many unaware patrons would eat more than pizza with cheese
and pepperoni.
The biggest lesson that Harry engulfed was survival of the
fittest also applied to adults as well. In the house the
adults were the authority and the harm that may be bestowed
upon a child could be a good ole fashion ass-whipping but
in the streets it’s a whole different story. The lesson
Harry was about to learn one summer evening from that pizza
shop would not only steal his innocence but stiffle his
ability to trust and communicate. An incredibly different
experience was lurking in the shadows and stalking an
already brittle life that was already bruised by alcoholism
and bad choices.
The weekend adventures to that pizza shop were becoming the
norm for Harry and his pals. Their lives were being
controlled from a motherboard and the hazards which came
along with the territory were only mere side effects. One
Saturday visit Harry noticed some of the kids playing for
free as a man would just feed what seemed to be a never
ending supply of quarters to the machines. Hours upon hours
the other kids would play games for free. Harry wanted to
be included within the surplus but was afraid to inquire.
He could loudly hear his mother’s voice telling him NOT to
talk with strangers. Soon, Harry found himself playing
arcade games without spending a dime. He had become a part
of the circle without even asking and he thought it was
cool.
The supplier, who we will call Jay, introduced himself to
Harry and then it dawned on him why he looked so familiar.
He worked in the corner bodega and had helped Harry and his
friends out plenty of times with finding items within the
store. Jay stated that he was a video game connoisseur who
was planning to open an arcade shop and he was looking for
trustworthy people to work
there. “Wow
!” Harry thought to
himself. In his mind, Jay was no longer a stranger and he
would be able to play video games all day, be around the
other kids and make money doing something he loved. The
opportunity was spectacular-especially for an underage pre-
teen who wasn’t legally able to work yet. See, you needed
working papers to get a job in NYC and that milestone
became available at fourteen. Harry was roughly two years
shy but if he kept his mouth shut then he could work during
his outside play time and make his own money. Harry asked
Jay “Are any of those jobs available to
me
?” Jay’s reply informed Harry that he would have
to interview for a position so Jay paid for a slice of
pizza and then they sat down at a booth. The shop had
constant traffic flow and it didn’t seem out of bounds that
a grown hispanic man was sitting alone at a booth with a
young black kid- especially in that goulash of a
neighborhood.
Jay began asking questions. “Have you
ever had a job? Can you be trusted to handle money
?”
etc. Shortly thereafter the questions shifted from job to
family to sexuality. “Do you like
girls
?” Do I like girls
?!
Harry replied. “Are you serious or just
teasing me
?” The line of questioning made Harry a
bit uncomfortable and he wanted to blow up on Jay but if he
did he may not be considered for his dream job and I would
miss out on an opportunity for losing his cool. So he just
chuckled it off.
After the interview Harry wanted to play another game but
they were all being used. He was feeling a bit excited
because in the back of his mind he had just maneuvered a
way to play games all day and be paid for it. He was taking
a step toward becoming an independent young man plus he
wanted to brag to his buddies who lived there.
The sunset on this day had soon retired and dusk was
surrendering to nightfall. Jay turned to Harry and asked
him to take a walk with up the block to get a package.
Harry agreed to go as his “spider-
senses
” were all clear. He had walked with friends
many places around the neighborhood without any incident so
far. Harry also knew that around the corner and up the
block there was a weed spot that he had been to before with
an older neighborhood friend.
*(It’s funny how many children are uninterested
in any type of alcohol or drug at a young age as they see
firsthand how it can destroy a family but they sure know
where and how to obtain them)
As they left the shop and proceeded to turned the corner
Harry was sure they were headed to that weed spot and Jay
continued to talk about how the arcade business was gonna
be a money maker. As they neared the side of the building
which was the weed spot, Jay made a sudden turn into an
abandoned brownstone building which had a lot of rubble on
the side as if something was demolitioned there. Harry
paused slightly as Jay walked around to the side and then
motioned for him to proceed. It seemed weird at first but
Harry thought to himself “heck it’s something
new in the hood that I’m gonna learn about and I don’t want
to seem like a square in front of my new boss
.”
Both entered the abandoned building but Harry could hardly
see his own hand in front of his face. The moonlight that
trickled in from a missing window was meek at best and it
later proved to be the guiding light for a dramatic escape.
Harry was wondering how Jay was able to see but maybe there
was something to this he was unaware of. Jay led him to
what seemed to be a sofa in the middle of nowhere. They sat
down and then Jay attempted to do the unthinkable. He put
his arm around the back of the sofa and whispered to
Harry “Do to me what you would do to a
girl
”.
“WHAT THE HELL
!!!!!”
At that split instant Harry’s adrenaline went to full
blast! He leaped from the sofa, unable to see, and ran
blindly towards the trickle of moonlight which he
remembered had a broken out window pane. When he got close
to the pane he dove through it like a stuntman from a movie
scene. Landing onto the white chalky rubble Harry felt his
skin scrape across its sharp edges but didn’t stop to take
inventory. He arose from the rubble scared and confused but
knew he had to keep running. He ran all the way back to the
apartment, past all family, past all the friends and into
the room. He was rapidly trying to process what just
occurred. Out of breath from the long sprint for life,
frightened for the retaliation he would receive from anyone
who found out, angry (at himself for not recognizing the
red flags and for Jay trying to “play” him and the job not
being real), Harry decided to keep it to himself.
UNTIL NOW!
There have been countless others who have come forth to
share their horrific experiences and who have experienced
far worse than Harry. I salute your bravery to stand and
release that which has imprisoned your souls and inevitably
affected your lives. Who knows if Jay’s intention included
the murder of Harry’s life? He was extremely lucky to have
survived what could have been a more horrific outcome but
his last bit of innocence was euthanized forever…
involuntarily
!
Impressum
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 30.08.2011
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