Baltimore

I was high.

It was one of those summer nights in Baltimore

Where the humidity was affecting everyone.

The air was wrapped tightly around the glow of streetlamps

And everything moved slowly in the thickness

Even the cars.

I was loaded with two of my friends.

We had shot dope back at their place

And were now on the prowl.

We moved like mercury

Casual and with stealth, like rats

Softly spoken slurs accentuated with giddy laughter.

We hit the steps of the Brownstone at which I lived.

A transvestite neighbor was perched like a proud bird on the stoop

Smoking a cigarette indifferently.

The drama was all there in the theatre of the doorway.

Tight shimmering skirt, a ripped Blondie t-shirt stretched over

Pretty, hormonally induced tits...her nipples were strong and big.

Long, reflecting fingernails lay by her side and held the cigarette.

Her face was a mix of self made beauty and punk rock tragedy.

I had met her before in the hallway

Always in outrageous clothes.

I’d pass her door

In and out

And hear the speed of the Ramones behind it constantly.

Tonight it was quiet.

I said “Hey baby, how about a kiss”

And puckered up with my eyes closed.

I felt something crack my jaw.

As I sailed down the steps

Backwards past my two friends

I looked up to see a pair of heavily smeared lips screaming

“You waited this long to ask me for a kiss!”, “You punk ass white boy!”

“You AND you’re jacked friends!”

The screaming continued as she went inside

Taking the steps in high heels in a fury.

“That pretty boy passes my door every day and he just now asking me for a kiss!”

I lay on the ground

Rubbing my jaw where she hit me.

My friends laughing their asses off.

Between the air, the junk and the punch

I was pretty much done.

It took me several minutes to come to

But I did.

My friends, still laughing, helped me up.

It was a summer night in Baltimore

And the humidity was affecting everything.

Yet I just got kissed by a glamorous queen on my front doorstep.

How bad could things be.