Midnight On Greenmount Avenue

Chuckie and I were lifted.

We had both recently done healthy shots

Back at his place

Up on Greenmount Avenue.

His girl Belle

Was out

And he was taking advantage of it.

He had made a commitment to her

To stop using

And get his shit together.

So she was out

And there we were banging

In the kitchenette

Of their apartment

Sniggering

Like kids

“Oh shit! If Belle was here now and saw what we were doing!”

“Fuck that! Ain’t no pussy make you feel like this nigger.”

I knew he was just talking game

Because if she was here

She’d be kicking his ass

Into next week.

She was a big, strong, black African queen

To be feared.

For sure she’d be giving it to both of us.

We rolled out of there about midnight.

Now Greenmount Avenue was no place

For a white boy to be

Even during the day.

It was no place for a white boy to be

At midnight

Even if he was hanging

With a brother from the hood.

We were walking.

I didn’t have a car at the time

And I don’t remember what happened

To Chuckie’s wheels.

But when I think about it now

Thank God we were high

Because we were just asking for trouble

And the fact that we were out of our minds

Probably saved our lives that night.

Chuckie coached me at times.

“Stay cool nigger.”

“Don’t say a word. Look straight ahead.”

“Don’t pay any attention to those Muthafuckas.”

We somehow made it to the bridge

That spanned the buckling

Railroad tracks below.

We were about halfway

Across the bridge

When he said

“Whatever happens you just keep walkin muthafucka.”

It was then that I heard

Footsteps

Walking a few yards behind us

And saw the dark forms

Of two kids ahead

Walking towards us.

“Keep walkin, no joke.”

The two kids were on us

“Yo mistah. You got the time?”

“Nah. I don’t got no watch.”

They passed us.

We kept walking.

To the person behind us

“Yo mistah. You got the time?”

I don’t know what made me turn around

But I did.

I saw a man

Raise his arm

To look at his watch.

I saw a young black kid

Pull a gun out of his pocket.

Bam! Bam!

I saw a man take two bullets

Into his torso

And fall to the ground.

I watched as two heartless children

Descended

Like filthy vultures

Upon the carcass

Stealing his watch

Going through his pockets

Taking his wallet

And whatever else they wanted.

It was at the same time that I could feel

Chuckie pulling on my arm

That one of the kids

Looked up at me

With no emotion

Daring me with only his eyes.

“C’mon! I told you to keep walking!”

Everything was still

As Chuckie kept pulling me

Making my feet move

Across the span.

“Chuckie. We can’t just leave him there.”

“What the fuck you wanna do? Go back there and eat some bullets?”

“Those kids aren’t fucking around!”

“We’ll make a call when we get across this motherfuckin’ bridge.”

I think that I was in shock.

I mean...

I was high

But there was something else there

Making it hard for me to move my feet

To keep up with Chuckie.

He was yelling at me now.

There was something there

Inside

Making it feel like forever

Getting across that empty bridge.

I can remember

Standing there

Shaking

Next to Chuckie

As he made a phone call

On the first pay phone

That we could find.

We didn’t leave

Until we heard the sirens

And saw the flashing lights.

For the rest of the night

All I could see

Was that scene

On the Greenmount Avenue bridge

Playing over and over

Wondering how things

Could have turned out differently.