A Day in Flight

     It's 5am. How do I know? My Abueasking waking me up. Mi santo. My saint. Grandmothers have a hard time seeing anything but good in you, when youre growing up.My grandfather went through his morning constitutional as I did my morning ritual.
     I'd literally jump up out of bed and go through my limbering and stretching excercises. He'd shit, shower and shave. We'd have breakfast and I'd leave first. From the bathroom I could hear the music playing at Elvis Costello's apartment in the building next door. From my bathroom and kitchen, we could see his window. The music stopped and we could here a commosion. Then from the livingroom you could here the sirens. The Momtana hadn't been built yet and you would get the sound of every siren and horn on Broadway.At 6:15am and I was out the door.As I approached the front entrance I saw the cop cars up and down the street. I stepped out from behind the cop that was directing the early morning pedestrians to crooss the street. I always jumped the 4 steps of the little stoop infront of our building. I landed a foot away from the body. His legs and feet were stretched out over the sidewalk. His torso and head lay on the black garbage bags. His face was pale. His open lifeless blue eyes stared straight up to the sky. The morning light made him look surreal as he lay ther motionless.It didnt take me more than a second to pull myself together. I was 15 yrs old but by then I had seen many dead. As the cop tried to ask me questions all I can remember is that I brushing him off with I just woke up, gotta get to school. And I was ghost.
     I met my crew and was handing out the work and when I got to Lou he came up with this incredible story. One of the other workers pulled me aside and told me that it was all bullshit and that he had smoked it all. I walked back to him and put my arm around him as we walked down the train platform. I had the package in my hand and as we reached the stairway I pushed his ass down the stairs.He got fucked up.We made sure he got to the hospital and got medical attention for his wrist.
     Here it was not even 7am and I've seen one body and used what I had seen in the am to punish someone else. I didnt feel any remorse, this was just part of the biz. Maybe if he was honest about it I wouldn't have thrown his ass down a flight of stairs. But in these matters you had to make an example of the motherfucker.Even thogh it was only $50. you had toshow everyone that if they didn't pay there would be consequences.
     I wound up taking off from school for the day.My girl Rosa was traumatised by the news that her family was moving to Puerto Rico and that we had to breakup and she'd have to finish High school there on the island. We went to the motel on E.Gunhill rd. in the Bronx and we fucked like rabbits. She did alot of crying and I was actually simpathetic. It was the real deal. I liked her alot. But at 15 I wasn't marrying anyone. And my girl Midget downtown wouldn't have been happy about it either.Damn it, her name is Evelyn, I always hated that nickname"Midget". She was petite but she wasn't that small.
     After I collected the gap(Money), I met Evelyn and she tells me that we should live together on W107st. & Broadway. That she's gonna sign the lease and I wouldn't have to worry about rent. She would handle it. You se even at 15 I knew that you don't move in with a broad and not have your own place. More then that I knew I had to finish school first. Furthermore, I didnt want to commit to any girl.
     When I finally made it home my abuelito(grandpa) told me that the guy jumped out of the window of apartment 5E from 206 W.88st. He said that they think it was drugs. Then he tells me in a low voice to not even try drugs, that they were bad for you.Hey, I agreed.
     Elvis moved out by cover of night in less then 2 weeks, Rosa finished the semester and moved. Lou took a few more beatings and finally paid up. And Evelyn last I heard has 4 kids and is as big as a house.Truth is when I saw her I thought that it would be easier to lay sideways and roll down the block!