Sometimes a civilian gets beaten, but most of the violence happens in the alleys, not the street.

There were police cars and a fire truck down the street a week or so ago, lights flashing. Which probably meant another Heroin Kid OD'ed. If it were only police cars that would mean it was probably just an altercation that a bystander phoned in. The fire truck means someone was injured, and most of the injuries on the street are self-inflicted.

Sometimes a civilian gets beaten, but most of the violence happens in the alleys, not the street. And that violence is usually the Heroin Kids settling beefs amongst themselves. They don't bother to call the cops when someone is suspected of, say, stealing something from their sleeping bag: they take care of it, themselves.

It is not always the Heroin Kids, though. Sometimes it is an older homeless man -- or woman, they get homeless, too -- who is passed out drunk and blocking the sidewalk. Or one of the Ragged Crazies, who get belligerent with the Voices They Hear. And that civilian walking by fucking looks like the guy behind the Voices. He is the motherfucker, motherfucker. So: these people get firetrucks too, sometimes.

The firetrucks are hardest on the buses that have the street in their route --  the 71, the 73. Cars parked on either side and a firetruck, the bus can't make it through. So the people on the bus sit and wait. They will be late for their jobs. Or late getting home. Or just late in general. It is a relatively common occurrence: they just sit and listen to their earphones. Text. Or talk on the cell. Like the Ragged Crazies, you don't hear the Voices They Hear. But you are reasonably sure that -- for them -- there is someone on the other side of the phone.



- james james

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