The Streets are Watching

The Streets are Watching

Massive structures of brick and concrete flanked us on either side of Mt. Auburn Street. High above their rooftops, the sky was a deep unblemished gray. Snow lingered in clumps on less traveled parts of the sidewalk, the street was grainy with salt and sand. Christmas was weeks past, but nothing indicated warm weather in the near future. Bitter winds raged outside the Eddie's Volvo as we sped down the street.
I was feeling pretty good. It was nice and warm in the backseat of the car, plus Jay-z was blasting from the stereo. Staring out the window, I remember thinking about how many different kinds of people the city of Cambridge was made up of. Everywhere I looked people were hurrying in and out of buildings, getting in and out of cars. Under the Citizen’s Bank awning there were indigents on cardboard mattresses huddled together for warmth. Businessmen (and women) were hustling around them looking important, ever present cell phones glued to their ears. The addicts were smoking cigarettes and scratching their arms over by the train station. They were waiting for the dealers who roamed around the streets all day and all night. Commuters coming in and out were careful not to look them in the eye.
It took us a while to find a parking spot, but eventually we saw someone pulling out over by the public park. The four of us got out of the car and I immediately lit up a square. It was freezing out, but I exhaled warm smoke and felt a little better.
“Yo Sandro, Hook it up man.” Alex called over to me. I threw him a cigarette.
“That’s a dangerous habit you know” Eddie said to me with a grin.
“Don’t want to live forever” Alex said as he blew smoke in Eddie’s face. Eddie leaned over and ruffled his hair with his massive hands.
“I thought we were getting lunch, lets keep it moving” Gus said impatiently. “I’m freezing my balls off over here”
“Aright, so where are we headed? Anybody else want some pizza?” I said as we started walking.
“I’m down” Gus and Alex said in unison.
“I’m broke” Eddie said under his breath.
I smacked him on the back. “You know I got you kid, besides you're the one that drove us here.”
He put his arm around my shoulder and grined at me. “My fuckin boy” he said.
“Oh shit look!” Alex cut in with some excitement.
“Motherfucker is everywhere” Eddie said shaking his head.
Up at the end of the block was a man we were all pretty familiar with. He was holding a sign that read “Jesus Saves” in black magic marker. His pants had duct tape patches all over them and he wasn’t wearing a coat. Over his shoulder was a ratty blue book bag. In outstretched hands he held what I always thought of as propaganda pamphlets. They ranged in content from how gay people are agents of the devil to why watching professional sports will condemn your soul to eternal damnation. They were complete with quotes from the bible to justify their claims. Alex walked right up to the man with a big smile on his face. He really loved to hate this guy.
“Jesus loves you” the man said as we got closer to him.
“Jesus hates me” Alex said back to him. “I’m Jewish”
“I’m Buddhist” Gus offered up.
I laughed. “I don’t go to church”
The Jesus man’s eyes narrowed. “Your friends might not heed the word of God, but it’s not to late to save yourself from eternal hellfire”
“It’s way too late for me” I grinned. “I’m not real big on the whole organized religion thing. I feel way too smart for that. And honestly, if I was gonna believe in anything it wouldn’t be Christianity. I don’t think I can listen to a bunch of liars and pedophiles preach to me about how to live my life.”
Alex chuckled, blowing smoke towards the man. “Child molestation must be in the New Testament”
Before the man had a chance to respond, Eddie interjected. “Hey Jesus Man, do you still have the comic book with the gay priest who turns out to be an evil murderer?”
He fished around inside his backpack for a few seconds, pulled out the book and handed it to my friend.
Eddie smiled at him. “This shit is so fucked up. How can you believe in this?”
“I used to be just like you when I was a young man.” He said. “I had no direction, I let myself become corrupted by the entrapment's of society. And then one day, I saw the light and found God.”
“I’m still fucking cold” Gus said. “Let’s keep moving.”
“Peace out Jesus Dude” I laughed as we walked away.
“I fucking hate that closed minded religious bullshit” Alex said to me.
“Nuh uh” I smiled. “He’s messed up man leave it alone.”
“Shiiiiiit man, there must be a full moon tonight cause the crazies are coming out the fucking woodwork.” Gus said nodding across the street. I followed his gaze and saw a tall black homeless man with huge greasy dreadlocks lowering a full garbage bag from his shoulder onto a bench. He looked around for a few seconds, then tuned and walked into the coffee shop behind him. Suddenly another man that I hadn’t noticed before ran up to where the bag was. He had a hump on his back and his head seemed to be permanently stuck on a tilt to the right. He looked around just like the first man had, there were people everywhere. He stared at the bag for a few more seconds, then grabbed it and took off sprinting as fast as he could. No one in the street did a thing to stop him, no one but the four of us even seemed to notice.
“Holy shit.” I said genuinely shocked. “I’m not sure if that was really sad or really funny.”
“Funny” everyone said to me. My three friends were practically in hysterics.
“Sandro you need to lighten up. Holy crap dude! Bum on Bum crime.” Eddie said with a huge grin on his face.
I grinned back, until I saw dreadlocks come outside. I didn’t really want to see his reaction. What little he owned was probably crammed into that bag. He would never see any of it again. I flicked my cigarette into the gutter and we kept walking.
“Let’s get inside” Gus said.
We were almost in front of Café Aventura Pizza when I heard someone calling out behind us.
“Hey fellas!” I turned around half expecting to see either the hunchback or the dreadlocked guy, but it wasn’t either of them. It was E.
“You still lookin for some of that smoke? Lookin for that tree?”
E thought he was Tony Montana, but he reminded me more of Chris Rock in New Jack City. His 20 year old face had the gaunt, unmistakable look of a junkie. In a few months he'd probably be dead.
“Not that shwag your moving” Alex said to him.
“Motherfucker what did you say to me?” E said sounding pissed.
“Chill out bro. Count how many of us there are. Get the fuck out of here.” I said to E gently.
“Better learn to watch your fucking mouth kid” E muttered as he turned to walk away. I guess he didn’t think we weren’t worth it.
“God damn crackheads” Alex said.
“Alex you are one stupid kid.” Eddie said.
“Why the fuck do you always have to do shit like that Alex?” Gus said exasperated. He didn’t want to get stabbed anymore than the rest of us did. “You must have a death wish”
“Aright, I’m an idiot, whatever. Let’s just go inside I’m freezing” he stepped on his cigarette and opened the door.