Finding Momentum

I spot Mike when I drive up Durant Ave on Wednesday evening. I'm not doing anything that night, so I figured I'd spend some time and catch up with him.

Mike's squatting on a stack of empty milk crates. We slap palms, and he has this long look on his face. "Andrew, she screwed me real bad" is the first thing he tells me.

From what I can gather, Mike's family is a loose collection of friends, acquaintances, relatives and strangers. He's referring to his cousin's lady friend, who has been hanging around him for the past few days.

"We're at the ATM and I step up to withdraw some cash. I see her looking over my shoulder"--Mike's expression turns to a snarl--"'Hey! What you doin'?'" Mike's expression relaxes a bit.

"Anyways, I'm with her when we pass by the ATM again the next day and I stop to withdraw some more money. Only I pull out my wallet and my ATM card's not there. Where did I put it? She stays and I go back home to look for the card. I tell Belinda, Where did I put that card? and she says it ain't there."

Mike's shaking his head, staring blankly into space. She jacked me up real bad. A guy walks out of the alley and drops some change into Mike's cup. Mike springs onto his feet and into his thank-you routine. Thank you brother, God bless you. He drops back onto the milk crates with a heaviness I can feel.

"Well I got my card replaced and they find that I don't have no more money in my account. Somebody withdrew 350 dollars that day, and it was her. I know it. She got my card. She took 350 dollars and left me nineteen."

I shuffle around on the asphalt.

"Anyways I go over to her house and start yellin' at her to get my money back. I didn't do it, she yellin' back at me and I'm like Yeah you did."

People are filing in and out of the Asian Ghetto pretty rapidly. It's Wednesday night on a cool summer day and students are out in force. Not many make eye contact with Mike.

"She took my money and jacked my bike, too," Mike continues. "I come home the other day to see her throw down my bike in the driveway." He holds up his hands to pantomime the action, "She throw it down with a CRASH and she just walks away. I find out she slice up my tires too."

"I never had a bike that nice before." Mike launches into a story of how he bought the bike off of a UC Berkeley student, then falls silent. "She jack me real bad, Drew."

Nobody's stopping, but then I catch a group of friends walking up who will. Brian, one of them, stops and greets Mike (they know each other well). Another, Christine, stops to listen. And Mike is again telling his story.

Related posts

1. A Brother Like Me “I called you, Drew, but you didn’t pick up.” I con­fess,...
2. A Brother Like Me “Lis­ten, Drew” Mike tells me, “They cut off my gen­eral...
3. A Brother Like Me Mike’s been hav­ing a bad week. You can read it...
4. A Brother Like Me I’m back at school for less than a week when...
5. A Brother Like Me Mike’s breath sports the sour edge of alco­hol. “Had some...