Message: Don’t come anywhere near death in the hood.
Why? Because them people ain’t comin’ to save you.
As I am bending the corner back to the lab after a short trip to the grocers, an old timer sitting in a chair collapses to the pavement. “Curtis!” Some of the neighbourhood corner fixtures yell to him. To no avail, Curtis is not stirred. An older clock jumps to attempt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and el viejo manages to cough up some mucous. Cell phones at the ready, some folks start to call them three digits. Noticing we are directly across the street from a fire station, I drop my bags and scurry across the street without a glance in either direction. I bangs on the front door and within minutes someone comes down. I run it down as best I can and unflinchingly this ass-hat starts asking me the usually inconsequential questions. “Is this a relative?” Yes it’s my great uncle ruckus, I begin to quip. Instead I just insist they hurry, pivot and scoot.
I cross the street again. Let the askers know I alerted the emergency workers. Five minutes pass and not an ant’s fart can be detected from the firehouse. Another gentleman of a certain age crosses the street to alert them to the emergency situation. He eventually has to go to the door a second time and still, not a peep from “emergency response.”
15 minutes have now passed and a door to the garage opens. About a minute after that two cats emerge, strolling leisurely of course. And of all things, these two ass-wipes emergency professionals are laughing to each other. Joking. Shortly after they matriculate across the road, Mutt and Jeff follow up behind- doing what? You guessed it giggling like ninnies. 3/4 of the way across the street one of them gives us a customary shuffling of the feet, a distant cousin of the trot.
Wish someone had told us what was so damn funny. I mean I like jokes. I love to laugh. Genereally not when someone lay dying 15yards away from me and waiting on my assistance, but hey- to each his/her own.
As the crowd began to dissipate I could not help but remark the difference in response time to this medical emergency and the speed and efficiency when the narcs or jump-outs raid the corner. I mean, I’ve seen it at least four times in the last 60 days and would have witnessed one more had I not turned my to someone I thought called my name. Word to the old Flava Flav.
