In the booth behind us sat two women. One of them had a tattoo of Tinkerbell– sluttily composed on all fours– inked on her back, while the other woman had a tattoo of a several dollar signs on her back.

“I don’t know what was wrong with the bitch,” Slutty Tinkerbell said.

“She’s always had an attitude,” Dollar Sign agreed.

“Well, I wasn’t going to let her get away with it, so I told her, but before I knew it bitch had me by the hair and whipped me to the floor!”

The waitress was about 7 months pregnant, had sweet but tired eyes, and was an utter ace at her job. Flashing about, she was like some serving telepath, predicting needs and wants long before they were actually articulated.  When she brought us the bill it occurred to me to ask if she’d come up with a name for her child. She seemed a little bit startled by the question, and then a little bit sad, “No, no, I’ve been too busy to think about it, I’ll have to just wait and see, I guess,” and then she spun off to another table, her life now receding like a partially glimpsed ballet.

Crossing the pedestrian overpass to the Market, we were greeted by a tall, thin black man in a frayed dashiki. He gave me a quick appraisal, “Hey there Little Man, how’s it going?” In front of him he had an array of mysterious oils and dyes that I had paused to inspect, “The Little Man’s day goes well, how does the Tall, Thin Man’s day go?” He laughed and banged his fist into mine, and I felt proud, like I had just passed some sort of Detroit test.

Not far from him a woman crouched near to the ground in a position that seemed almost predatory, as if she was planning on springing up and pouncing on all who passed by. She was wearing a complete, black Burqa that she’d accessorized with a pair of impenetrable wrap-around sunglasses. Somehow, I knew that she was stunning beneath the intimidating cover—you could feel strength radiating from her and it was obvious that her concealment was a function of pride rather than modesty. Beside her a handsome man with a Thelonius Monk beard sat on a pillow chanting Muslim prayers. They were rock starts to me–perfect in their alien beauty, as if pulled from the cover of a Miles Davis album.

In the open-air market we bought some blueberries from a pair of fussy, 60 year-old gay men.

“No, it’s three dollars each or two for five dollars!” the one with the beard and mustache corrected. The other man sighed and closed his eyes for a second, and then with an edge in his voice that was directed to his partner, said to us, ‘That will be two-fifty, please.”

Down Russell Street we saw heavy men with diabetic limps. Clustered in a group in front of us, one wore the jersey of Detroit Tiger slugger Prince Fielder, while the others arrayed around him, leaned on canes, wore t-shirts from rib joints or hats tilted at a jaunty angle.

Boisterous and playfully combative, we could hear them bantering. The closer we got, the more clearly we could hear one of the men shouting out every five seconds or so, as if part of an unfolding musical improvisation, variations on a riff:

“Leave the white girl alone.”

“Now you be leaving the white girl alone, you hear.”

“Don’t be messing with that white girl’s business.”

“Just leave the white girl alone.”

As Rachelle and I passed, one of these men stepped out and scowled back at his buddies, “Ah,  white girls can’t cook worth a damn!” Winking at Rachelle, he gestured us away with his hand, his pals all laughing and tossing high-fives.

In short order he showed up, letting another student out of the car and then waving me in.

Me: Alpas, good to see you! You’re looking well, that’s a spiffy Dashoko you’re wearing!

Alpas: You mean Dashiki, but thank you, my wife bought it for me.

Me: Sorry, Dashiko.

Alpas: Dashiki.

Me: Yes, well it’s way better than that last thing you were wearing, that was ratty. How many wives do you have, anyway? Is it one of those situations where one wife has really good taste in Dashoks and the other doesn’t have a clue?

Alpas: I only have one wife, Michael, just like you. We should start with our lesson now. I will need you to concentrate if you are to improve.

Me: I am focused.

Alpas: Please start. Pull out into the street slowly, remembering to check your rear view mirror and signal.

Me: What?

Alpas: Remember to watch for other cars.

Me: Rachelle and I just got back from Cuba, they’ve got some crazy, beautiful cars there.

Alpas: You are approaching a stop sign, cover your brake.

Me: Yes, sir!

Alpas: It is an All Stop. Do you remember what that means?

Me: All Stop. That sounds like your name, Alpas.

Alpas: No it doesn’t.

Me: Yes it does,

Alpas: Why, because they both start with A?

Me: No, because they both start with AL.

Alpas: Sometimes you are very much like a child, and there is a reason why children are not allowed to drive. They cannot concentrate, that is the reason.

Me: I see.

Alpas: The student I had before you, she has failed the test four times. She cannot concentrate.

Me: So you’re saying I’m like that other student.

Alpas: Yes.

Me: Maybe she’s failed four times because you’re a lousy teacher, have you thought of that?

Alpas: (Sigh) Please watch the speed limit. You are going a little fast.

At this point I glanced down at the speedometer to see how fast I was going and when I looked up a squirrel was darting across the street in front of me. He stood up on his hind legs and stared into my eyes, into my soul.

Me: Sweet Jesus, it’s a squirrel!

There was a little thud.

Alpas: Michael, there are many squirrels in Toronto, do not worry about them. They had a bountiful winter and now some are called home to be with their ancestors. God has a plan for all of us.

And then he put his hand on my shoulder and I knew that our fight was over. Things were different, and I knew that from this point forth things would always be different.