Just one table was being occupied at the patio of The Joy Bistro, and the three women sitting there looked cold but determined. It was clear that there was one leader in the group, the one that made the other two sit outside, even though they thought it was really too cold. Every once in a while you could see the resentment flash through their eyes. “This is so like Dominique! She just has to control everything!”
Further along down the street, my dog and I passed through the Kingdom of Solitude. Here, beside Jim’s Restaurant, crumpled and decaying men sat in chairs scattered along the periphery of Ming’s Auto Collision. Neither speaking nor watching, they smoked cigarette after cigarette, as if in total darkness.
In front of the K & S Family Restaurant, a tricked-out gangster boy sat in a wheelchair smoking, determined to project a tough-guy image out into the world. I was going to say hello, but when I caught his eye, he stood up and gave me a look, and instantly, all of the warmth I felt for him vanished.
A Barista who had a mustache that could launch a thousand ships, served me at the Mercury Espresso Bar. Each morning he must stand in front of the mirror, lovingly waxing his mustache until it was perfect, and he was, once again, the man he wanted the world to see.
In front of Ed’s Real Scoop we sat down on a bench and watched as a couple got out of a car and started to run errands. The man, spotting Heidi and I sitting there in the sun, commented that it was a gorgeous day, to which I agreed. He then added that it was even better if you were facing South, which was the direction from which the sun was beaming, and just at that moment an attractive young woman came strutting down the street from that direction, and he looked immediately embarrassed, worried that I was going to think that’s what he meant.
A girl who works at Bonjour Brioche drove by on the scooter she’s trying to sell for $750. She was wearing a helmet that made her look like a superhero, which I imagine is why she got the scooter– which she’s now found impractical– in the first place.
A silver fox lawyer with a mane of gray hair walked quickly past, in a hurry to get some fish and chips. In his glittering suit, he spoke into the phone, ” I thought of you immediately, as it’s a massage case!”
A frail looking middle-aged woman with a cane walked slowly toward us. She was wearing a pair of Crocs, and upon each one she’d attached a little rainbow pin with a peace sign on it. When she saw my dog and I, she gave us the thin, sad smile of somebody who has learned to truly appreciate the small pleasures of the day.
Our last stop was the Laundromat, where I came across a tightly folded– and now very clean– piece of paper that had been lost in the dryer I was about to use. Written down in pencil, in a very focused manner, were the words I MUST THINK POSTIVILEY, again and again and again.