the old lady was waiting in her door
she starts motioning to me to come over
could you step into my vestibule a minute hon?
i dont want these people knowing my business....

she must be out of cigarettes again
needs a loan, just til saturday
"when my check comes"
knock on my window honey
thanks alot jim
saturday dont forget
dont come too early

my name still isnt jim
not now not after 100 uses
i answer to jim now tho
its easier that way

i borrowed her iron once
when i was trying to use the same shirt twice for catering
the iron smelled like cigartees
how? i dont know
on warm days she'll sit on the steps and watch things
sometimes has 3 or four in her gang
thats one of the reasons i tokk this crappy little shoebox
it felt like a neighborhood

the gang members include the fat retarded lady on disability
the stroke survivor
the postman on disablity
the coke bottomed glasses mute old crone who may or may not speak
a ten year old redheaded girl who must not have video games
old don with the shunt in his stomach and the botched surgeries, too mean to die
and sometimes myself or the secretary across the street
theres a lot of check cashers in this hood
people waiting for disability or social security
theres a whole nother crew
mostly retards
down the block who sit in front of the bar
so yeah
it feels like home
and someday soon i hope to be recognized as their king
im royalty baybee
a prince in waiting
charlie clams has the shakes is all
clams wears shorts 365 days a year and shaves his own head sometimes
not a good idea with the shakes, clams
steve is just a little slow, but can be trusted to run to the store
he likes his team jersies
boots has lost 120 pounds since getting off sweets due to the diabetes
its easy to listen to diabetic advice when you have an object lesson two doors down
rudy lost one leg at a time to diabetes when he didnt listen
now he just sits on his steps and fights with the neighbors
then theres the drive by tards
tards on the move
blind mike comes in for water once a day
you have to put it in his hand
he can only see off to the left
and then theres kevin
he walks around the block at eleven and four
eleven is bed head hour
he can remember names and numbers
hes famous for calling people at odd times who gave him their number in conversation two years ago
at four hes all cleaned up kevin and reeks of cologne
hes famous for calling strangers "deadbeat" because thats what he associates with the bar
the usual day bartender calls him that every day
so its his calling card
soon
soon
bolstered by my homeless army
and my battalion of tards
we will storm the bastille
and throw them from the windows