A long walk last night, out around the neighborhood, everywhere there are police. They're watching the corners, I can hear the helicopter overhead, walking, I'm tracing their perimeter, finally coming to where the "Action" is. There is no action, none that I can see, merely 10 cars - I count them in disbelief - 10 cars in a row, lights flashing, an ambulance, something big must be going down, I'll read about it in the paper tomorrow...
Then to the Circle K. It's freezing out, the wind-chill has it down below minus 30, a hot-dog, I eat it inside the door. This Circle K, it's clean, spotless, the night clerk friendly as friendly can be given the hour, given the neighborhood...
There's a small older woman, small backpack, clearly homeless. Small pack, no sleeping bag or roll, she's shivering but not from the cold, she's been in here a while, they can't throw her out, not in this weather, she's no place to go...
She's trying for some change, then laughs, crazy, unnerving laugh, can't look at you, asks for a smoke, still can't look at you, that laugh again, this city - it's like the end of days when you see it clearly, the locals, they stay indoors at night, the police are massed just a couple of blocks away, I'll know what's going on tomorrow...
Today, and I read the paper, and there's nothing. For the police presence I would have thought 1, 2, 3 officers down, or an 18 year old crack-whore armed with a pen-knife, but there's nothing in the papers at all.