...except a group of teenagers gathered at the far end of the subway platform. Nothing good can come of that. They are not over there planning Suzie Q's surprise party or studying for their English quiz, they are plotting their next robbing and pillaging escapades, and maybe even getting a couple of girls pregnant. All before they go work the late shift at Burger King- if they even HAVE a job.
Do I sound harsh? So what- I speak truth and you know it. It was truth before I was born. It was truth when I was 15. And it will always be truth.
If I'm alone on a deserted block and a dodgy looking guy is walking towards me, I'm safe in the knowledge that I've been trained to take him down (except if he has a gun of course) and can defend my own honor. But if I'm alone on that same block and a group of four or more teenage boys are walking towards me, regardless of race, I hold tight to my purse and get ready to blow my rape whistle and pull out my boxcutter and turn to take a different route.
And if there's a girl in the group? Even worse. Bitches are vicious and I'd hate to get in the mix with them as they try to prove they're worthy enough to hang with the big boys. It's a sad fact that some of the kids in my neighborhood think they are East LA cholos from Echo Park. Honey, you're not- you're from Sunset Park...not as tough, so get over it. That doesn't make them less vicious, just pathetic.
That gang mentality, though, whether you are in Compton or Bay Ridge, don't underestimate it man! That gang mentality will slit your throat, shave you bald, slap you with your own wallet as it's emptied of its contents, and leave you clinging to life in an alley on Myrtle Avenue. It's a force to be reckoned with, a side effect of a classist society, a by-product of too many people on this teeny-tiny island.
And, as a mother of two young girls, just one of the things that keeps me up at night.
*smooches*
--------------------
everybody's in a hurry
here in purgatory
except for me
i'm where i need to be
at the arrivals gate
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