Well, I got home close to nine thirty tonight, and although I was pretty sure I was out of beer, I checked my fridge anyway. Yup, I was right. Oh well. I can probably live without beer for one night, I thought. (I currently don't have a car, so I would have to walk down to the bar/lounge for more beer.)
I surfed WTF.com for a while. About a half hour or so later I felt like having a beer. I checked the outside temperature, and it wasn't too bad. I threw on my jacket and a backpack, and headed downtown.
A block away from the bar, a local kid's car passed me. A few seconds later he spun around and came back towards me. As the car slowed to a stop, I saw a few people inside, and heard someone call me a couple things I didn't like.
The one kid asked me for a smoke. I recognized his voice, and said that I didn't have any on me. Yeah sure, it was a lie, but I didn't feel like giving him a smoke. He pestered me a bit, and at the same time this girl in the car said hey. I replied hi back to her, and asked her how her birthday was going. Just as she replied, the kid who wanted a smoke stuck his hand out the window and gave me the finger.
Now I will say, it was stupid on my part. But, my first reflex was to reach up and grab his finger with my gloved hand. I simply grabbed and let go, and suddenly he was yelling at me, and the driver took off as I started walking the opposite direction...the same direction I had been going in the first place.
I heard the car slow, and looked back to see the passenger door open and a skinny kid stumble out as he hollered at me.
Not wanting a fight, I realized that the bar was only a hundred feet past the corner which was a hundred yards ahead. I started running, not so hard that the kid would think I was scared of him, but fast enough to stay ahead enough of him to get in front of the bar before he would catch up. I knew he wouldn't try anything there.
Once inside the bar, I asked for a beer. I sat down by myself, half listening to the guys at the next table, half watching the TV. And, half noticing that about every ninety seconds, that same damn car would drive by.
Later, while on my second (or was it third?) beer, an acquaintance of mine showed up. After he was done talking with the bar-owner, I asked if he'd mind giving me a ride home later. He said no problem.
In the meantime, I texted the girl who was in the car, asking if she was still with those guys. She said she was walking home, cuz the car got stuck. Then she texted me again, asking if I would walk her home, and said she was at a place about a block away. I said just to wait a couple minutes.
A minute later she texted me again, saying she was another half a block closer. I got my offsale and headed out. The last location she said she was at was just around a corner, so being wary, I stayed in the middle of the street as I came up to the corner.
Just as I figured, it wasn't the little cutie waitin' for me. It was the skinny fucker. Just around the corner, too...as if he was waiting for me to take the sidewalk around the corner, and then he was going to take a swing at me. Or two, or three...etc.
"Dude, come here, we need to talk," he said as he stepped further into the shadows, away from the bar and any possible witnesses.
I backed further into the street. "I'm not going there," I said, "either talk, or come into the light."
After bickering for a bit, he stepped into the light, but kept walking when I told him to stop, so I started backing away from him.
"Come on dude, I want to talk to you face to face!" he said, still walking towards me as I was backing up.
"This is face to face!" I damn near yelled. He persisted, so I simply turned around and started walking back to the bar, which I was almost right in front of anyway. I didn't hear any footsteps behind me, so I calmly walked to the door and stepped inside.
I asked the acquaintance if he'd mind giving me a ride home yet, and he said sure. I told the bar-owner to put his next two drinks on my tab, and followed him out the door.
As we came around the last corner, there was the car, just pulling up to the yield sign in front of my place. My ride offered to keep driving, and so he went another couple blocks before heading back. Just as I was walking up to the house, the car came up the street again. I looked over my shoulder, recognized it, and walked into the house.
After putting my beer in the fridge, I grabbed one, sat down in the livingroom, and grabbed my computer. Over the next half hour, that same car drove by at the same rate as at the bar: about every ninety seconds.
At the same time, I kept getting texts from the "lil cutie's" cell, asking where I was and when I was going to come walk her home. I simple said that I was home, and that I wasn't going anywhere.
Finally, wondering what they were up to, what with driving by so often, I called the cops, and got patched through to the one local cop who I've talked to a couple times or so. She's cool. :tongue: I said what was going on, described the car, and she said she'd talk to them.
Since then, I have only seen that damn car once or twice (over a half hour or so). And not within the last ten minutes. "Lil cutie" came online on MSN for a couple seconds about ten minutes ago, then was gone. And of course, the cop got back to me and said she'd talked to them and told them to leave me alone.
That should keep them off my case for a bit, at least. (OK, I think I'm done.)
I surfed WTF.com for a while. About a half hour or so later I felt like having a beer. I checked the outside temperature, and it wasn't too bad. I threw on my jacket and a backpack, and headed downtown.
A block away from the bar, a local kid's car passed me. A few seconds later he spun around and came back towards me. As the car slowed to a stop, I saw a few people inside, and heard someone call me a couple things I didn't like.
The one kid asked me for a smoke. I recognized his voice, and said that I didn't have any on me. Yeah sure, it was a lie, but I didn't feel like giving him a smoke. He pestered me a bit, and at the same time this girl in the car said hey. I replied hi back to her, and asked her how her birthday was going. Just as she replied, the kid who wanted a smoke stuck his hand out the window and gave me the finger.
Now I will say, it was stupid on my part. But, my first reflex was to reach up and grab his finger with my gloved hand. I simply grabbed and let go, and suddenly he was yelling at me, and the driver took off as I started walking the opposite direction...the same direction I had been going in the first place.
I heard the car slow, and looked back to see the passenger door open and a skinny kid stumble out as he hollered at me.
Not wanting a fight, I realized that the bar was only a hundred feet past the corner which was a hundred yards ahead. I started running, not so hard that the kid would think I was scared of him, but fast enough to stay ahead enough of him to get in front of the bar before he would catch up. I knew he wouldn't try anything there.
Once inside the bar, I asked for a beer. I sat down by myself, half listening to the guys at the next table, half watching the TV. And, half noticing that about every ninety seconds, that same damn car would drive by.
Later, while on my second (or was it third?) beer, an acquaintance of mine showed up. After he was done talking with the bar-owner, I asked if he'd mind giving me a ride home later. He said no problem.
In the meantime, I texted the girl who was in the car, asking if she was still with those guys. She said she was walking home, cuz the car got stuck. Then she texted me again, asking if I would walk her home, and said she was at a place about a block away. I said just to wait a couple minutes.
A minute later she texted me again, saying she was another half a block closer. I got my offsale and headed out. The last location she said she was at was just around a corner, so being wary, I stayed in the middle of the street as I came up to the corner.
Just as I figured, it wasn't the little cutie waitin' for me. It was the skinny fucker. Just around the corner, too...as if he was waiting for me to take the sidewalk around the corner, and then he was going to take a swing at me. Or two, or three...etc.
"Dude, come here, we need to talk," he said as he stepped further into the shadows, away from the bar and any possible witnesses.
I backed further into the street. "I'm not going there," I said, "either talk, or come into the light."
After bickering for a bit, he stepped into the light, but kept walking when I told him to stop, so I started backing away from him.
"Come on dude, I want to talk to you face to face!" he said, still walking towards me as I was backing up.
"This is face to face!" I damn near yelled. He persisted, so I simply turned around and started walking back to the bar, which I was almost right in front of anyway. I didn't hear any footsteps behind me, so I calmly walked to the door and stepped inside.
I asked the acquaintance if he'd mind giving me a ride home yet, and he said sure. I told the bar-owner to put his next two drinks on my tab, and followed him out the door.
As we came around the last corner, there was the car, just pulling up to the yield sign in front of my place. My ride offered to keep driving, and so he went another couple blocks before heading back. Just as I was walking up to the house, the car came up the street again. I looked over my shoulder, recognized it, and walked into the house.
After putting my beer in the fridge, I grabbed one, sat down in the livingroom, and grabbed my computer. Over the next half hour, that same car drove by at the same rate as at the bar: about every ninety seconds.
At the same time, I kept getting texts from the "lil cutie's" cell, asking where I was and when I was going to come walk her home. I simple said that I was home, and that I wasn't going anywhere.
Finally, wondering what they were up to, what with driving by so often, I called the cops, and got patched through to the one local cop who I've talked to a couple times or so. She's cool. :tongue: I said what was going on, described the car, and she said she'd talk to them.
Since then, I have only seen that damn car once or twice (over a half hour or so). And not within the last ten minutes. "Lil cutie" came online on MSN for a couple seconds about ten minutes ago, then was gone. And of course, the cop got back to me and said she'd talked to them and told them to leave me alone.
That should keep them off my case for a bit, at least. (OK, I think I'm done.)