Midday on the 53 bus

As the 53 pulls up the hill, a police cruiser cuts in front of our little bus parking next to a dull grey undercover cruiser and completely blocks both lanes of the street. The just arrived cop stands outside surveying the area, never once looking back the crowded bus stuck behind the crime scene. The bus driver scowls at the less than courteous behavior but reasons, they are cops afterall.

Through the wide bus windshield we can see two young men in cuffs, one of whom is splayed across the hood of a cruiser, a cop’s elbow wedged into his back. The other young man is pleading into the air as a cop pushes him prostrate against a car door, smiling over at a newly arrived officer to say hello. Young women rush from the pastel blocks of apartments crying, children take cues form the adults, dropping their toys and add their little wails to the wind.