Last Friday we went to the movies after work. As usual I had a large Coke with my popcorn. As usual I couldn’t wait to go to the bathroom after the movie ended. The one close to the actual theatre we were in was too busy, so I decided to walk to the one at the entrance, much bigger and less attended being further from the actual screen rooms.
As I turn the corner to make my way into the washroom, this guy walks past me, jeans hanging at the middle of his butt, pant legs way too long, that ugly look we’ve all had to become familiar in the big city. I don’t think twice about him. I enter the room and right away I notice two guys dressed very much the same standing around. There is no one else, just us 3 in this big room. I have to walk past them to go to the urinals. The look at me as I pass them. I go to the last of 8 urinals and undo the buttons from my fly… but I don’t start to pee yet. I’m totally uneasy now. From my peripheral vision and their reflection on the dark tiled wall, I can see one of them, with a lighter winter coat on, slowly moving in my direction, inching towards me. The other one is not moving yet. My mind start to rush… What if the guy that passed me was their lookout and these two bozos with whoever else might be in one the cubicle behind me decide to jump me… I do a quick mental check of my pocket content: wallet, iPod Touch, $40some in cash, movie gift card… yeah, it’s not good…
My heart is racing#32, I turn my head quickly in their direction, one is looking at me and looks away instantly, but I’m now sure that he is definitely closer to me than he should be for a dude that is not pissing or shitting or washing his dirty filthy hands in this washroom. Then I start wondering about what else could they be in here for? Are they waiting for a sick friend that is in the cube? Nah, they’d wait outside, not inside, or else they’d be talking… I’m still not pissing. Then some guy with a broom and a bottle of liquid spray comes in. Both guys turn in his direction. The cleaner goes to the first sink and starts wiping the counter, I finally start to pee like a son-of-a-bitch, heart racing, then another person comes in, then another one and I finally start to relax and finish peeing. I button up and go to one of the sinks to wash my hands, looking at the guy closes to me who is now busy looking at his teeth in the mirror, like he has pieces of popcorn stuck in there or something, and the other is leaning against the wall looking down, not doing anything else… I dry my hands and walk down to meet DR, all the time scanning the crowd for the original guy I passed to see if my theory of a lookout might just be true, but I don’t see him anywhere.. for all I know, he was probably one of the people that came in en masse a few minutes after me when another movie let out to warn them a crowd of people were coming in…
I had a guy follow me after I left a bar in Chicago about 3am one night. I crossed the street, he crossed the street, after a few blocks and in the view of a security guard by an office building I yelled “What Do You Want?”
He bailed. I was a more than a little nervous, as the guys I was in town working with didn’t know where I was — we had split from different bars earlier that night.
Not a good feeling. Why people can’t just get a job and earn their own money is beyond me.
That’s scary as hell. I felt nervous just reading about it.
Maybe if they had gone to an Afro-centric school they would have learned that selling drugs in public restrooms is a no-no. They don’t teach that kind of stuff in white schools. Ya I’m bitter.