Owens street is the dividing line for North Las Vegas & Las Vegas proper. If you live on the North side of Owens you call Northtown home. A while back I lived on the North side of Owens. It wasn't the Bellagio - nonetheless - I found it a decent place to live. Every once in a while you're forced to deal with a knucklehead or two. Nothing I couldn't handle. I made a number of friends in the time I was there. Today, two of Northtown's finest ventured to the SW for a visit:
"It's Metro motherfucker. We have an arrest warrant for some guy they call the Village Idiot. I suggest you open the door before we knock it in," is James' response when I ask who it is knocking on the door. I open and he says - "Look who I got with me." He wasn't alone. He had another one of the crew with him - "What are you doing boy?" George asks.
"George, goddammit! What the hell is going on?" He originally hails from Hawaii - (they're tons of Islanders living in Las Vegas) - "You look good my friend. You look like you've lost a little weight," I say to him as we bear hug. The three of us take seats at the table and I ask him for the lowdown - "I'm still in the NLV. Living a few blocks up from the old place. The girlfriend & I are broken up for now. She is still as crazy as ever." James adds - "What about that time she threw a brick through your window and Bruce Li (landlord) demanded you pay for it." - "You know what I told Bruce?" George says with a laugh - "I told him to go get the money from that crazy bitch. It isn't my fault she's nuts."
After a beer or two, I ask - "What has Bruce Li been up to lately?" Bruce Li is a seventy something slum lord who, until recently, owned a number of houses in town - "He sold a bunch of them in the last year," George then adds - "You know what else happened to the crazy bastard - He got thrown in the slammer for a few days because of a domestic disturbance." James then pipes - "He got arrested for Slap-a-Ho." Domestic violence is not a laughing matter, but the way James animated it made me snicker - I then add - "Bruce Li in the slammer. I bet he saw a few of his former tenants while he was incarcerated." - The remark brought another round of laughter from us.
"Hurry up and finish that boy. The movie starts in thirty minutes." I slam the rest of my beer and the three of us hop into James' blazer & head to the theatre. We make two stops before arriving. The first is a liquor store (you can't go to the dollar theatre without a bottle of booze) - the next stop is Burger King (you can't go to a dollar theatre without a sack of dollar menu cheeseburgers) - The movie was okay.
On the way back we decide to stop at an Asian buffet - "This is the best Chinese buffet in town. I eat here all the time," George says as we enter. The cashier who rang us up gave a dirty look. She realized the margins were getting ready to dip when three wide bodies like us walk in. We stuff ourselves silly & I damn near fall asleep during the ride home. We drop George off at his place in Northtown first - "It was great seeing you buddy. We will have to get together and do it again." - "You know it my man," is my reply as we share another bear hug.
On the way back to the SW, James says - "I think Keith is doing good. He's got a construction job in Miami and is talking about going to a Heat's game soon. That's what it said on Face Book any way." Keith is another Northtowner who recently relocated to Florida for work - "Just think if we would have had Keith with us when we went to the buffet tonight. They would have definitely banned us," I comment to James with a laugh - "Are you going to be ready for our trip to spring training in March?" - He asks as I am being dropped off - "Don't you worry son. I was born ready." - I then go inside; kick my shoes off; drink a glass of water; lie down on the couch; turn the television on to my favorite series Blue Bloods & promptly fall asleep.
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