dave the pimp
was kind
when we ran into him
two in the morning
outside of the liberty avenue porn shop
he wasn’t panhandling us white boys
he was understanding
dave the pimp wanted to know our needs
instead of just pushing product
although he did ask if we liked black girls or white girls
but pittsburgh was a cultural wasteland
when it came to latina women
and there weren’t many asian hookers around
in western pennsylvania
so there really weren’t a lot of other options
calvin said that it didn’t matter
because when it came to sex what did it matter?
spoken like a true virgin, i said to steve
as we headed up toward the ramada
dave the pimp asked if we liked music
calvin said that he liked new edition
i hear that, i hear that, dave said
he stated pushing concert tickets and bootlegs on us
he seemed less a friend than before
secretly i wanted dave the pimp
from back at the porn shop and not this hustler
but i wasn’t paying for it anyway that night
when we got to the ramada i officially opted out
dave the pimp thought that i was a bitch, i could tell
he said, i ain’t even talking to you
even when i tried to tell him about the girl i’d been seeing
he told calvin and steve
that he could do the two of them for thirty
really hot girls just waiting for them inside the ramada
so calvin handed over forty dollars
dave the pimp shoved the cash in his pocket
because he knew a good deal when he saw one
he could spot a sucker from a mile away
when steve said, wait, where’s our change?
like he was at the 7-11 buying a big gulp
dave the pimp said
forty, take it or leave it
he was a shell of the kind and understanding man
that we’d met outside the liberty avenue porn shop
steve said, that isn’t fair
because he was still living in a democracy
but calvin said that it was his money
so it was all right
that’s when steve opted out too
and dave the pimp told him
i ain’t even talking to you either
we let calvin go off with him
we weren’t being bad friends
the suburbs had just warped our sense of security
but before we could question ourselves
calvin and dave the pimp
came sprinting around the other side of the ramada
dave was wearing a different t-shirt
and calving was trying to take off his
jesus christ, steve said
what in the hell happened?
calvin said, they called the cops
because of his motherfucker shouting,
dave the pimp said, pointing at steve
so no pussy? steve said
no pussy, calvin said
none whatsoever, dave the pimp added
then give us back the forty bucks, steve said
what forty bucks? dave the pimp said
just as a red-jacketed security guard from the ramada
came outside on a walkie-talkie
dave the pimp sat down on a concrete flower bed
and began picking his nails
steve kept shouting at him about the money
man, the suburbs had warped our sense of entitlement as well
when the sirens sounded i took off
i ran a block away from the ramada
and then down under an overpass near the monongahela river
there were a shit-ton of shopping carts
and old clothing scattered about
like an old hooverville
i could still hear steve shouting
at dave the pimp about calvin’s money
but then soon he and calvin were with me in the hooverville
we’d never seen a thing like this in the suburbs
we hung out there for almost a half-hour
steve yelling and calvin crying about his parents
we walked back to the car quickly
because three white boys
in downtown pittsburgh in the middle of the night
was enough to make the papers
then we drove around for another hour
looking for dave the pimp
although we never found him
by the time steve dropped me off
the sun was coming up over my neighborhood
a couple of dads were coming home
from their night
one of them sleeping it off in his car
the other smoking a j on his front porch
we nodded to each other
i had one last smoke on the porch
as the leaves blew
while dave the pimp was somewhere else in the city
spending calvin’s money
then i went inside
No comments:
Post a Comment