That's where I come in, at the ready to assist you as you assist me in unravelling this complex mystery of how and why it all came to be. You and me here, that is.
They tell me Anacostia's an emerging neighborhood. That there are "police on the streets night and day". And that the addicts at Buckmon House (next door) are harmless. Sounds good to me. See, I'm emerging, too. And now that my divorce from the Marlboro Man is finalized -- it's been one year -- and I finally got rid of Mickey Joe (well I couldn't rightly say I'd "broken up with Mary Jane" could I?) -- I wouldn't feel comfortable judging. Or am I being careful? A little too eager to fit in?
I don't know what they mean by emerging. From the looks of things the buildings are almost all Post War structures. We are currently shacking up in a brick house, with white shutters, on the edge of Fort Stanton Park. The little row of houses on the adjoining street are all two story wood affairs. So aged the peeling paint is drips pure lead.
I want to know how a neighborhood that's over one hundred years old is all of a sudden emerging. More than that, I need to share how I came to this place, at a time in my life when the fires out, the emergencies are over, the troops have gone home and there ain't nothing left but ants on the picnic carrion of my life.
Like I said before, gentle reader, you're assisting me as I assist you in the unravelling and...fuck the five dollar words. And the euphemisms. And the careful tip-toe of racially hyper aware Ameri-speak. I moved to Anacostia because the rent was cheaper than any other in the entire DC area. And now it's "emerging"....into what? I am part of that "emergence". Wow. Lucky for me. Or, lucky for me?
Closer, please. Use that cy-birds eye view....
An Abundant Creature but you wouldn't know it by the balance on my ACE check cashing card. That is to say, there aren't any savings, and pay day is always a brief, flush moment followed by a full belly and a "now what?". I am raising a boy child alone. Been around the world and I-I-I...well, I GOT a baby. Hmmm...not so different from the other peely paint places, is it?
Abundant. The landlady hasn't wired this new building for land line phone service, but the comcast cable is working swell enough to start a blog and there's always Voice IP telephony to investigate. Been around the world and I-I-I...well, I may not be similar to the neighbors in that respect. But trust, when the comcast bill arrives, I will be sweating!
Here I am, on the tip of the "emerging" spear, like a rat tempted by the cheese of free rent, unaware that the cobra's frozen, open mouthed before her. "Test it out, and maybe we'll buy once the carpetbaggers have sold their properties to the conglomerates". Or maybe, "thanks for that, sucker, but we'll pass".
How will history emerge for Anacostia and her Abundant Creature?