Wednesday October 31 - Got Her

Wednesday October 31 - Got Her


They finally got her.

"Food Truck!!!" somebody yelled, but there was little motion in any direction by the crowd who congregates in front of the ARCH. But we thought it prudent to get up from our seated position on the patio and take a look around. You never know just where the food wagon might decide to park itself and if you are not attentive a mass of flesh can engulf it and being at the end of the line find you literally "holding the bag" … empty. But as it happened and we were looking for the food truck, it drove by and up Neches and across 8th street and parked on the side of the road. We immediately began our quick paced walk up the hill and into a relatively secure and front position in line.

After a few minutes, and a minimal amount of butting in line, we made it to the front and received our meal for the evening, two bologna and cheese sandwiches, a small bag of cheeze-its and cookies, a banana, and an eight ounce carton of milk. Not too bad actually, and there was enough to fill us. Oh, and a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, take your pick. We made it back down the hill to our seats on the patio, ground floor special, and had our picnic dinner. Across the street, between the side walk and the street, sat about a half dozen regulars, eating and doing their usual bull shitting. After a few moments two bicycle police arrived. They began questioning a woman sitting on the street curb, and others around her began to disperse. At first I couldn't recognize her. She appeared better looking than I had seen her before, hair made up well, clean clothes and colored reflecting sunglasses. I thought I recognized her, but I could not be sure. Then she turned to reveal her profile, I knew who it was, the woman with the prosthetic leg who had been harassed at least three times before.

The police examined her I.D. and went to one of the bikes and returned with the ties used as hand cuffs. They were arresting her. This was not making any sense. She had only been sitting on the street curb above a rain grate. The cops looked uncomfortable as they tied her hands behind her back and the proceeded to do a superficial search for weapons and such. One cop kept glancing around, monitoring the onlookers. At some point the police paddy wagon arrived on the corner of Neches and 7th streets. The officers escorted her to the paddy wagon and a cruiser pulled up near the parked bikes and observed.

The young woman gave no resistance. She cooperated with what I would describe as grace and dignity. I do not know her name. I have seen her around the ARCH since I first arrived here. She is mulatto and most she associates with are black. I do not believe she is involved in any drug activity, other than occasionally smoking some marijuana, but for some reason the police have repeatedly made her the target of their harassment. Now they got her, arrested … for sitting on a curb, eating her dinner.

In the late sixties or early seventies I would have been raising hell about this. But as I looked around there was no consolidated consensus among those standing around. Gandhi once said to be effective as a leader "find a parade and then get in front of it". There was no parade to lead here, only a few mumbling souls, but not any direction or purpose. Only a chance to get thrown in jail and no one is up to that, at least … not now …. Not yet.