Day 14

Day 14

Because of all the backtracking I've had to do, I've driven past this little corner store about twenty times, so today I decide to drop in. I was expecting a convenience store but instead find a little deli/restaurant. Since all I wanted was a soda, I pretend that I need to know the address. “What are you doing?” the dried-up old hag behind the counter asks me. The first white person I've seen in days. And so I explain what I'm doing. “Cause you're sitting out there in the car. And everybody knows you're out there. They [by which she means “she”, I'm pretty sure] called the po-lice.” “Okay,” I say. “Well, I'm just doing my job. Thanks.” Apparently it's against the law to drive around in this shitty town.

I keep wondering why, every day, I've seen blind people wandering the streets, often in groups of four or five. It seems like an awful lot. Only today do I realize that I've been driving past a huge brick building with a giant sign reading CENTER FOR THE BLIND.

There's a payday loan business in a portable building behind the public housing complex. How depressing. I find myself feeling much more self-conscious here than back home. The people here seem much more suspicious. Because this is a small, less urban town? Because they see fewer people walking around on the streets? There's not much here in the way of pedestrian walkways, so maybe seeing someone on foot is so strange that it makes them wary.

I'm sitting in the car a couple of hours later checking my map when I'm approached by My Very First Prostitute. She walks up to my open window and leans in: “You need [inaudible] head or pussy?”
“Not today,” I tell her. “Well, can I get a dollar for my birthday?” She's wearing a pink baseball cap, t-shirt, and shorts with a pack of cigarettes sticking out of the ass pocket. Not a terribly attractive lady. I see her later yelling at passing cars.

An altogether awful day. I have a bad headache. The sun is blinding. I walk or drive down dozens of dead-end streets where I catch dark glances from everyone I see. Drive 80 mph all the way home.