as i walked up to the bus shelter
a guy was “slinking” away
cat eyes
carrying a big sailor’s sack
i saw a boy passed out on the bench there
was that his sack?
his wallet chain dangled conspicuously low
did that guy just empty it for him?
poor fool…
cat eyes asked me if i could see the bus coming
i said ‘no’ and off he slunk
but the schedule said it’d be here in…
two minutes.
i looked at the kid
young… college?
scottish?
green (olive) corduroy jacket
little green beanie
slumped over
some drool on his navy blue scarf.
i saw the bus just on the other side of fifth avenue
so i said to him
‘ Hey! the bus is coming, get up ‘
not wanting to him to have to wait for another one…
or sleep the whole night passed out here.
no response
so i grabbed his hand to pull him up
and it felt frightfully cold
i checked his pulse
there still was one
so i put my arms under his and tried to pull him up
he didn’t quite open his eyes
couldn’t say anything
just a slight grunt
… like he couldn’t breathe
and green fluid spurted out of his nose…
enough to know he was alive
but he was unable to respond
he poured off the bench to hit the pavement
but i caught him
and shoved him back
into his curved slump
uhhhhhh…
the bus pulled up and opened its doors…
i glanced
and stepped away onto the bus
paid my fare
and told myself i’d make sure he wasn’t still there in an hour when i came back by after having a drink at nowhere…
but. . .
he was so cold
and that gasp..
so i thought a moment:
was it an emergency?
no…
but i couldn’t just let the kid fucking freeze to death
or choke on his spit
so i called 311
talked to some guy
who connected me to 911
talked to some lady
who connected me to an ambulance dispatcher
of course
i had to repeat everything
but surprisingly few times
and when i went back by
and hour and a half later
he was gone
did he see me when i lifted him up?
is he at home (?) in his bed?
or in a hospital somewhere?
was it G or H or just drinks?
did he choke or freeze or get robbed?
what’s one college kid more or less?
hope he’s alright.. wherever he is.
3 thoughts on “cold boy, not dead yet”
benpanced
You tried. Best you could do under the circumstances.
angeltatts
You did more for that boy than most people would have done in the same circumstances. Reading your post made me feel better about this city by knowing there are people who will attempt to help a total stranger.
god_jr
thank you.
for being.