waiting for a cab in the corner of 207th and broadway, pissed. steamed at being late for lunch with L. the bus i took earlier just moseyed on, so i got off at this unfamiliar corner. down the block, a pod of healthy lunged kids yawled strange and stabbing cries as they shocked their unshirted bodies with cold water belched by a spritzing water hydrant. a light breeze carried phrases of a pulsing reggaeton track from a lone cracked window of the red tiled building across. como le encanta la gasolina. dame mas gasolina. in my pocket, my phone and some stray quarters burned against my thigh. then, an unleashed pug started sniffing my slippers now slick with sole sweat. the mutt's snout slued through my forefeet like a melting ice cube. seeing its pom-pom shorted owner panting after him, the heavy balled dog dashed on towards the streetside fountain. it summarily displaced the shrieking kids and hogged the sputtering water all by itself. the owner yelled some unintelligible threats at the dog and it reluctantly moved away from this pocket of sweet rain. it then shook off vestiges of its misdemeanor and limped back to its owner. the smile it had, little by little, melted back to a frown.
