One midweek afternoon in late-summer, Minna goes on a walk to try and take her emotions out of a work situation that is her fault in some ways, but less her fault than others. Someone calls out to her from the driver’s seat of their parked car. It’s a friendly neighborhood and she knows people everywhere - in cars, out of cars… everywhere.
Last Sunday, for instance, a parked car tooted loud and sharp at her and her boyfriend, Tino, as they passed by. She was still laughing at herself for having hiccuped into the air at the noise when the guy rolled down his window to reveal one of Tino’s regulars from the restaurant. They said what’s up, and Minna and the regular exchanged platitudes about how they are both good “because of this guy!” in reference to her cooly-brushing-off-the-praise partner.
Now it’s Wednesday, and she’s on a walk with the dog to escape her job on her computer and all the little personalities inside of it. Out here, this is the real world.
As she leaves, she decides on her path. She thinks maybe she’ll go the long way, but she’ll probably just do the medium way, but she’s definitely not going to just take the easy way.
“The easy way ended me up with a client email to respond to, didn’t it?” she berated herself. ‘Lessons learned’ in the subject line. Christ.
She waves to the most immediate and ever-present crew of Dominicans, who hold down the West side of her block. A little further down, she tries to get the attention of her favorite old Rastaman, but he has bad eyes and can’t tell that it’s her if she’s on the other side of the street.
She talks about the humidity with a man smoking a cigar. Sweet smoke that reminds Minna of her father curls around them. She sees some ladies and their kids hanging around a bright teal sedan while a tune spills out. A glossy looking young guy wearing a velour matching set the exact same color as the teal sedan struts by and gets close - his cologne is as fresh as he looks and it cools the hot air for a second. The dog poops; she picks it up and is sure to be diligent about the smaller flecks… must implement more rigorous QA!
Further up the hill, a man blesses her from his porch. Not for sneezing, just for being alive and leaving the fucking house. She blesses him back for just the same. On the other side of the intersection, she slips around a woman who sits still with her eyes closed on a bench, her soft old skin in perfect drapes beneath her eyes and jowls.
“Executive Decision Maker,” whoever the hell she is, decides the half-walk is plenty, pats Minna on the back and they all cut into the park to return down the hill.
(Note to our protagonist: The “Executive Decision Maker,” whoever the hell she is, that patted you on the back for a half-walk is probably the same entity who doesn’t feel like it’s your responsibility to do more “rigorous QA.”)
Their final downhill stride ends in a corner of cemented sidewalk bathed in slanted afternoon light, full of heat and shining like satin. This moment is too hot for the pup, and she trots Minna around the corner in a rush towards the shade of some familiar trees.
“Home,” she encourages the creature, as the trees’ protection comes to an end and they are back in the full sun for the walk’s final stretch.
From amongst a few cars parked along the sidewalk, Minna hears an idling engine, a distinct purr in the stillness. She notices the second car has its front windows down (idling car: identified!). The same slanted light causes a glare on the windshield, obstructing the driver, but a “Hey…!” comes out through the open window.
Like I said, Minna knows lots of people. People in cars, people out of cars. So, as she passes, she leans down a little and squints against the sun into the car to discover who knows her there. She doesn’t recognize him, but he’s smiling broadly, so she smiles back, open with her geniality and sensibilities softened by her walk.
She’s almost past the car before she catches his proud, windows-down, lavender erection - now obviously the reason for the broadness of his smile.
The real world.
“And they wonder why I don’t look more closely at things.”
She breathes deeply into her gutter and finds everyone, including herself, equally disgusting and sympathetic.
“Each of us out here just trying to clear our head.”
