After laying low for as long as I could in Coney Island after that near fatal lick, I was alone and homesick. I had resorted to staying put in Coney Island for a few days until things cooled off. I had some money to eat, drink and smoke. I got over a grand off of that dealer. So, I blew some of it in Times Square, going to the movies left and right. Back then when you paid to get into the theaters you didn't have to leave after the showing. You could actually stay in there for 24 hours. You could enter at 11am and stay until the next day if you wanted to. The things I saw in those theaters. Blowjobs everywhere. Men and women giving them. Did I succumb to some of them? The answer is yes. I wasn't gay, so that was completely off the table, but I did let the women do their thing. Sometimes it was free, sometimes it was $20. I'll never forget reaching orgasm during the first showing of Star Wars just as Han Solo made the jump to light speed one time.
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(The Central Avenue Train Station. Where the 'M' stood not only for the M-Train, it stood for Mistake.)
It was the beginning of the year in 1976. After doing dirt and bailing to parts unknown, I wanted to visit Bushwick. I was missing my friends. I was hanging out in Times Square and Coney Island in a back and forth motion. Because I was hot in Bushwick, I had to avoid it. But, how long could I do that. I decided to come back. I took to the rails and headed back home. As the train pulled into my stop, the Central Avenue station, I walked out of the train and onto the platform. The train pulled off as I took a deep breath of Bushwick air. It smelled like a mix of gasoline and Spanish food. I was home. I headed for the steps and headed down them. As I was walking down them, I passed a guy who had a strange look on his face. I thought nothing of it. I've seen all kinds of looks in Times Square. I kept it moving.
I exited the station and started my walk towards Stanhope Street looking foward to seeing everybody again and to get my drink and smoke on. As I walked I heard police sirens in the distance. This was completely normal for Bushwick. Somebody probably got shot I thought. I kept walking. The sirens got closer. They must be heading to Broadway I thought. They got closer. They were actually super close and coming from every direction. Somebody must have really fucked up I thought. Then, police cruisers were pulling up from everywhere. Cops started jumping out of them with guns drawn. I heard one of them yell, 'DONT YOU FUCKING MOVE!' I raised my hands up. They rushed me, taking me into custody. They frisked me and confiscated the gun. After looking it over and seeing it was a toy, the cop turned to me and said, 'Really? A fucking toy?' As I was being put into the back seat of a cruiser, that's when the guy with the strange look on his face stepped up to the cops saying, 'Yep, that's him, that's the guy that robbed me.'
I was taken to the 83rd Precinct and booked on robbery and possession of a weapon charges. After being processed, I was taken to Central Booking on Gold Street in Downtown Brooklyn to go before the Criminal Court Justice. When I finally went before the judge 6 hours later, he set my bail at $50,000. I had no money and I declined that one phone call I was allowed to make. Who the fuck was I going to call? Mom and Hiawatha? Herbert and Odessa? I was on my own. I had to eat this. After being detained for 10 more hours in a packed cell with all the men who were cold busted, correctional officers starting chaining and cuffing us all up to each other. There I was in cuffs and shackles like the men seen in the movie Shawshank Redemption. Next stop: Rikers Island.
