North Side Alley Tour.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Sundays

This story has no completely accurate time line as I'm just remembering the highlights of the fun this alley has provided or us over the last ten years. Well, Patch had set the tone for our alley, but this was short lived as he moved out only weeks after our arrival. The next neighbors that I remember was the family directly behind us. Demetrius, a giant prison muscled man, and clan straight up from Chicago. I'm a Chicago native and moved here for the same reasons as most transplants, better living conditions, less crime, better jobs, less traffic etc.. Well "Big D" had a teen daughter living with him who's baby daddy shacked up there also. Baby Daddy had a problem, He loved to steel, and made no bones about helping himself to bikes, tires, rims, batteries, and audio equipment form the locals. First time I witnessed him (BD) in action was as my Sierra Leone neighbor Sharif caught him along side his abode helping himself to a few new tires and a bike or two. Sharif would collect items and load shipping containers to ship back home, an enterprising guy. Sharif was well educated in Moscow and seemed a genital soul, his family was great. His two boys ran track and cross country and was fun to watch them kick by the house at full speed. Quite different than Demetrius's clan. It was a beautiful spring day, people had there windows open and the neighborhood was alive, you can feel somthing in the air. About 1:30 PM I see Baby Daddy running into his house and hear some really load screaming coming from Sharif's home. Sharif was screaming at the top of his lungs a diatribe about how African Americans in general sucked. I went down to see what was going on, should I call the police ? When I got to Sharif's, there were traps that he cover stuff he couldn't fit into his garage, were pulled back and Sharif is screaming and ranting. It is hard to describe what it is like to have someone go that ballistic, it would have been funny seen from a video. Later that day I went over and asked BD what's up. He told me that he thought it was for free and what was the big deal the stuff was garbage anyway. I pretty sure I lost, a car, two Batteries and a car audio system to BD.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

The Alley Story

First days of the alley.

One of my reasons to tour our local alleys is to document their conditions for future reference. The ally behind our home has been the scene of many dramatic events. The first time I ever drove thu my alley was in the days before we put down our earnest money on the dump. I took the time to come by several times at different hours and park and observe the neighborhood. There was no drug slinging on the block and it seemed pretty calm for the location, it was late January early February 2003. The day before we bought the house I was cruising up the alley only to be stared down by "Patch", A one eyed thugster. I exchanged the prison yard stare back at "Patch" and he not liking my disrespect. This was His turf and who the heck was this insolent white boy. I tried not to make too much of this single encounter and as Becky needed to purchase a house, I didn't make any fuss. The morning after the closing Becky called to tell me the back door was kicked in. The police came and checked the place out and recommended getting a mutt. Nice welcome to the hood, all I could think of was Patch was marking his territory. As we moved in that weekend, after replacing the door with a reverse swing, I noticed Patch glaring over at us when ever we were in the alley. This alley was his, not some new guy's. Much to Becky's dismay, I asked Her please don't use the alley, park in front as you can see around yourself as you get in and out of your car. She was not happy but as we had lived on the North Side before she complied with my wishes.