The art of Kevin Blythe Sampson

THE ART OF
KEVIN BLYTHE SAMPSON

8/8/09

a repost of old retired cop war stories.........catching a junkie

I had just got up,

I had been working, painting all night

So I decided to stagger across the street to get a coffee or one of

the energy drinks.

I look across the street and the my Ecuadorian neighbor is in his window

photographing a guy who just came out the front door of his house.

anyway,

their is a key shop across the street where all kids of guys, middle

aged hangout

I go over there often Italians, Puerto Ricans and Portuguese mostly, 30

to 70 years old guys, drinking fishing, hunting, kind of guys.

The junkie comes out of the house next door to it and is carrying a bag

of something .

I see him leave the house.

One of the guys in the key shop says get him

and we all start running.

No,

let me stop here for a moment........

I have at least least 60 year old body age,

I smoke, drink ten cups of coffee a day.

I hate shoe laces, nothing annoys me more than having to stop and find a

suitable object (one low enough) to put my foot on

and not high enough

to have to stretch any under used muscles......

I have taken to buying sneakers and shoes with out shoe laces

so I don't

have to bend over,

not that I could anyway.

The last time I ran was back in about 1980 the big hair days.

When was listening to Kenny loggins, sing and Neil sedaca belt out

"bad Luck" my favorite song when ,

and donna summer was on her last

leg..

when disco turned sour.....

Ok

so I take to running with the pack,

the other fat old men after two blocks or so

stop running and fall into a sort of stagger lunge motion,

hands akimbo,

panting forward.

kind of like Fred Sanford yelling out for Elizabeth.

you know exactly what I mean

any person of color has either seen or done

the Fred Sanford dance

at least one in their life.

The younger guys,

Puerto Rican’s shoot past us and catch the guy,

junkie

at the three block mark.

Let me stop here, t

these are really really long blocks

I have to make

this clear in defense of my whining

We stagger along

reaching the pack of two young guys now fighting with the junkie in the

middle of the highway.

A crowded high way backed up with road construction,

full of young white

females locked in their cars,

munching lunch time V8 cocktails..

you could see in their faces

the wish to find a job closer to their homes

in the suburbs......

The young guys,

"youth is wasted on the young" catch him...

But

They cant get him to the ground.

My police man takes over.

I get a breath of life adrenaline rushing.

I kick his legs out and put a arm lock on him

almost breaking his arm.

ooooppppppps.

he yells can you believe it, I quit, I quit.

I yell I should kill you

for making my fat ass run

I am laughing and smiling

and everyone around me thinks

I might be sick

including the young guys,

who fight a different way now,

mostly through

video games and wishful thinking

while watching mtv raps.....

where was I

two black female cops pull up

and look down at me sitting on this guys back

I start laughing they start laughing.

Cop humor

only another cop would understand....

they put the now subdued guy in the back of the police cruiser and

return to the scene.

I think I crushed him he will never be the same

everyone forgets about me

me.....left three blocks from home a hero,

no one cares

my leggs hurt

my arms hurt

my face hurts

my ass hurts and

no one cares

yup let to walk all the way back

those three long blocks

wish I was

who was that cop on television

how could throw that nightstick

and take you down

ok forget about it

anyway

I have to walk back to the house

sweating grunting.

moaning

I didn't even have a coffee or cigarette. T

hanks god my oppressors

chose

to remove me from the homeland,

Africa

If I didn’t have

coffee or donuts

and a newspaper

I would simply die...

Anyway

the whole neighborhood came out to cheer,

this is the truth.

The cops were impressed.

I took a aspirin,

for the chest pains

I am sure would come.

I have had anthrax at least twice last week.

You know I am a hypo

I just realized that I

do still have a butt

or at least a few muscles

that use to make up one.

Because it hurts

Hey what happens to the butt when you age,

ok another topic.

anyway,

I proved at least one thing,

I am still mean......

ok now I will have the coffees

and a donut

and remember

why I left the

police force.

a day in the life

of a fat black man

locked into a life of servitude

with a multiplicity of children

and baggage of lost loves and bad life decisions.......

a man who gets his joy

from chasing junkies and

attempting humorous stories

about his exploits

stories which are more often

than not

lost on others....

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