Topical Guide 556
Mark Dorset
City Life
Reservations Recommended, Chapter 7:
Recalling the instruction of one of his badgering gym coaches, he glances at the chunk, adjusts his grip, draws a breath, takes a stance, coolly, planting his feet. The cab pulls into view, moving slowly, dodging potholes. He winds up and throws. The chunk strikes the driver’s window squarely and smashes it instantaneously, the glass bursting into the bright pebbles Matthew sees in the gutters every morning after the nighttime radio harvest.
Lou Reed, “High in the City”:
I got the time I got my feet
Let’s go hit the street
High in the city […]
I got my mace and you got your knife
You gotta protect your own life […]
Watch out for that guy on your right
Seen him on the news last Saturday night […]
Hey, look they’re setting fire to that jeep
There’s not much you can keep
High in the city (high, high, high, high in the city) […]
Tools, Multi-Purpose: Jack Handle
Reservations Recommended, Chapter 7:
The driver reaches into the cab, grabs from the floor the jack handle he keeps under his seat, turns, and runs toward Matthew, brandishing it.
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