Well, El Rio was a bust - the weekly oyster shipment didn't come through. Though it had stopped raining by evening, it seemed to have an impact. Staying in all day, all I had put in my belly was a bowl of Raisin Bran, I didn't reallize how hungry and spaced out I was until I ran into a neighbor at the bus stop. I didn't recognize her - there was this little filter between myself and the rest of the world.

By the time I got to El Rio, I grabbed a bowl of chips and salsa and a beer and headed out to the back patio to chill for a little while. No one went out there except for the occasional smoker. The chips and salsa pulled me back out of my hunger high, and after about twenty minutes, I realized this wouldn't be an ideal lunch.

C & G - broken up but still friends - mentioned they might be stopping by the city, so I went back to my neighborhood to check out my local dive. As soon as I opened the door, I saw T standing at the bar. She looked great. We chatted briefly - I found out later that she was waiting for friends - but for some reason I didn't want to be near her. I was still feeling a little awkward from the last time we hung out. She promised she'd call me, but she never did. I didn't push it any further, so I didn't know where we stood.

C & G weren't around, so I decided to get the hell out of there. Time for a movie! I finally got to see the Matrix, and I was . . . underwhelmed. Too much ambiguous symbolism, not a satisfying conclusion to all the hype. Like I've read so many times before, "there's always Lord of the Rings..." I snuck around to the smoker's alley and took a couple of puffs from a leftover joint my friend J gave me. Man, that stuff was strong! Too bad it didn't make me enjoy the movie more.

Anyway, I thought about eating at Tommy's but I saw a bus and took it as a sign to head back home. I got back to my dive. T and her friends were gone. No one I knew was there, except for D. This guy is bad news. He's a serious gangster, and trouble follows him like a fart cloud. He really needs to be 86'd from this place, the police even took a restraining order on him, but people keep tolerating his b.s. My instincts told me to run the moment I saw him - good to know growing up in East LA could keep my senses sharp, even in my advanced age. Unfortunately, by the time I saw him, I had paid for my drink.

Sure enough, true to form, a fight started within 20 minutes. They were told to take it outside. The bartender kept saying "I knew it...I told you!" Then why did he serve him in the first place?

A, who was supposedly doing security, was nowhere to be found. They told me he was around, but my instincts told me he was long gone. Time to take control. I started turning off lights in the front, shut off the jukebox.

"Give me the keys!" I told one of the bartenders. She reached behind the cash register and handed me a bunch. Fuck, which one was the right one? Luck was on my side - the first one worked. I locked the front door. From the front window I could see two guys starting to fight they got in range and I saw one hook his arm around the other guys head. It's pretty much over, I thought, just have to wait out the beating. Someone banged on the front door. I don't think it was any of the combatants. More banging.

There were some white folks sharing a pitcher of margaritas by the window. They didn't know there would be drinks and a show! Well, they wanted to hang in the Mission! The bartender gave me a shot as a thank you. I walked to the other side of the bar, ordered some food, and finally had some dinner. Just another night.

Honestly, this is not going to end until bullets go flying inside the bar. I mean, someone was shot a week or so ago, people have been stabbed, beaten, I even saw a guy get runover by a car half a block away. How much more evidence do they need to know that these guys are bad news?

Anyway, off to the SPCA. I need to share some love with the kitties. I have way too many bar napkins on my desk with phone numbers, and no names! I think I need to start some kind of filing system.....it's just a question of finding the one that counts....there it is... T.

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