Underpass

I heard screaming as I returned to work from lunch today. A child, a girl I think. I was at the back end of the Reunion parking lot. I've certainly had a number of encounters with thugs and mad homeless guys back there. And it's where someone broke into Kelli's car.

It took a moment for me to realize what it was. I couldn't tell if it was play screaming or the real deal, but I couldn't just walk away. I descended the grassy slope to the street. The levels change drastically there, as an underpass cuts under a rail line.

Standing at the top of the underpass stairs, staring down at something around the corner from me, was a homeless guy, bag of booze at his feet. Just staring, motionless. I began to wonder if the scream had come from the direction he was staring. I wondered if something awful was happening, and he was watching. I walked down the slope to the underpass, a place I don't even like to drive because of all the creeps I see under there. It was caked with a couple inches of pigeon guano the whole way. I got to the place the homeless guy was eyeballing and--nothing. Nothing was there.

I wanted to yell, "Hey rummy, what the hell are you staring at? Is someone screaming around here?" He didn't look like he'd respond to much anyway.

I walked another 100 yards, up the backside of the underpass and to the hotel. Nothing. No people, no screams.

Maybe it was nothing. A tent is set up across the street in another Reunion Arena parking lot, close to the building, and maybe something for kids is going on in there. Maybe they were playing.

I got back to where I'd started and the homeless guy had turned around 180 degrees, staring the same way at the backside of the train station.

I hope it was nothing.