Who's the man now?

PROLOGUE

7:58 am and I have yet to arrive in queens. Oh well it was no use to complain even though I normally strive to be the exception to the stereotype of black people never being on time. I've been busy with work and school for the past 6 days and today should've been my day off but I made a promise to a friend so here I was making a 2 hour trip to queens from brooklyn. As soon as I arrived I could tell he was slightly relieved but still a nervous wreck. He insisted that we should involve the police even though it was not necessary at all. There were no personnel available at the moment anyways and it was too cold to search for one. After awhile I convinced him to just let me handle the situation myself. He may be terrified of this person, but i'm not one to scare easily.

The first step was gaining entrance into the apartment. In order to not look suspicious I disguised myself in a more or less professional appearance. Slacks, button down , peacoat, and a fancy scarf and a matching hat. I gave him my bookbag only taking a notebook, a folder and a pen. I was looking pretty bona fide in my opinion. I was thinking how I can enter when a lady leaving out for work happened to open the front door. I entered and she asked why I was going into the building and I told her for business reasons on the top floor. I reached inside the building and found the door I was looking for. Knocking on the door proved to be unsuccessful and I rung the bell. Finally I hear footsteps approaching. I reached inside my peacoat and switched on my tape recorder. The mother opened the door and asked who I was

ME-"Good morning ma'am. I'm here with important information concerning your daughter"
Mother- "She's sleeping, i'll wake her up. Come in"

I stepped into the cramped apartment and took a look of my surroundings. it appeared peaceful but I was still keeping my guard up. I heard a lot about this girl and after seeing and hearing the evidence firsthand, I knew he really was in a abusive relationship which I honestly felt bad for laughing at him when he first confided in me..but here i am now.  The daughter walked into the kitchen and sat down. It was weird seeing her wearing a necklace, and earrings so early in the morning. If girls wear jewelry to bed, then why does it still take over an hour to get dressed in the morning? Very pretty girl but I know better than to be fooled by looks.  I kept these thoughts to myself as I pretended to write down a few things on the notebook. Meanwhile I apologized for waking the daughter up so early in the morning on such a cold day. Joked with her about the weather and put her in as much ease as possible. After a minute it was time to serve her with the criminal summons. OF course, I just related I needed her to just read and follow the instructions. I thanked the lovely ladies for their cooperation and smoothly but promptly left out. I figured I had a few seconds before they discovered what i just did in...5....4......3.....2............1

Who's the man now?

I was doing my best not to fall asleep in class as I watched my classmates lie lie and lie!!!!!!!!!!!!! For my crime in theater class we were supposed to come up with two outstanding statements about ourselves . 1 truth and 1 lie, and convince the majority of the class to believe that our lie is the true statement. I have to admit that these students were either good liars or the audience was just very gullible.I dunno how I did it but besides 3 people that I was a little iffy on, I was able to discover everyone's lying statement. Take for instance this kid who was currently going. His two statements was that his house burned down when he was 8, and he almost drowned when he was 17. I'm sure this guy had a very traumatic childhood but there was something interesting in the way he responded to questions that made him so hard to read, and the questions people asked him made it much easier to believe in his lie. I could see he was comfortable so I decided to go for the kill. While everyone kept asking him the details of what happened with the fire I asked him where did he stay at after the house burned down. He was not ready to respond to that question and subsequently he lost his two points. At that point other people were reluctant to pick me to ask questions but I was still paying attention to body language and vocal inflections, that helped me discovered what was true and what was questionable. This turned out to be a very fun assignment for me. One classmate commented how cool it is that im able to read people the way I do. Of course I wasn't always good at reading people.

(flashback)
In my old apartment in marboro projects I was hanging out with my friend in the front lobby when this older guy approached me. I was about 13-14 at the time.........

Guy- Yo you got a dime son?
Me- Yeah I have a dime
Guy- *hands me a $20 bill*
Me- (looks confused) I only got 10 cents man why are you giving me a $20?
Friend- He thinks you sell weed
Me- *shoves the $20 back in his hand* i'm not a drug dealer!!

The guy walks away and I look at my friend as she laughs at me
(End flashback)

So needless to say it was definitely a learned technique and I guess all of the private investigation  books, shows and interrogation techniques I studied.....and life experience has only made me better at it. Anywhos the day was a pretty long day. I was in school til 4pm and then I was out doing official business til 7pm. From there on I was riding the train. Even though being back in bensonhurst meant my trips would be over an hour, it was definitely an advantage to me when it came to reading my textbooks and other materials because I don't really have other opportunities to do so, but once again I can't complain. I have my two jobs and my freedom back. As I mentioned before I was back in my hometown. I spend most of my time in the city but the few times im home i'm always hit with nostalgia. I also can't help but run into people I haven't seen in years who always comment about how much I changed throughout the years. I appreciated the love even though I couldn't help but feel the knots in my body whenever I remembered what I endured during the last 3 years. I opened my eyes as I realized my train stopped in Union Square...........ok so maybe not everything in the past three years were bad

 How could I forget about the huge pillow fight that happened last year in april

(Flashback)
April 2011, I arrived in Union Square early in the afternoon. Crowded would be an understatement.  Pillows, feathers, and even bodies were flying all over the place. As soon as I got my hands on a pillow it was game on from there. I attacked everyone in my path and of course I had to get the man in the penguin suit
(End Flashback)

Two days later as I thought back on my conversation with my friend on Christmas, I remembered that we both made a promise to live our lives better.  Today was a good day for me to try and fulfill my promise.. My crime in theater professor had free tickets to an otherwise $100 play called "love loss, and what I wore" Apparently the cast included stars from "gossip girl" and "one life to live" . I figured it would be a chick flick so I figured to treat my friend out since I don't get to see her as much. Of course to avoid any potential issues from her fiance/or husband, whoever he is now, I convinced the professor to give me another ticket to take her friend as well. The play was actually pretty funny and I enjoyed myself, but more importantly I was happy to see the girls enjoy themselves. It seems like they don't really get an opportunity to do this often and I was glad to give it to them. Walking through the city with them we were debating on whether w should get a bite to eat. I checked the time and it was past 10pm. It occurred to me the change in dynamics. I was no longer looking at the time to try and beat my 10pm curfew, but trying to decide if I will have enough sleep to function for the next day. Oh well, I will take my chances. The night is young and the snow has fallen. Wow the city looks amazing tonight...............................