XCVI. Captain D’s. February 4, 2022
>driving Lyft
>stop for lunch at Captain D’s
>the car in front of me turns the wrong way down an access road
>just as another car turns down the road in the correct way
>Symplegades ahoy
>there is much grinding and screeching
>I park at a suitable distance
>eat my fish
>watch the show
>I make sure to wave whenever anyone looks at me
>four college-aged Black girls pour out of the wrong-way car
>almost immediately two more cars pull up, out of which pour an equal number of college-aged Black girls
>this makes an even dozen now milling about in the parking lot
>nobody seems to be mad
>one girl is crying, one is consoling her
>two or three examine the cars and talk about how fucked up it all is
>one girl calls the cops
>most are recording everything
>I never see the driver of the correct-way car
>I watch a couple of the girls attempt communication with whoever it is
>but the heavily tinted windows stay up
>the passenger, a middle-aged white lady, gets out exactly once
>makes a beeline into the smokeshop next door
>buys a bunch of stuff
>and gets back in the car
>all of a sudden
>a white Chevy Tahoe attempts a correct turn into Captain D’s
>only to be prevented by the mingled cars
>one of the girls laughs and says “uuup, can’t get no fish today, bitch”
>the Tahoe window rolls down
>large Black woman leans out and yells “Who the fuck you callin bitch, you skanky ho?”
>…
>once my uncle told me a story about snorkeling in the Keys
>he said he once saw a school of barracudas all turn at once and stare at him
>as if by some secret signal, some shared desire to tear and destroy
>…
>so turn and so stare the ladies in the Captain D’s parking lot
>for the briefest of seconds there is quiet
>and then there is uproar
>the dread Furies descend upon the Tahoe with the foulest of oaths
>the Cyclops rises to meet her harriers, and would have done so with much relish
>but her driver makes the best choice and peels away down Orange Avenue
>that noise was enough to bring the workers out of Captain D’s
>I say they should hang out
>because this is better than a movie
>so we all watch until the cop shows up