Chrissy's Manhattan Stories DATE:2/14/98 COMPANY: Elizabeth and Katherine

Elizabeth, Katherine, and I decided that on Saturday we would go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was picked up at around 11:45 a.m. by Elizabeth's dad. He dropped us off at the subway station where we picked up the E train. When the train arrived, Elizabeth jumped up as if the train didn't have any brakes and she alone had to manually stop it. Katherine and I just sat until the train came to a complete stop. Then we all walked onto the train. Katherine and Elizabeth sat down while I stood because there weren't anymore seats near them. I was leaning against the pole talking to them when some panhandler walked onto our car. He was black and was selling copper bracelets. Some other people bought from him, so I figured he would leave onto the next cart. He didn't, instead he said "Excuse me baby." So I leaned forward to let him pass, next thing I knew he was next to me. He asked me if I would like to buy a bracelet and showed it to me. I said no ,but he insisted for me to look at it and hold it, so I did. During this time Katherine and Elizabeth were smirking. I stood there and then gave the bracelet to Katherine. She then passed it to Elizabeth. The man said I had nice hands, I do. Elizabeth decided to buy the bracelet, out of fear or just feeling bad for him, I don't know. I held his lunch which was McDonalds french fries, and Elizabeth held his money. She pulled out two dollars out of her Fag Bag* and handed it to him. That wasn't the end, oh no, why would it be. Before he left he held out his hand for me to place my hand in, in order for him to hold it against his cheek and sigh. He then gathered up his lunch and money to leave our car and go to the next. Probably to tell the next girl she had nice hands, who knows.

We got off at 51 st and walked up to 82 nd st. It was cold and the wind tore through our hair and hissed in our ears. As we were walking Katherine would ask questions that started by like this, "Is it trendy to..." One such one was about two men dressed in long black overcoats, wearing dark glasses and short hair cuts, She said, "Is it trendy to dress as assassins?" There were many strange people, and we were them too. Katherine and I had a skipfit*, skipping down the street past people, leaviIn the museum we walked around looking at Chinese, Indian, and some Egyptian art. We then got hungry and decided to find a place to eat. I said that there was a cheap pizza place around 86 st called MIMI's or MOMO's. We walked to 86 st, but we couldn't find it. We instead found another pizza place, it was also cheap. A slice of pizza was $1.75 and a soda was $1.00. We sat on the second floor near the window and stared at all the weird creatures that passed us. Elizabeth was on a mission to find a pair of flairs for under forty dollars. First was the Levies store, but all the jeans were sixty dollars, the sales girl told us of a place called Wings across the street. We found it and Elizabeth found herself some flairs for thirty dollars. Since we all had to go to the bathroom, we walked back to the museum, but not before finding the original pizza place first (MiMi's on 84st and Lexington). Once again at the museum we looked at the African, Mayan, and European art. ng Elizabeth behind.

When we left, we caught a bus to bring us back to the train station. We took the E train back to Queens, but there was a little problem. A crazy man, probably on drugs and/or alcohol, was sitting across from us. He was bothering the two ladies next to him. When they left he was there talking to himself or to everybody, it depends on how you look at the situation. We just sat there scared to make eye contact and plus the fear that he might go berserk on the train. He was babbling in and out of coherence, his voice loud then barely heard due to the sound of the train. He yelled out "Happy Valentines Day cupid, you fag!" It was time for us to leave, and in good time.

Katherine wanted to buy her mother a card and some flowers before she got home, so we stopped. Our walk down her old neighborhood brought back memories for her and told us of her past. We took one bus to get to the 30, which would bring us all home. Elizabeth forgot to ask for a transfer so she had to find another dollar fifty. The bus passed us, but we waited for the next. It was so cold, and the wind made it worse. When the bus did come we were happy and climbed aboard. It was warm and there weren't seats for all of us, so we stood. Elizabeth's stop was coming up, and of course in true Elizabeth style she got up too early. A man was going to come onto the bus, but Elizabeth made him wait for her, thinking she was getting off the bus. So, she stood there until her stop doing the same thing to another man, making him reach the first step then deciding to charge out. The man who she had earlier fooled smiled at us, as if to say "What's the deal with your friend?" She was gone, and then there were two. Katherine was the next to get off. She left without an incident. I was left, alone with the strangers, but in the same situation as them.

I arrived at Springfield and walked home in the dark cold. It was nice, quite and a reflective moment. Right out side my court spotted a gleam, yes another gold item. This time it was a gold necklace (20 in. Chain). What a perfect ending to a perfect day, to me anyway.