2:21pm
The #16 Bus stops behind the #2 Bus a good 30 feet behind
the bus stop and opens her door to unload/load. Student and I rush to get to
the door and board. When I get in, Driver aggressively asks for my ID (which is
already out). She then covers the meter so I can’t swipe my pass and tells me
to get in. I sit behind Student on the left side of the bus, directly across
from the rear exit.
Across the isle from me is Shorty. I’m playing Words With
Friends and checking Facebook. I’m not really scoping out my environment, but my earbuds aren't in, so can hear everything. Shorty’s very talkative
without making much sense. He turns to the back of the bus and decides that
Chuckles is a friend he didn’t recognize before and starts taking about
finances. Chuckles laughs it off and tells Shorty he’s not the dude Shorty
thinks he is. Shorty doesn’t stop chattering, asking him where he's stopping and why
he’s on the bus. Angry (we later learn from Chuckles that Angry had boarded
pissed about something and was sitting at the back of the bus fuming) pulls the cord to get off in front of the Commerce Bank on Clayton Blvd. Angry is tall and
cut, with sleeve tattoos. As he exits the rear exit, he bumps into Shorty’s
leg. Just as Angry has one foot off of the bus, Shorty said something like “Excuse
you for running into my leg.” – whatever it was it was a backhanded apology and
Angry took it as such. Angry whirls around stepping back into the bus with a
“What did you say to me?”. Shorty stands up and repeats it. Angry takes another
step back in.
“What did
you say to me!? Do you wanna go?”
Shorty
steps in and does an open handed push at Angry’s face.
Angry goes
to town on Shorty while Shorty presses forward. They both lose their balance
and fall off the bus. Angry’s on his back on the street. Shorty's on top, with his feet still hanging
on the steps. After a few punches, Shorty eventually flails off the bus onto the
street in front of the bus stop.
At this point, Chuckles starts yelling at Driver to close
the door and drive! drive!! DRIVE!!! Driver shuts the door and start the bus
forward, but then Worry, who is in the front on the right side of the bus,
screams at Driver that Shorty leg’s are under the bus. Which is true. From my spot, I can see everything through the closed back door. Driver stops the bus
(it maybe moved 6 inches), then with a scowls at Worry she slowly unbuckles and
get up to check. By the time she gets to the right side of the bus (it’s not
that far, but she seems very put off by Worry) the scuffle has rolled to the sidewalk.
Driver starts barking angrily at Worry. Worry tries to explain, but it’s on
deaf ears as Driver continues yelling at Worry.
Eventually, Angry and Shorty break apart. Angry takes about
ten steps away and then stops waiting for Shorty to act. Both are hurt, but
it’s unclear how badly. Shorty eventually limps across Clayton Blvd toward St. Mary's Hospital and just
keeps
Angry comes back to the scene to pick up some ear buds and a billfold from the
street. In a few minutes the bystanders will buzz questioning if they were his
or Shorty’s.
With Shorty out of the picture, Angry tries to get back on the bus. Driver yells at him through the closed door that that’s not going to
happen. He scowls silently at Driver, and then starts walking up Clayton.
The #16 Bus starts off again, everyone’s buzzing. Student
turns to me and whispers “It must be hard to go through life so angry.” I nod
agreement.
Chuckles is going back and forth on the bus telling everyone
what he thought happened, laughing in disbelief even as he exits.
In about 5 minutes it’s as if it never happened.
I pull the cord and exit at 2:38p.
Intro music by Randall Marsh
