On Bank Street
Narratives of the 'War on Drugs'....from the inside.
In the line, the same guys are in the line with me, many days. I realize we must be the working crowd, working all day to collect what money we can to blow it in the window of this abandoned house, bought by an abandoned heart, to sell happiness to abandoned people.
Left out from home, dialed the number.
*“Trap” Number: Yo.
Me: This is Jordan, I’m on my way.
“Trap” Number: Alright, 2830. Come through the back.
2830 is the address. They own the whole block and would change house when they felt it was getting hot. This would turn out to be a silly move since we had ALL been photographed coming out of every house. The FBI was choosing not to bust in. They were collecting evidence.
Back to the line
This line carries the least judgement of any line anywhere. The people in line, noses hanging to the ground, heads and hearts there too. Dying to get fixed. And the world to be ok. A strange girl shows up, her name is Denise, God rest with her soul. She was a frequent flyer, like the rest of us.
She shows up in line and asks everyone for $5.
Denise: Do you got $5? Do you got $5?
I couldn’t believe she would come to the line, how odd, before she got the money. I gather money all day so I can come to the line, she’s gathering money in the line. And $5!? That means she came with nothing. After all, $5 is the minimum to get fixed and surely if you felt better already you wouldn’t be begging for help, in the most hopeless line in the world. But someone bites, I can’t believe it. Then I realize, she’s the smart one, not me. She’s doing it because it works.
Then I wonder what does that guy do for a living. I see him everyday, the “window people” know him by name. They don’t even call me by name most of the time and I’ve been in this line since there wasn’t a line. Just a 23-year-old kid, same age as me, with a gram bag of something in high demand. Chasing a dream. Like the dog that catches the tire he’s chasing. He won’t hug his children, who were born into this mess, until 2030.
I was thinking of asking him, and someone beat me to it, “what kinda work are you in?” He tells him, “I own my own business, I build houses” This I’m surprised by, it seems crazy and unattainable for anyone in this line.
Now it’s my turn, my attention is redirected, and I’m left to wonder. Until another day, What DOES that guy do? Is it something I’m capable of?
Window: Waddya need?
There’s a curtain on the window, they can’t see me, I can’t see them.
Me: I need 4 points of H, 2 points of clear.
I slip the money under the curtain. And he passes the merchandise back to me.
Window: Who’s next? There anyone else out there?
Me: Yep, a whole line of em. Be back later, or tomorrow.
Window: Ok bro, just hit the number.
They were more pleasant this time. Sometimes Stevens “flunkies” can be real assholes. Didn’t call me by name though.
*Something not previously known by me before encountering this ‘operation’ and throwing 5-years into it. There will be lots of these footnotes I’ll include at the bottom. It’s called a ‘Trap’ or ‘Trap house’ because it is a trap. Every single day, you never know which one will be the last. These places ALWAYS get busted eventually. There was so many time I seen something on the way in and had to hop fences to keep from going out the same way. I want to tell all these stories here.
This is the introduction, I’m going to try to write one of these every couple days. Just short stories about this mess. I’m trying my best not to glorify but, every story wasn’t a nightmare. That’s just true. However, overall, these truly were the worst of times. I’m very lucky to have made it out. As of now most of my family was lost to this. Generation after generation. Only one-out-of-five of my siblings made it out, I think. I have no source info. If I do I’ll provide it. This was just the things I noticed, during a 17-year battle for my life. There was a lot of great stories in that battle, and things I noticed. I’m going to try to tell them here. Please feel free to discuss. Thanks for reading.
Oh, wow. You are so brave. Thank you for sharing.