So I’m walking home from the subway last night around 10:30pm.. It’s not horribly late considering any night I’m out with Donny I usually am walking home in daylight in the wee hours of the morning, but I had to work early the next morning so responsibility it is…

I’m walking with my headphones on… (not what people recommend when walking at night, but this serves as a tool I have put to good use when pretending to not hear the obnoxious hoots and hollers that, if acknowledged, will inevitably serve as an unintentional invite giving me a companion the rest of the way home…) As I turn the corner at 139th, I sense someone seriously invade my space to my direct left… I ignore the guy and keep walking, but he continues to walk directly at my side. Anyone seeing us could only assume we were walking together… I slowed my pace allowing him to walk past, but he stays at my side. This is when he starts yelling random things out to no one which acts as my cue to pick up the pace… As I start to speed up, I feel a tap on my shoulder.. "Slow down… slow down"… He says… but he did not try to talk to me…. He just kept walking along side of me…. I am now intrigued… I can’t help but smile as I take out my earphones…

"Did you just need a walking companion tonight?" I ask…

"Nah… I’m the security escort." He states matter of factly as if it was just understood…

"…… Thank you…" I say with a smile….

As we walk the several blocks back to my apartment, it turns out this gentleman was just released from prison for doing about 3 years for something… Still not clear what… He did mention "cops shooting up" at him, so I can’t imagine it was for anything good…. He was starting up projects for young adults in Harlem to channel his energy to create positive results. I congratulated him for his recent release and wished him luck on his future endeavors… We reach my apartment and say goodbye… I’m thinking to myself as I walk up my front steps… Wow, that’s really awesome, but then my thoughts are interrupted one more time…

"Man, I did just get out an all… You wouldn’t happen to have a dime on you?"

"Umm… Nope… Sorry…"

Hmm…. Well, I hope everything he’s planning on works out for him… And I also hope he doesn’t have regularly scheduled piss tests to screw everything up…..

God I love New York.