The sun glinted off the windows of the building, the long rectangular panes reflecting the light, baking the street pavement below. Onto this pavement rolled a black Cadillac SUV. Heavy bass beats shook the vehicle, the driver bobbing his head to the electric sound of the song. His arm stuck out the window, a cigarette sticking out from between two meaty fingers. He flicks the thing onto the sidewalk and makes a turn at the stoplight ahead into a fenced-in parking lot.
On the curb stands a man holding a cardboard sign. He wears a green flannel jacket and white shirt, stained with sweat. His thin, overgrown hair clings to his forehead. His shorts hang loose from his belt, his shoes worn to their limits. The shiny Cadillac pulls up to him, the passenger window rolls down.
"Ey, how much you want for parking?" The driver asks, jerking his chin at the half-full parking lot.
"Fifteen dollars, sir," the man replies somberly. He holds out a shaky hand.
"Fifteen dollars? Nah man, it ain't no fifteen dollars, that lot up there said ten. I'll give you five." The driver hands him a crumpled five dollar bill and enters the lot. The man lays down the cardboard sign so he can fit the money into his jacket pocket. He is about the pick up the sign again when he hears a whistle and looks to his left.
Up ahead a police officer can be seen on the opposite street, his patrol car is parked on the side of the road a ways off. He is speaking to a few drifters laying on the sidewalk. One of them gets up to leave. The officer is pointing at the other two to do the same.
The man folds up his sign and steps back. With a glance around, he walks into the lot, lost amidst the shiny metallic blur of cars.
The officer leaves after a while. From his hiding place, the man with the sign sees a group of three or four middle-aged men and women walk by. They lean in as one of the men begins to tell some sort of story or joke. The drifters are gone and the group crosses the street at the crosswalk. Their shiny black shoes reflect the light from the windowpanes of the building. The man delivers the punchline as they enter the building, and the man in the parking lot picks up his sign again just as he hears the group's laughter fade away.
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