Anthony - 7/16 Southbound

Last week, I was cozied into my fwd. facing (I prefer fwd to side-facing bc it's too hard on the abs to sit sideways and handle the dc traffic) bus seat, when a middle-aged man started serenading me and took a seat next to mine. Finally he introduced himself and started teasing me about husbands and boyfriends. He told me he had just gotten out of detox and had the hospital-like bracelet to prove it. Eventually he asked where I was headed. I told him I was going to church and asked if he wanted to come along. He said, "sure," and off we went to Calvary...

This guy was a hoot too! He didn't miss a beat.

Eventually I told him about how I'm reading Malcom X' autobiography. I haven't finished it yet, but as of that day, Malcom had already been through a childhood of anguish, a youth of drugs and hustling, spent years in prison, and was a devout Black Muslim (though malcom doesn't like that term, I feel obligated to use it, in light of the story's ending).

I don't know what happened in Anthony's life that landed him in detox, but had I ever met Malcom in his later years, I wouldn't have imagined that he too had spent some time getting clean.

I told Anthony about Malcom and about my Daddy: two men, who have at least some idea of where he's at.