A New York Fable

Today would be different. We would argue about something else. Suzanne told me she would meet me by the bus stop on 5th and Broadway. I took it she meant by Madison Square, where Broadway cuts across Fifth Avenue. It had to be. And so I didn’t bother clarifying before signing off. East and West Fourth Street is divided by Broadway, and one block north is Washington Place. East Fifth Street doesn’t reach Broadway and there is no West Fifth Street in Manhattan. Am I right or what?
Guess where she waited for me.
I ran into the kid with the red cap who will do a favor if I pay him enough, walking down Broadway, and asked him if he spotted Suzanne down by the park to ring me on my cell phone, but by no means to tell her he’d seen me.
That kid is like a character from one of the fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. I guess I didn’t pay him enough, however, because he took on the role of the ravening wolf. He charged her double and made me look stupid.
Later, when we finally did hook up, Suzanne said she was in desperate need of a drink because all she could taste was dust in her mouth from the park. I told her dinner was free for my misunderstanding. You see, I really don’t like to argue with her.
She said she couldn’t be bought off that easily, and returned the key to my apartment. I was left feeling hollow and empty, but certainly not hungry enough to have dinner alone.
Jacob and Wilhelm were a big influence on my early writing, and I guess I have trusted too much in their words. That kid is immoral, though, and I should have boned up on Aesop. I would avoid suppositions, and rarely have to eat by myself.
Milady downed her gin and tonic all too quickly, then went off with some friends, and I walked through Washington Square Park wondering how I could ever believe fairy tales could happen in New York City.