Sunday, August 3, 2008

Day One July 15, 2008

My first day in New York began as one of those days you don’t ever ever ever want to repeat. Ever. One of those days where you want to go back to sleep, wake up and hope something has changed. Sort of like Groundhog Day in reverse. To understand why it began so badly I have to give the backdrop.

For the past four days I was living the life of luxury. I booked a gig as a Dancer and Model for Clairol and was flown to Vegas. It was wonderful. They put us up in the Bellagio which is a gorgeous hotel, especially if you’ve never been to Vegas. It was hot as heck there but I would soon find that there was a heat that was much worse. I’m getting ahead of myself. So I had this wonderful time in Vegas. Got a makeover. Oh yeah my hair is now cut asymmetrically with red highlights. Looks pretty hot!!! Anyway, I fly back into LAX to wait four hours for my plane to New York to depart. Even that couldn’t dampen my spirits. It was a red eye flight meaning I would step off the plane funky. I was so excited to fly Virgin America because it had all these cool amenities, but the only thing I got to see were my eyelids blinking.

So Jaime and I arrive in New York tired and funky and a little out of sorts, but ok overall. We take a super shuttle to the apartment because there was no way we were braving the subway with our entire luggage. We arrive at our apartment on the fifth floor, open the door and my mind cussed. Not cussed like the little signals and signs but literally cussed.

Ok, so we are expecting to walk into an empty, clean apartment. Instead we walk into an apartment that looks like crap. Boxes everywhere. Dirty. I mean it was bad. Ok it may have not been terrible, but factor in the fact that we are exhausted and just want to take a shower and sleep and the state of the current apartment doesn’t allow us to do either. So we do what we know to do. Cry. We cried and cried and cried. And maybe you don’t understand why we were crying but it was just a lot. We just moved our entire life and it now looked like we didn’t have a place to lay our head that night. And we were dirty. Not to mention it was my birthday. This is how my 25th birthday started. So I called my mom…and cried. She cussed…and cried. It was a lot. But the day would look up…

To calm us down we decided to go get something to eat at Amy Ruth’s, a bootleg version of Roscoe’s Chicken N Waffles. We looked like two homeless transients. That’s probably an oxymoron but hey that’s how I felt. Jaime had a backpack on and this dang money mug (a coffee mug that holds a wad of money in a Ziploc) and I was walking down the streets of Harlem with a rolling suitcase. We were screaming “Rob us, please rob us.” So we eat. There was a table of men next to us that were seated as we were leaving. They struck up a conversation, so we chatted. We made jokes about needing someone to buff our hardwood floors and what do you know? One guy at the table was an electrician and the other two were general contractors. One of the guys was particularly nice, found out it was my birthday and wanted to take us to dinner. I honestly think he felt bad for us. We looked absolutely terrible. Now I know what you’re thinking. Don’t do it…this is crazy…they could be murderers…don’t do it…No!!!! So what do you think we did? Yep, we went. So let’s just skip to that portion of the day. Just know that at some point we did take the subway to Brooklyn (to Jaime’s friend’s house) and showered and napped…

So, we will just call this dude The Mayor of New York. Mayor for short. So we meet the mayor at Starbucks and he takes us to this really really nice restaurant downtown that one of his partners own. No not partner like a homie, but a business partner. Oh did I mention The Mayor has helped built a lot of Harlem, owns a few clubs and restaurants. Now just think about it. Our first meal in New York this is who we meet. Coincidence? I think not. So we think we are just going to a normal restaurant to eat. Oh no. We walked down two flights of stairs, through the kitchen and behind a red curtain into the wine cellar. That’s where we ate. A wine cellar with Russell Simmons at the table next to us. Not that I’m star struck but this is our first day in New York ya’ll. So they’re falling all over The Mayor taking his order. He ordered for us, but let’s just say that every mammal that ever existed was on that table. Duck, cow, pig, chicken, shrimp, fish, possum, chipmunk, Mongolian wolf chicken, everything. I mean it was good. Good. Some awesome food. We ate, chatted and went to sleep. We slept at Auntie Rae’s house and we were safe. If all that happened in one day then New York was going to be an interesting place. Until next time.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I am glad that things looked better at the end of the beginning. So glad you made it safe and I can only imagine... (hey sounds like a song i know!) the adventures that lie ahead.

PrecisionAligns said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PrecisionAligns said...

This is hecksa funni...especially you and Jaime screaming out "Rob us NOW!!" Don't find it a surprise to be sitting next to people in high places..;)wink

miss u
t

Marcell said...

Sounds like you made a good connect. The mayor might be the one who knows a famous dancer or two. I'm sorry the beginning was so rough but remember, trouble don't last always. Keep your head up. Love you guys.