….yesterday, was crossing the street at an intersection with 14th Street. At the light waiting was a black car. A somewhat beat up 4 door sedan. Do not know what originally caught my attention, but what I quickly came to notice was the late teens, early twenties blonde girl in the back seat by the left window. She looked neither drugged nor sad so it wasn’t her facial expression which I continued to try to read when I passed the car again at another spot along 14th Street. It was the configuration of the car’s occupants. A male driver and a male passenger riding shotgun. Not blonde and if I had to make a snap judgement – Eastern European in their late 30’s or early 40’s. In the back seat, two more of the same ethnic background. It was their ages compared to hers and the bravado with which they were navigating the street that caught my eye. Of course my mind went to the question, was she being held against her will? I actually walked beside the car, wanted the men to feel they were observed – probably not a wise choice – but could get no further reading as now she was away from the sidewalk side of the street and I could no longer gauge her. Those moments stay with me a long time.