Alignment

Two scenes.

It’s a Wednesday evening in FiDi.

We’re fresh out of a dive bar, and decide to stop at a bookstore.

Princess and I enter the store and split.

I’m down the aisle considering a small-ish title on the history of AI when she calls out to me.

Look! Pemi’s book!

The cashier looks up and smiles. “She’s upstairs.”

Her books are curated upstairs, I think.

He calls out again, “She’s upstairs, signing her books.”

As it turns out, Pemi was indeed upstairs signing her new book, One Leg on Earth. Unimaginable serendipity. Especially for a city like New York.

Fade to black.

Scene two.

We’re in Bushwick with Emy, at the last bar of the night.

The crowd feels very trendy. A handful of Black people.

I’ve just picked up our order of drinks, only to learn that it’s a cash-only establishment.

Princess has a $5 note.

Neither of us has any cards on us, and the bill is $30.

We don’t want to ask anyone.

Emy and I decide to try her credit card.

Usually doesn’t work but we go still.

On the first try, the card fails, but a $20 note glides out of the machine.

It never works again - and in fact didn’t work the first time.

But I have $25 now, so I offer it to the bar.

“It’s what we have.”

In moments like this, I feel my life is perfectly aligned.