2001-09-13 || 1:05 p.m.

|| evacuation ||

we were evacuated for two and a half hours because of a 'suspicious package' in the alley way. there were police cars and yellow tape and the street choked up with cars, oblivious. there were rumors and 'bomb squad' and clipboards and looking at watches.

we are sitting in a cafe talking to san diego friends who have randomly ended up on this block. we are talking about latin classes and rent around here and mutual friends. we are talking quietly. we are keeping our coats on. we are looking out doorways to see if things have cleared yet.

now we have drunk too much coffee and are playing gin rummy. we are not talking about her boyfriend being stuck in boston because he was to be on the flight after. we are not talking about her dad who works in the pentagon but is stuck in japan. we are talking about three of a kind and royal flushes and the way her iced coffee has made her jittery and nervous and unsettled.

'suspicious package' = like a puzzle box, which took fourteen uniformed officers and two hours to decode, the treasure inside revealed to be homeless man belongings sealed up in a cardboard box, nothing explosive, nothing evil, stowed away in the alley, in the same place it has been stowed away for months now.

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