Teddy Bear

After the after school program finished on Tuesday, I walked around downtown for a while, deep in thought, and I heard a voice from the side of the sidewalk ask me, "is that a guitar?" pointing to the little travelers guitar I had over my shoulder. I turned, smiled and began a conversation with this elderly black man who had three or four cigarette packs neatly displayed on a handkerchief in front of him. As we talked about four or five people interupted our conversation to ask him for something, and he would either sell them a cigarette for 25 cents or deny them their request. The street was kind of noisy, so I couldn't hear everything that was said, but I gathered that he also sold other drugs besides nicotine, but didn't want to sell them with me around. He soon introduced himself as "Teddy bear" and proceeded to lift up his shirt and reveal a bright blue teddy bear hiding in his pocket. When I offered to let him play my guitar, he was surprised and exceptionally grateful, saying something to the effect that this was the nicest thing someone had done for him in a while. He offered a seat next to him by laying out a folded up towel for me to sit on, and I sat next to him and chatted while he idly played some blues licks. He seemed to have a good amount of skill from accumulated years of experience, yet it also seemed as though it had been a while since he had a guitar in his hands. Although it was very hard for me to understand what he was saying, he seemed to be spiritually attentive, and was concerned for my safety on the streets. When I got a call from a friend I was planning on hanging out with, I bid him farewell, and we both promised that we'd see eachother again.