Art for Keeps

%<br >I (:IAMBEi) ~，)1.: i\" of the dirty hole knt)wn as the I.R.T.<br >Subway at the corner of Lexiugton and 77th. Brushed<br >the black satin lapel ()f my tux， pulled my camel s-hair<br >c{)at int{) line and str()tte(I {:)vet- to Park Avenue.<br > The t w(~-way ave~lue was，jalnmed with traffic， no<br >buses of c{)urse， but tl，，e stench was bad at! the same. I<br >got stuck (>n lt~e mall f()r litl(-.， space of one light. The<br >rich wc~ \"e t)()uring ，，)ut (，t ，，heir door-manned inner<br >sanctums， fiitillg tl~ei: g()ltt-lined lungs with the trap<br >we (:all air in New Y，. .)rk.<br > lmntact~l\" \" ，.<br > a~，，. fl(~wers s.，~ f)erfect they looked fake，<br >filled the center ()f the matt. 11 e Park Avenue Asso-<br >ciathm was so damned worried about the looks of<br >their avet~ue， kee，;ing the buildings spotless and the<br >mall decorated， they d f()rgot.ten about the rat popula-<br >tion that livc(i untierneath， it got so bad a few years<br >ag(~ you needed combat boots at night， to cross the<br > malls. Rats swarmed out， scurrying for food. If your<br >ankles got in the way of their teeth， sorry pal.<br > When the light ~.n(，t~.J I sau ~\"( ~ \"~ \"<br > my indifference to ti~e black Rolls， the yellow checker<br > cab， anti the .~no~)ty green Ast.oF~ Martin that had to.<br > wait for me. Park is ()J~e street where the drivers wil<br > wait， provided y()u re ia f()rmal getup. And they sa5<br > Ainerica has no class (listincti(m!<br > TW() YEARS is a h)ng lime to be away fr()m friends.<br > The kind who give a damn whether you re alive<br > or dead. N(，t phonies， iicrb and Linda Ross are that<br > kind of friends， i)e()pte I can count on， a.~ld whc<br > ( an ( (n~nt ()n me. S() }~ere ! was， twelve hours aftel<br >