The Indianapolis Bench

The Indianapolis Bench
Personal Photos

I'm outside waiting for the truck to find its way back to the garage so we can load it up and go to the banquet and as I'm sitting on the bench I see a lady sitting across from me. She's the very picture of a strong black woman. Her braids securely pinned down and held to her head with a mesh hair net. She is a janitor here and began to tell me how she looks like a mess and her husband told her she should be ashamed but she liked her sweatpants and t shirt. I told her comfort is important and I thought she looked beautiful. She went on about her vacation plans and how she planned on wearing dresses everyday and sandals. She even plans to get her toenails done so she can strut all around. "ima take the bus too because I ain't go nowhere to be. Ima enjoy my time off." She hasn't taken off in years because there was no one to cover her shifts but they hired a new girl recently. Then another woman walked up. White with a mullet, she plopped down next to her friend and they both started talking with me. This woman and her husband were just pulled over by a cop who's been bugging them for a while because their truck isn't safe to drive. "howmeye supposta get to work? I live on the west side and this cop was nasty." The other woman replied, "he iddit hafta do that." It felt good to speak with them. Not sure why exactly, but it did.