She’s on the platform at the G line with Miriam and Cody. Miriam has a scruffy little dog named Boss Tanaka and Cody=Music. They play world music, flying through Spanish howls a la Miriam and they play country-bluegrass with banjo twanging a la Cody.
Katherine emits sharp pecks of notes and scales of range from her throat. Combined with the leopard print lampshade on her head, she helps to form a complete image of fringe culture itinerary. My bohemian girlfriend from San Francisco came to New York with dreams of busking. Singing and playing music on the streets and subways was all she wanted to do during her 4-month stint here. Instead she got an internship at NYU and a job…New York can really squeeze you, sometimes.
The thing with busking, fortunately, is that sometimes people drop some money. A man with a guitar case places some change in the floppy hat on the ground. Another girl nervously lets two dollar bills fall to the ground before taking some precious photos.
A young guy leaning against his guitar case puts his book away in order to enjoy this performance unadulterated. His stringy yellow hair frays as the train approaches. With no rush, he transfers a dollar from his pocket to the hat. His book, The Power of Now, leans out his pocket. Katherine is reading the same book.
Exiting the train, the artistically inclined hipsters jumble with the young Black and Hispanic families and the transfer occurs on this small half-green platform. The train departs and the hordes charge towards the stairs, past the music. A man’s voice bellow’s “Get a job!” but it comes from an unshaven, jovial young face. A wooden block on the ground in front of Cody’s foot quietly proclaims the bands’ name: Freedom Ticklers.
