Mean Streets of Ellinger

Ours was a situation not much different from, say, a long-distanced relationship by that hopeful girl still in high school and the anxious college freshman away for that first time. Tenative, but optimistic. Of course, we weren't exactly sweating about cheating on one another; we were too busy planning on conquering the invading horde of terrorists and ninjas.

Now that's something I remember with an almost guilty smirk. Ninjas were some really cool shit. Yeah, I said that. That's how cool they were. In fact, I remember Kris having a pair of ninja boots (do you still, bro?) and matching socks. Had to, as the boots had a split toe on them. Later, he even procured an actual katana. Maybe it was a small one, but it was a blade nonetheless. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow from G.I.Joes were the coolest of characters from the series. American Ninja and Revenge of the Ninja were favorites movies to watch all the time. Always, our kung fu was stronger.

While Kris did on occasion visit Columbus and Bellville, it just seemed that visiting him was easier. His house wasn't large, but he had a decent yard. Best of all? The streets of Ellinger lacked the purveyors of justice already found in Columbus: armed and eager to right the wrongs of the world heroes. We, of course, never thought of ourselves as heroes. We were simply charged with going out like good soldiers and taking out the trash that existed in our Rambo-fueled minds.

Most of the time, we could just walk out the door at dark-thirty and meander about, avoiding the glare of headlights and neighbors alike, the occasional dog or two, and that quick stop to try (but never quite succeed) at pilfering the soda machine. Good thing was we never broke it; just never did get that free Pepsi. We would stroll until the moon was directly above, or until about 10:30, which ever came first. I can't remember shooting out streetlights (or not) with the BB gun we sometimes carried with us.

Ah, the streets were never more safe. Until we felt that itching to play a song.

Next time: A Concert for All