Yo Quiero...

A solo Taco Bell run on a Monday night.

Drove by what looked like a fog bank on NE 82nd Avenue; turned out to be a trash can on fire, pluming white smoke into atmospheric river pouring down. The only other diner when I'm waiting for my order is a guy huddled in a corner, large backpack with presumably all his earthly possessions within. Desert camo pants, work boots.

They traded the cashiers for two touch screen kiosks, but kept the soda machines with four varieties of Mountain Dew. $5 gets you a surprising amount of calories. Another $1.60 gets you chips and guac.

I got in before the dining room closed for the night (the drive through never sleeps). A store manager turns away a straggler at the door, then orchestrates a changing of the guard, one shift leaving with what could be a family member tagging along for comped food. From the kitchen I hear what sounds like a Cumbia interpretation of The Godfather theme. The guy in the camo pants leaves with a boxful of something that he got from the staff.

We are minor figures in a Hopper painting, plus and minus a few chromosomes.

I walk back to the car, the wet windows as mirrors, eyes in the back of the head. You can make a left turn onto 82nd without thinking at this time of the day. I suppose you can do that any time, really. No threat of getting T-boned now, no waiting. Even the stop lights hurry you along.

I stop by the Safeway on the way home, picking up oatmeal and bread for tomorrow's breakfast. They're open for almost another two hours, but the trolleys for restocking are already queuing in the aisles. The self-checkout are shut down for the night; choose one of two lanes and get a paper receipt from an actual human.

Someone was shot to death in that parking lot last year, breaking into a van that was someone else's home. I bought California rolls for dinner that day and saw the sheet-covered figure on the ground. A nod exchanged with the security guard on the way out.

Navigate by sound and shadow, get in the car and hit the power lock as soon as the door shuts, complete the orbit back to the house.