I was biking home after getting some business done on the other side of town when I looked up to notice a sign that was more than somewhat ominous . Up in the sky , about all the pigeons , most of the seagulls and even a few of the hawks from MacArthur Park were up circling and crooning in the afternoon day sun . There had to be at least 150 birds in the air . Either this was the end , and the birds were starting some sort of final resistance , or some serious beef went down over in MacArthur Park .
Now , MacArthur Park is a good place to take a nap or make a speech . It used to be known for its entrepreneurial spirit . In the nineties many cutthroat businessmen fought over its well-vaunted corners and benches . They sold narcotics to the populous and business was a straight boom . However , the aggressive gun-slinging tactics of some of the more industrious members of its companies , led to Jimmy the Law banning the area from illicit entrepreneurialism . Although some groups of the Central American origin run thriving businesses in the area , for the most part its internationally known days of gun slinging are said to be far and away in the violent years of long ago .
So , how was it that the birds were in the sky ? You can make a bird fly with just about anything . A stick . A rock . A yell . A leaf blower could get a good many of them in the air . But outside an army of cats , the only thing that could fuel a mass exodus was gun-slinging . But by whom ? And for what ? To say the least I was intrigued . Now , I may not be the most bravest mook in the world , but I ’ m sure as hell not the most cowardly . And when there ’ s beef , I usually make the decision to run towards it rather than away . Decisions that have led to some very awkward situations indeed . But this time I was sure most of the beef had transpired . The birds were yapping up on high for many minutes . Beef , when it happens , is usually over in a matter of seconds .
So I went over to where the birds hovered and into MacArthur Park . The place was just swarming with Jimmy The Law . Black and whites all over with their sirens all flashing cherry red . Some of them even came up on the walkways in the park and left track marks on the soccer fields . There was a patrol car crawling through the tunnel that runs under Wilshire Boulevard and separates the park east and west . A few were even blocking up Alvarado . And a few cops on foot with dogs were by the murky lake where , it ’ s said by the old timers , undiscovered bodies from the money-making nineties have yet to surface .
I get up to the heat of the action on the corner of Alvarado and Wilshire and stood with a group behind a big yellow tape . Everyone who worked and lived around the area gave up their positions selling hot dogs and orange fruits or bootleg DVDs or used electronics and stood gaping behind the yellow line .
65 THE CONE - ISSUE # 15 - 2018