Three blocks away from the downtown section, he was forced to leave the car behind and walk. He was not familiar with Rochester at all, but wound through the streets and eventually found his way into the heart of the city.
A smile lit his face as he rounded the corner of a large building, and saw a group of several hundred people gathered in front of another building just a few blocks down. Other groups stood nearby, some large, some small. Ira picked up his step as he walked down the street towards them.
- 2 -
It was close to nightfall by the time Ira had found his way into the city. The overhead street lights were already glowing dimly and the sky was beginning to darken. The rain had stopped, and although the Streets were still slightly wet, the heat was already beginning to suck up the moisture. Several people turned to look as Ira walked towards them, but none greeted him as he walked along the street. He limped slightly as he walked.
The street sign proclaimed this as Broad Street, and he could see a small bridge ahead of him. Beyond the bridge the Street ended at a stop sign. A much larger street, which he discovered when he reached it was Exchange Boulevard, rolled away in both directions. He rested at the stop sign, looked to the left and then to the right.
To the left there were small groups of people, all walking towards him, and when he looked to the right he understood why. His walking had brought him in at the back of the War Memorial building.
The side that faced Exchange Boulevard was crowded with people. Not really in any organized groups although there were still small groups of people within the large gathering, talking quietly amongst themselves but gathered together as if waiting for some event to start.
Police cruisers blocked both lanes of Exchange Boulevard and several uniformed police officers on horseback moved through the crowd. It seemed impossible to Ira as he walked towards them.
The War Memorial building was now to his right, and the crowd beyond the cruisers stretched across the boulevard to the opposite side, ending at a large stone building. Ira could see the words County Court House, carved into the ornate stone cornice that topped the building. The steps were covered with people, and the heavy wood and glass doors were chocked open. For the size of the crowd, it was amazingly quiet.
As Ira neared one of the cruisers he could see a young officer sitting inside of it. The officer sat staring out at the huge crowd, and turned a tired looking set of gray eyes to Ira as he walked up to the open passenger side window and spoke.
"Howdy," Ira said."
"How do," the young police officer returned. "Just get in? Or are you from here?" He smiled as he spoke, and paused to sip from a Styrofoam cup of black coffee. Steam curled up from the cup, and he blew on it cautiously as he sipped.
"No, I ain't from around here," Ira replied. "I did just git here though. Is there someone still in charge here?"
The young man smiled back at Ira as he peered in through the window. He had heard the same question so many times that he was used to it being asked. It seemed to him to be the only thing people wanted to know.
"Wish I could say there was," he replied, "but the truth is there really isn't. I've been here for two days, and I haven't seen anybody at all that seems to know a damn thing. There are ten of us, cops I mean, and I guess we're all waiting along with everyone else. Have you been to the north side of the city?"
"No, I came in...East Avenue?" Ira answered, questioned.
"Right," the young man agreed. "East Avenue. Good thing too... You have any problems?"
Ira paused, thinking for a second about what the young man might consider a problem, and then answered. "Nope, not much of one anyhow. Why?"
"Well, it seems the north side's gone pretty bad is all. Most everyone who's come from there says so anyway. After dark you can hear a lot of shooting going on. We had Street lights over there until last night, so we could keep track of it a little, but somebody must have decided to shoot them out. It is almost like they don't want us over there. The streets in and out are pretty much blocked too. They keep setting up roadblocks with cars. We moved the cars the first couple of times, but they put them right back every time, across the streets, to block them. I guess what I'm saying is that it doesn't look too good to me, and most of the rest of us, so we stay away from it, and try to warn whoever comes in to do the same. Not that we have it a hell-of-a-lot better here, but at least things are a little calmer."
"You guy's kind'a still keeping the peace?" Ira asked.
The young officer chuckled sadly before he replied. "I wouldn't go that far. I'm not sure what the hell we are doing. I guess just holding on until someone gets here, and tells us what to do. That doesn't seem too likely though." He shook his head sadly and then continued. "I guess if that were going to happen,
