“Git Down” Abie

From that moment on, Abie Greenstein became known to all as “Git down Abie”. Never just Abie or Greenstein. It was always “Git Down Abie”. And yes, it was “Git” not “Get”. That was the way Miss Prew pronounced it.

 

Even with the kids laughing when they called him “Git down”, it never seemed to bother Abie. Actually, most of the time he didn’t bother answering them. He thought he was now part of the cultural tradition of everyone having nicknames. He ignored them. Much as he ignored most things around him. It was as if the choices he made left him without a choice.

 

When Abie finished 10th grade, he refused to continue going to school. He may have been only 15 years old, but that made no difference to him. He just refused. Absolutely refused. Nothing his parents said had any effect. They tried walking to school with him and waiting outside until he went inside. Didn’t work. As soon as they left, so did Abie. When he left his house and went to school alone, he would go walking on St. Lawrence Blvd. They tried changing schools- didn’t help. Sent him to the school guidance counsellor – didn’t help. So his parents gave up. After a brief time, Abie just stayed home, in his room all day. Every day. He would come out only for meals. This went on for almost two years and while it troubled his parents that Abie didn’t seem to care, there was nothing they could do. Abie was now 17 years old.  Is this how he hoped his life would be? Certainly not what his parents envisioned.

 

Soon his daily rhythm changed. He began sleeping later each day and staying awake later at night. After a while, he slept all day and was up all night. Yup, all night. Then he began going out each night. His parents rarely saw him. They never knew where he went. No one did. He would only come home in the morning. One evening, his father tried to follow him but after a few minutes he gave up. Abie had disappeared. Into the night. He was gone. Just like that.  His father never tried to follow him again. “Git Down Abie”, 18 years old, had become a night person.

 

What do people who stay out all night do? Where do they go?  There are two kinds of night people. There are those who go to clubs, jazz joints, after hours blind pigs. There are those, like Abie, who are loners. They walk the streets, rest on stoops, grab a coffee at corner shops … and walk … and walk…. With no particular destination in mind. Other people would adjust their trajectory to give them as wide a berth as possible. They would see them as just another of the potentially dangerous ones who roamed the streets under the cover of darkness.