By Yolanne Almanzar
The walkway under the subway rumbled with the approach of the train. Two police officers were the only ones talking when, suddenly, the walkway burst with life. People started running and dodging each other and contorting their bodies as they weaved their way through the crowd toward the steps and the platforms. A woman in a black coat rounded the corner and collided with a bald-headed man.
“Excuse me! Excuse me! Excuse me!” she said in rapid succession. She could have saved herself the trouble; he seemed to be mirroring her footsteps. She shuffled right; he moved right. She stepped to the left; he did the same. She’d had enough.
“Move!” she shouted.
One train had already left the station and another had arrived as more people flooded the walkway. The clicking sounds of high-heeled boots echoed. All eyes were fixed on a destination ahead as everyone rushed to catch the train.
There was a flash of a purple coat here, a couple kissing there. The next New Lots-bound train would arrive in two minutes said the overhead announcement. A father held his children’s hands. His daughter wore a pink coat and his son a black bubble vest. They struggled to keep up with him.
Almost as quickly as it had filled up, the walkway was now all but empty. The train rumbled out of the station, leaving a man to suck his teeth in disgust. He had just missed it.
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