A story (III of III): Bus.

On the way back home that night the bus was crowded, and I was up towards the front with this young black dude and a black couple, and we were standing practically right next to the driver, and after like thirty seconds of us getting on the bus and standing like this, the young black dude looked over to the couple and was like, "If you guys didn't know each other before, you're going to now," and then he introduced himself to everyone, and somehow him (=Jerome) and me and the couple (=forget their names) and the busdriver, who was a younger-side of middle-aged black woman ("Bonnie"), got to all joking about being crowded at the front of the bus and how it was a party up there, which was a hoot.

One of us, I remember, was saying that we weren't going to get off because we were going to the end of the line with Bonnie, since that's where the party was at, and when I did finally get off the bus, I waved bye to Bonnie and was like, "Now you keep it sane," and she was like, "Oh, I will," and I got mock-serious and was like, "No, I'm serious, I worry about you," which got her laughing, and I left. It was a very fun time, and I'm glad that young black dude started off the random joking. Usually there's something I don't like about the humor of black men (prob. the expectation you can see in their faces where they want you to be their audience), but this guy didn't have it, and was quite funny.