Mississauga Memoirs

I am sitting at the bus station as South Common Mall. It is so hot outside. It is still gonna be another 2o minutes before the 48A comes to take me to my house at Erin Mills and Dundas. I feel my skin cooking and realize that I am a little hungry. Ummmm...Cafe Duca. A slice and a pop....$2.25. You can't go wrong.

I walk into the mall and down the stairs. There is a group of teenagers hanging out near the door, girls giggling. I pass through the doors into the mall. I am greeted to the sight of the various social groups in the food court, sitting together. Each of them are neatly hubbed together, like BFF's! I look up and see the man that I have code named "Santa," that works at Dairy Queen. He really looks like Santa, and he seems to be one of the friendliest individuals I have ever met. Just smiles from ear to ear-- and so diligent about getting the order to you!

I think, $2.25 pop and slice, or a blizzard. The line is kind of long, I only have 17 minutes now. But then it hits me. Fries and gravy yo! Mmmmmm, Captain Sam's! I feel overwhelmed by confusion, what should I do. So hot, so hungry and so many voices in a narrow mall corridor. Ok think! Ummmmmm, I want fries and gravy. Yeah that little cardboard box with those neatly fried fries and the gravy that seemed so much more superior then the one they had at Erindale's cafe (though these were still the Erin Mills days). The plastic fork and the gravy seeping into the cardboard. Everyone was doing it. It was in. I get in line, nervous that I am gonna miss my bus, I only have 15 minutes left.

I stand in line, patiently. Admiring all the youth that walk away with smiles and fries. Yo, that shit was like an addiction. I finally, 3 minutes later, get to the front of the line. I feel anxious. Oh and goodness. I see the Asian woman flip out a new batch of fried goodness! This is gonna be so good. I order with intent. I move to the left and await my order. I get it. I sit beside a crew of girls with head wraps. No, not black ones. The kind that are Muslim. They all have such pretty smiles and seem to be such nice people. Next to them, the chicks that looked like they came from the South Common Community Centre dance. So damn cool. I can never get my hair to look like that.

I smile at the Muslims. I look at the other girls and wonder why such blandness makes them cool. What the hell do they have that makes them so important?

I finish. I run to the Gateway to go get me a blue Blow Pop. So juicy! I liked the feeling of sucking on it. I look at my watch, I have 3 minutes. I pull out my student bus ticket and walk to the bus stop. Through the doors, up the stairs. There is a Loyola couple making out against the windows. Gross. Loyola people, gross. They look so stiff in their uniforms. I wanna express myself, through colour.

I see the bus number from afar, as I see it pull in. 2 black guys stand behind me, I remember them. They live on Council Ring Road. One is kind of cute, I have a bit of a crush on him. He seems black and smooth. He kind of looks at me too.

I get on, I sit across from him. He looks at me, right at me. I feel tingly. He looks like he is tough. We pull out onto South Millway and before we reach the first set of lights, he smiles at me and licks his lips. I am shy, but I like it.

Damn my stop is gonna come up soon. I look away and turn back. He is looking at me still. My stop, ring the bell.

I ring the bell. I get up, he says "mmmmm" as I walk towards the door. Fifth Line, time for my walk home. I push the bars on the door and look back in a seductive manner. I am a Erin Mills girl, living in a Erin Mills world.