Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks

Gregory Pitts’s friends tell Gregory that he smells “like his body had mistaken its organs for garbage” (157). They do this out of love. His friends begin a mission to help Gregory “because today was a day of romance” (157). Remar, also known as Remy, starts off the mission by spraying Gregory with his older brother’s body spray that smells like “a combination of burnt flowers and burnt rubber” (158). Instead of heading home to their apartment building, the crew “decided today that they would walk over to Rogers Street because that’s where Sandra White lived” (159). Gregory hopes to confess to Sandra that he likes her.

The crew continue their journey to Sandra’s apartment. Candace initiates the next step of their mission where she attempts “to explain the importance of moisturizing” (160). Candace produces a large bottle of her mother’s lotion and works to apply the lotion to Gregory’s arms and face as they stand on a sidewalk. She moves methodically by making “circles with the center of her palm, then pincher-claw rubs with the tips of her fingers for optimal moisturizing” (162). A school bus pulls up and mocks Gregory. The crew instantly defends Gregory and confronts the boy in the school bus.

Joey takes up the next part of the crew’s mission. He pulls out “a ziplock bag of goop” taken from his mother’s room (165). He explains to Gregory the importance of moisturized lips in preparation for his potential first kiss. Joey warns Gregory to “take it easy” when applying the mysterious substance on his lips but, before he is able to stop him, “Gregory slapped the glob on his mouth and started rubbing it in” (165-66). Gregory’s lips instantly begin to burn. The crew quickly discovers that Joey’s medicated lip balm is actually VapoRub. When confronted, Joey states, “We ain’t have Vaseline, but this stuff got Vaseline in it, so I figured it’s basically the same” (166). His friends encourage Gregory to continue on his journey to confess his feelings to Sandra.

The crew arrives at Sandra’s house. Gregory mounts the steps to Sandra’s house and rings the doorbell. When she appears, he reads from a prepared note that describes what he likes about Sandra. Sandra moves closer to Gregory and questions him about his odd appearance. He tells her that “It’s hard to explain” (169). Nervous, Gregory begins reading his note once again. He looks up and sees Sandra smiling and wonders if “maybe it was the kind of smile that came just before laughing” (169).