Iām about seventeen years old, in the summer of 2003 between my junior and senior year of High School. It was a humid weeknight and we’re driving down the Boulevard after eating French fries and boneless hot wings at a diner. Weāre on our way to find Byberry. I have a purple Motorola phone and Iām checking the time ā itās before midnight.
We turn down Byberry Road, because this will take us there. Driving past street signs, weāre a little lost and there is a group of people hanging out on a playground with their bikes. We drive up to them with the passenger-side window down and ask if they know where Byberry is, but all they did was throw a water balloon at our car. I burst into laughter as my friend hangs out the window pointing at them, making dangerous threats. We drive away and turn down Carter Road.
Just ahead of us, I see the Boulevard, so we turn around at some scary buildings. We are all screaming in horror at the sight of a man dragging a suitcase up a sidewalk and quickly turn the car around speeding off down the road again.
We park the car on the side of the road and decide to walk through a baseball field, because thatās what someone told my friend to do. We get out of the car, without any possessions, and start walking toward the woods and turn to walk through some tall grass. Itās drizzling rain.
Unexpectedly, I step down about a foot off a curb onto a concrete road, but there is no on-coming traffic and itās very dark. Crickets chirp and mosquitoes buzz in circles around my ear, āOuch!ā Iām being eaten alive.
Large, tall plants are growing through the cracks and the tall grass we walked through forms a wall surrounding the road and it feels like a maze. Dark streetlamps hover above us and are scattered throughout a field. We wander around and everyone is complaining, āItās getting late,ā āItās hot,ā āItās humid,ā āItās going to rain.ā We worry about ticks, but I donāt want to leave.
Itās pouring rain. My friend takes one of his over-sized shirts off and hands it to me. I cover my head with it and walk into plants, āThis is a lost-cause.ā I put it on. Itās large and Iām swimming in it. So, here I am, poking through tall brush and grass in a large, white tee-shirt on an abandoned road somewhere near Byberry ā¦and itās pouring rain. My hair is soaking wet and Iām dancing around pretending to be a ghost.
Woahāwe found a building. Itās an ominous building: It has two ramps and a loading dockāI think we found Byberry. Iām feeling scared and apprehensive about going inside it and the rest of my friends are somewhere behind me, so I call out into the darkness.
Standing a few yards from the building, we watch it as if weāre observing an oil-painting. I hear footsteps and turn around, āThere you are!ā I scream. I hear a cough, āDid you hear that?ā I ask, but no one did. I dare someone to go inside the open door and my friend walks toward the building, up the ramp, and looks inside.
There are so many thoughts in my head right now. Are there really homeless people and drug addicts living in there like Iāve been told? Do they all have their own room and use candles at night? Do they get along with each other and how do they stay warm in the winter? What if they attack one of us? What will we do? I heard a story once about a homeless drug addict who stabbed my friendās brotherās friend with a needleā¦
My friend turns around and walks back to us, proclaiming itās too dark.
We stand around and discuss the buildingā¦ weāre going to leave. Iām disappointed no one wants to return. I vow to come back.