I’ll shine when it shines…Darrell Shines
I met Darrell Shines in the mid 1990s. I was working at Right Track Recording, and Darrell was working for a cartage company, Rock-It Cargo. Darrell was incredibly handsome, with a beautiful smile and charming as all get out. I was instantly smitten. I wasn’t seeing anyone, and Darrell would have been fun to play with, but he was as straight as Six o’clock. We were fast friends. We met up for various shows at Summerstage, just hanging out in Central Park. We’d smoke weed and generally have a good time.

Darrell seemed to like hanging out with me as much as I liked hanging out with him. I’d go out to his crib in Jamaica, Queens. It was the last stop on the subway, and after a few hours of smoking joints, I’d crash on his couch. Eventually, Darrell was evicted from his loft in Jamaica, and he asked or I offered my couch. We were friends, and that was that. He was handsome but straight. Just another sexy, handsome straight guy that I was smitten with. Julio, Pedro, and now Darrell.

I figured he’d be on the couch for a week. William didn’t mind. Landlord’s children, Pattie & Fred, more than likely hated the idea. Darrell was black, and Pattie and Fred most definitely were not. And one week turned into two, looking at three. I’d leave for work in the morning, and Darrell would be on the couch all day. Not much looking for a new crib. I mentioned my dilemma with my landlord, and Darrell suggested ignoring them. Should I take rental advice from some guy who was just evicted from his loft for non-payment of rent?

I had to ask Darrell to leave. It was not pleasant. During his time on Jane Street, he met Layla, a young woman who lived in the neighborhood. They might have had a fling. A quick fling that ended with Darrell’s departure from Jane Street. He made it seem like his idea. He told me he had gotten Layla pregnant, and she was going to have an abortion, so he was going to leave town. I soon found out that Darrell had told Layla he was leaving since I had tried to rape him.

I explained to Layla that that was just not my style. In fact, it would be an entirely different scenario if you catch my drift. I told Layla what Darrell had told me about her impending abortion. Laya was aghast, telling me she loved children and would never have an abortion. We both deduced that Darrell played us both and skipped town.

But not before he was able to get Julio, through me, to use his space in his apartment building for storage. And he used Julio and his space for a few months before Julio was going to move out and needed to have Darrell move his stuff out. Once again, Darrell needed to hit the road with his cargo.

We still hung out a few times, once particular spot was a bar on the Lower East Side called bOb. Julio and I found it, and I soon Pedro onto it as well. One night, Darrel was there with Pedro and a mutual friend, Ray. Things were cozy until Pedro’s side piece showed up, which ruffled his feathers.
Words were said, Darrell tried to separate Pedro and the side piece, which made Pedro say something untoward, and he and Ray left. Darrell sat yelling about something that Pedro pulled a gun on him. I didn’t see that, and I’m not sure anyone else did, since no one else was saying anything about a gun.

Since I had known Pedro longer than I had known Darrell, I caught up on the street with Pedro and Ray and got a ride to the bus terminal. The next day, I asked Pedro if what Darrell had said was true. Pedro denied doing such a thing and was insulted by the suggestion. I believed him, though it was years later when it seemed there were times when he was in a pharmaceutical fog. So it may have been true.

I did look up Darrell on social medias and he was living in Europe, had two kids, I think. He’s popular in cultural activities with lots of friends.

Some are born every minute.

“If you don’t pull up, you cheated”, says the guy screaming down Sixth Avenue