Alleys & Ruins no. 72, Zig Zag (2005, Chicago, IL, 10pm)
In 2011, a year after moving to Chicago, I host a party in my studio for everyone on my local mailing list. A woman catches my eye. Her name is Nikki. We’re chatting, and she asks, “Is it true you bring people on your night shoots?”
“Yeah,” I say. “It helps to have another set of eyes in these locations.”
She smiles at me, “Can I come?”
A few days later we’re under the L tracks at a spot where the Metra train crisscrosses way above that. I’m trying to find a good angle and decide to scramble up a steep slope leading to the tracks. Suddenly, I hear the crackling and rumbling of the rails. There’s a train barreling down on me.
I look down and spot a dumpster with its lid closed and it looks like a soft landing.
I drop down, but I am so wrong. I crash right through the plastic lid and land hard on the steel floor of the empty dumpster. I feel a sickening pop. I look down to see my foot twisted at a surreal, horrible angle. Adrenaline takes over; I grab my foot and somehow wrench it back. I’m limping badly, but I’m mobile.
That’s the end of the shoot. I can barely walk, but neither of us wants the night to end.
We head to a nearby bar. Halfway through our conversation, Nikki gives me a look. “You don’t remember me, do you?” I freeze.
“I’m sorry... maybe?”
“Yeah. Last year I bought your photo Zig Zag. That’s how I got on your mailing list. That’s why I was at your party.”
Zig Zag instantly becomes my favorite. A few days later we go on our first date, and seven years after that we’re married.
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