What's Kickin'?

We live in one of 5 pre-war buildings that make up our co-op. (Never mind). Each building has a staff of doormen, and after 8 years of living here, most of them have become fixtures in our lives in various ways.

Every morning Annie and I pass by all 5 buildings on our way to school. Annie likes her rituals and routines, and one of them is to play with Victor, the doorman at the top of the hill. She greets him by putting up her fists and asking, "You wanna piece of me?" They talk ghetto together, push each other around, and Annie ends the encounter the same each time: by running away from him shouting "Coward!"

Recently, Annie greeted Victor by making a fist, tapping it on her chest two times, and extending her arm and making a peace symbol with her hand. She said, “What up dawg?”

Katie: “Victor, do you think I should get Annie out of the city and raise her in the suburbs where she can grow up a proper young lady?”

Victor: “Nah. If you keep her here she’ll be a more well-rounded woman. She’ll know how to cook her man a steak AND kick his ass.”