The Car Washing Street by Denise Lewis Patrick (1993) takes place on a block of brownstone apartments. It's early morning when Matthew, maybe age 5, gets his father out of bed. They sit on the front steps to watch the neighbors wash their cars. "Mrs. Kennedy is wiping her big pink Cadillac with a little pink towel. Mr. And Mrs. Rodriguez and the Rodriguez kids are throwing water on to the station wagon." Despite the heat, the mood is festive. In time, Matthew and his father get their hose to join in the fun of a water fight. "Matthew moonwalks under the waterfall. Eddie and Nilda and Georgie Rodriguez start a slippery conga line." Miss Emma comes walking down the street with ices for sale. I'm struck by John Ward's crisp line and immaculate portrayal of this urban scene, as if the car washing had also erased graffiti and resurfaced the asphalt road. In my innocence, this was how I imagined every child's world—clean and happy. Now, as an adult having walked in some crumbling sections of a city, I see decay hidden behind Ward's pictures.
