Washington City Paper: Contents for Apr. 30

Deconstructing Stephanie
How a small-time hustler earned the wrath of a Capitol Hill neighborhood

Cover Story

A knock on your door in the middle of the night is like a dare: Do you, in your hazy nocturnal stupor, freeze in primal fear behind your own door? Or do you simply open up your home to a stranger in a sleeping city?

Stephanie is on the doorstep, standing in the viscous yellow streetlamp light. She's out of breath, shaking her head in pre-emptive apology. She's your neighbor, she says. She lives next to the Stevensons? Anyway, she is pregnant and bleeding spottily, and she's worried there may be something wrong with her or her baby. Meanwhile, she's locked out of her house. Explaining this to you, Stephanie's voice is strangely even--not entitled, not hopeful, not belligerent. She is just like you, in fact--except here on your doorstep in the dead of night she has a real problem. Could she use your phone to call her roommate working the late shift at Georgetown University Hospital? Would you mind?

You do not recognize Stephanie, a 30-something African-American woman of medium build with long braids and nice-enough clothes, layered in a way that suggests she could in fact be pregnant. Then again, maybe you have seen her. After all, you don't know many of your neighbors. But you'd like to say you did.

Stephanie walks inside your house and makes a phone call. Her roommate, it comes to pass, cannot leave work just now. The only thing left to do is to go to the hospital. Could you give her a ride? Or, better yet, could she borrow cab fare? Her wallet is locked in her house, but she promises she'll be back in an hour or so to pay you back. ... Continued

Issue of Apr. 30 - May. 6, 1999

News and Features

Deconstructing Stephanie
How a small-time hustler earned the wrath of a Capitol Hill neighborhood
Cover Story By Amanda Ripley
Scenes From an Eviction
The best intentions of a housing inspector, a D.C. councilmember, and the city's government may not be able to save the Edwards family from the streets
Feature By Jason Cherkis
The Gore-y Details
Playing "dead, not dead" among the graves of Rock Creek Cemetery.
The City By Sean Daly
Power Outage
The New Black Power Movement isn't moving very fast
The City By Nefretiti Makenta
Poetic Release
The first in an occasional series chronicling the secret language of the press release, the most underappreciated literature of our time
The City
The Best Revenge
The Mail By Marie A. Paul
Saveur
Armed and Historic
The Mail By Paul K. Williams
Stick 'Em Up
The Mail By Anonymous
Dream On
The Mail By Rene Wallis
Hello, Goodbye
The Mail By Tom Sharpe
No News Is Good News
The Mail By Elizabeth Kingsley
Crimson Courtier
The Mail By Andrew Williams
St. Elsewhere
The Mail By Yvonne P. Carter
Car Jacked
The Mail By Aaron R. Moore
Mommies' Dearest
The Mail By Linda Clausen
Historical Progression
The Mail By Donald Carroll Moragne

Columns

The Lottery Ticket
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Tulips
City Desk By David CarrJason CherkisEddie DeanLaura Lang, Amanda Ripley and Elissa Silverman
TAX EVASIVENESS
Loose Lips By Erik Wemple

Eats

Ethnic Cleansing
Young & Hungry By Brett Anderson

Movies

Heist Aches
Film Review By Arion Berger
If I Wake Before I Die
Film Review By Mark Jenkins

Music

Run Into the Ground
Music Review By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Music for Boardwalks
Music Review By Sean Daly

Theater

Breeds Apart
Theater Review By Bob Mondello

Arts and Events

Beverly Hills 20001
Artifacts By Amanda Fazzone
Rave On, Gaithersburg!
Artifacts By Jason Cherkis
Ailey's Comet
Artifacts By Holly Bass
Don't Tread on Me
Books By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Vacationland, U.S.A.
Art Review By Glenn Dixon
A Dozen Ways to Die
Author Geo Stone makes suicide a way of life
Arts By Brett Anderson