Ah yes, East St. Louis, roll up your windows and lock your doors as you drive through. My brother and I both compete in demo derbies and even as dangerous as the town can be it is a great place to find our favorite models of 70's era cars that we use in the races. Although I haven't done it much lately I have knocked on quite a few doors asking the resident if they would be interested in selling the 1971-76 Chevy, Buick, Olds whatever sitting dead in the yard. The stories of what happens next can be very interesting. One time the lady who answered thought I was working for the collection agency and gave me quite a screaming.
The worst was one time my bother and his friend were cruising slow though some of the side streets looking for cars in his stationwagon. Suddenly they noticed a guy running in a crouched position along side the car. He also happened to be carrying a big handgun. My brother hit the gas and as he did the guy stood up straight and emptied the magazine into a housing complex on the opposite side of the street where several guys were lounging on the porch. They all scattered in seconds. He didn't let off the gas pedal for the next three stop signs. They came upon a sitting cop car and told the cop what had just happened. The cop was not excited at all and said it happens all the time. He said he would go down and check it out but he knew what response he would get. "Nobody saw nothing."
