As the month’s second heat dome settled over Cleveland in mid-July, the Norris family lugged a red Igloo cooler from their Garden Valley neighborhood to a nearby bus stop on Kinsman Avenue, near East 79th Street.
Damien, his wife Delshanna, who goes by Shanna, and three children had no choice but to take public transportation because their car and van had been recently vandalized, leaving the vehicles undrivable.
“The police say the cameras didn’t pick up anything,” Shanna said.
Still, the family was eager to take advantage of the opportunity the heat wave presented. Plus, the bus ride was a short one to East 55th Street, which is part of a five-point intersection where the constant rumble of heavy trucks, car horns and noise from nearby gas stations add to the irritability of drivers stuck at its long lights.
The Norris family parked their cooler and their youngest child in a stroller under the only nearby trees in the concrete and asphalt landscape, just behind a U.S. post office and the rear driveway of Crispy Chick.
It’s the family’s regular spot, where they come on hot days to sell water, ice tea and Pepsi they purchased from Walmart. (Others, including unsupervised children and teens, regularly position themselves to sell drinks at other corners and spots around the intersection.)
“We were down here four summers ago, and I want to say it was 104 degrees,” Shanna said.
On this day, when the family arrived around 2 p.m., temperatures were approaching 92 degrees and the humidity boosted the heat index rating to nearly 100.
Shanna is the lead salesperson, working the cars with a towel on her shoulder, her hands full of drinks.
“Ice cold. Pepsi for a buck. Ice cold,” she shouts. “Water. Ice tea. Ice cold.”
Leaning into one car, she explained, “We got Cash App, boo. Cash App or cash.”
The children are runners, racing back and forth from the cooler. Damien manages the cooler, makes change and works the traffic with Shanna. But it’s Shanna who calls the shots.
“She is the boss, and she said it is not stopping, so we got on the bus,” Damien said with admiration in his voice. “When she comes to the block, she is just getting her money on.”
Shanna said it’s about setting an example about the importance of hustle.
“I’m trying to teach my kids how to get some money by all means necessary,” she said.
Damien said Shanna spends the money on food, clothes for school and gas. He said how long they stay or how much they make during each trip to the intersection depends on the mood and pay period of the drivers.
“If they have a pocket full of money, they give you a 20 or a 10 for one water, or for nothing,” he said. “But if they don’t have nothing, they say, ‘Get away from the car.’”
The day ended on a happy note. When a bus came to a stop near the intersection, their daughter stepped on with a Pepsi for a quick sales pitch to the seated passengers. A moment later, she hopped off the bus and jumped in celebration, her arms raised above her head.
“Daddy. Dad, I did it!,” she shouted.
Got an idea for a one-day documentary feature about Cleveland’s people and places? Email me at mark@signalcleveland.org.
