Game Face

He be grillin' me when he sees me walkin down the corridor

Being white in an environment of Blacks and Hispanics - being a minority in a reverse otherworld- opened my eyes. I learned to understand a lot of non-verbal communication - facial expressions, exaggerated posturing. And a way of communication called game face,-- an attitude you want to project; the idea is to communicate indifference and aggression - "you stand back coz I don't give a fuck about you until you come up in my face and cross my boundaries and that's when I fuck you up".
But there is a problem with this subtle, expression - it can cost a Latino or Black (esp. an x-con) a job. It is read as disinterest to aggression.

This facial expression becomes to easy to adapt as a response to most input. I learned that the game face on the street - which is like an unbreakable barrier, can be approached. Many guys don't even realize they are using it, so you checl out other clues.

Grillin someone is deliberately grimacing - baring your teeth at someone you hate. I had a buddy in Artie's Place that grilled june coz he was jealous and thought me anfd June were going to become lovers. He told me all about how J and "L" were already involved ( not just he, d everyone else at Arthur Kill knew abouty that love affair and the story sometimes added on that I was fighting "L" for J). Poppycock. We were never lovers. In fact he told me about his secret life, a life which did not include me. This man, J is a sociopath, and came close to getting fucked up for lying - trying to impress the Latin Kings by saying he was associated with a big name in the Kings. But, luckily, a friend of mine - a King - reasoned that J is just a kid, trying to fit in, scared to death because he was so pretty. (yet at the same time using his good looks to cocktease guys) so my friend convinced the guys to leave him alone.

But he got a lot of grillin for a while.