The snatch: Ruth's strap breaks, Kate is whip-swung into the lightpost

timeline_event

pivotal · 14 Nov YDAU, ~2215h

When: 14 Nov YDAU, after ~2215h, on Prospect St.
What: Mid-yammer, Poor Tony crashes forward between the two women, knocking them apart and grabbing both purses. "Ruth van Cleve's vinyl purse's strap gave right away," but Kate's densely macramé'd Filene's strap holds around her shoulder and she is yanked forward and spun into a rust-pocked curbside lightpost, going down concussed. Ruth is no passive victim: "street-tough Ruth van Cleve got a grip on her/his/its red leather coat, proclaiming the thief a son of a mafun ho." As Kate lies stunned, Ruth and the thief recede up Prospect, both "shrieking for help." (Kate-altitude: the concussion, the violet-tinged vision, and the reeking "witness" street-bum belong to Kate Gompert's timeline, event 15. This is the hinge of Ruth's whole on-page existence.)