The street itself, except for its median of trees, looks like a scene from American Graffiti , packed with lowered trucks full of kids from Renton and Mountlake Terrace and sports cars thumping their woofers. In the lot next to the House of India on Cherry, a young couple humps on the hood of a parked car. She's wearing only a bra and skirt, which is up around her waist. His khakis are open and unbelted and starting to creep down his hips.
People walk by, turning to stare as they pass.
Two young men, amused at the display, stop and playfully pretend to try and cut in, then move off, doubled-over laughing. After a minute or so, the woman drunkenly sways and reaches back to put on the T-shirt she has been using as a pillow. He zips and buckles up and kisses her goodnight before she drives away. As the bars let out for the night, hundreds of drunken suburbanites are milling in Pioneer Place Park at First and Yesler, hailing cabs, and occasionally getting surly with one another. The cobblestone plaza serves as a temporary waiting room for partiers who are not quite ready for the night to end.