“That Car Wash movie was just a lot of romance,” says Mario Xavier, the smooth-dressing young manager of the K&K Hand Car Wash on North Clybourn. “All we do is work around here. The business has lost its personality and isn’t very entertaining anymore.”
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“What’s happening in this neighborhood is all an illusion,” Xavier says, glaring, arms folded, at the new 1800 N. Clybourn retail complex. “People say this area is coming back. But it never went anywhere. All that’s happening is the black folks, the rubbish people, are being kicked out. The developers call that an upgrade. But in 20 years these white people will decide they want to live somewhere else. And then what happens to the neighborhood?”
The K&K used to be a 24-hour-a-day operation; now it’s open from 7 to 7. Lately, Xavier says, the police have been hassling some of the K&K guys, accusing them of sleeping on the premises. But an inspection of the dank interior reveals nothing like a bed, only piles of towels, an old washer and dryer, and a lonely cashier’s cage surrounding a metal desk piled with old newspapers.
Next in line is Edward Frelix. He has driven his gold Chrysler Fifth Avenue sedan to the K&K from the southwest suburbs to get a wash on his day off.
