Alternate route advised

I park in a commercial lot several blocks from my office. The area bordered by North Capitol Street and First Street NE between M and N is pretty desolate, containing little more than fenced asphalt lots surrounded by overgrown urban flora, a municipal maintenance garage, and a nightclub. Every Monday morning the sidewalks within a hundred-yard radius are littered with the detritus discarded by the nightclubs patrons: flyers for upcoming shows, broken Heineken bottles, and general garbage searching in vain for a receptacle.

Across the street from the nightclub is a patch of earth that I imagine once supported grass, but is now firmly and frequently tamped by the resident homeless and whoever might stumble over to keep it real over the weekend. There is usually a group of men milling about when I drive past, but the scene usually looks more like a siesta than anything.

Yesterday I exited my parking lot onto N, and saw that down by the nightclub there were more people in the street than off, so I slowed, expecting them to move aside once they saw me approaching. Then I saw two of them locked in a struggle, one of them obviously on the defensive. At that point I stopped. It wasn't the first fight I've seen, and since the others appeared disinterested I half expected them to pause for traffic so I could proceed. While I was assessing the situation, however, the two broke apart, one ran to the curb and picked something up, then hurled it toward the other. When I heard the crack of a rock ricochet off the nightclub wall, I concluded that an alternate route was in order.

Fortunately my dad taught me to drive using my mirrors, so I immediately threw the car into reverse, confirmed that the road behind me was clear, and hightailed it back into my fenced lot. Not that there's a gate to keep people out, but at least it was half a block from the fight, and offered another exit to M Street. A couple of the guys ran toward me as I was backing away, but I think it's most likely they simply didn't want to be there when police responded to the 911 call I was placing.

I'm debating which route to take home tonight.