Lima was as desolate as they come. To be blunt, the place was dying.
Perhaps at one stage, many years ago, it was known as a small city that welcomed dreamers and young lovers. Well, these days, dreams were dead and love extinct. The people of Lima weren't living – they were just about surviving.
Look down and see the beggars at your feet
Look down and show some mercy if you can
Look down and see
The sweepings of the street
Look down, look down,
Upon your fellow man!
Lima Heights was like quicksand, the kind of neighborhood that sucks the life and dreams out of its inhabitants. Employment was scarce, gunfire rife. Industry revolved around three key activities: drug dealing, car jacking and prostitution.
On this particular day, a typical altercation was taking place down the backstreet of Danny's Liquor.
"Watch it, sluts!" roared Beiste, a weather-beaten beggar whose once feminine features had been worn down to rock. "This is my patch! Move along!"
The two young prostitutes she was addressing rolled their eyes.
"Stop complaining," sighed Sugar, the smaller, darker of the two, "Do you really want us to bring Karofsky into this?"
The blonde girl, Brittany, shot her companion a bug-eyed look. "Leave her alone, Sugar! She's old and ugly – you might catch her wrinkles."
"Oh, you can laugh now! Another ten years though, and I'll be the one laughing!" said Beiste, her fists swinging.
"Where will you be, then?" Sugar sneered.
"Dead," retorts Beiste, "With any luck."
Look down and show some mercy if you can
Look down, look down, upon your fellow man
Only a stones throw from the backstreet was Lima Heights Adjacent – a public housing block that housed the seediest of Lima's characters. And right on the front steps, sat Noah Puckerman, the block kingpin.
He was surrounded by his gang – the hardest, least friendly looking lot in Lima, each of them dirt-poor and desperate for quick cash.
In their midst sat Santana Lopez, a beautiful but scruffy girl, like a rose grown in concrete. Santana and Puck were half-siblings, and the only family either of them had ever had. From afar it was easy to judge her as an average thug – her cheeks knew hunger and her clothes were typically urban and fading. It was up close, however, that you could see the deep pain in her dark eyes. Life in Lima Heights was far from easy, and Santana knew this firsthand.
Santana Lopez knew her way about.
When's it gonna end?
When we gonna live?
Something's gotta happen now or
Something's gonna give
It'll come, it'll come, it'll come
It'll come, it'll come, it'll come
Outside the ABC Café, known affectionately as 'The Lima Bean', Finn Hudson sat facing the street, watching as his fellow residents hustled to survive. Blaine Anderson sat across the outdoor table, taking sips from a cup of coffee. Although both boys were born and raised in Lima Heights, it often felt as though they could see it from above. Well educated at McKinley High, the boys had visions. At night they dreamt of their town, with green areas for the children and enough honest jobs for the young.
"No one really gives a crap the people here, do they?" said Finn.
Blaine always seemed to hold the answers.
"Senator Burt Hummel, you know Kurt's dad? He was the only one. The rest of the government would rather see us locked in chains, or holed up in the Projects until we eventually killed each other out."
Finn checked his surroundings, then lowered his voice. "I heard that the cancer's getting worse. They say that Burt will be dead within a few weeks."
"It's true. But this is the time we've been waiting for. Screw the Government, screw the welfare cuts – they can't oppress us anymore, man! This is the time for our revolution – the people's revolution!"
See our children fed
Help us in our shame
Something for a crust of bread
In Holy Jesus' name
In the Lord's Holy name.
In his name, in his name, in his name...
Few knew it at the time, but a change was coming. Lima had begun to reawaken.