By Grant Pick
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Cole has taught many of these men, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s, the shoe-shining trade, hiring them despite their sometimes checkered pasts. “A guy’ll get locked up at 20, and when he gets out of the joint at 35 he’s in need of rehabilitation,” says Cole, whose father went to prison for accidentally shooting someone. “He’s never learned how to raise kids or to be an example. He comes to see me. People in the neighborhood stop by, and they may have a son or a cousin who needs work. Other of my workers are between jobs and need something to tide them over. I also deal with kids who have problems, who are dropping out of school or already have a police record. I take my biggest interest in kids like that.”
Tyrone Jackson began shining for Cole when he was 12 years old. Now 35, he recently completed a two-year sentence on a drug conviction. With no money to his name, he approached Cole, who gave him a few bucks and said, “Start shining.” Jackson says, “Cole will help someone who’s down on their luck like a second father would.”
Eventually Cole bought apartment buildings in Austin and West Garfield Park, including a 47-unit complex across the street from the Shine King on Central, where he often puts up employees who need housing. He also runs King Roofing and Construction and could make its office on Chicago Avenue his headquarters. But he prefers to spend his days at the Shine King.
Somebody puts change into the jukebox, and soul music swells up. Cole, tapping his foot heartily, spoons fruit salad from a plastic container as he describes a local man he saw yesterday. “He bought some wine on the corner, and I watched him go all the way down to the nursing home. Let me tell you, he walked the distance, and he never brought that bottle down.”
