He's an inspiring part of Toronto's unique downtown landscape and the kind of person we can all learn profound lessons from. But Marky Wheels, who became a prolific and beloved street musician after teaching himself to play keyboards despite being born without limbs, is ready to pack it in.
Wheels, who personifies the fighting spirit, is calling it quits.
Not because he's grown tired of performing at the corner of Dundas and Spadina in Chinatown, where he's reached nearly iconic status. But instead because he can no longer endure the almost daily efforts to fend off cowardly thieves who prey on him, taking advantage of his physical vulnerabilities.
As he first revealed in October in a CityNews.ca feature, brushes with the criminal element are an inherent part of a life spent predominantly on downtown street corners. For the most part, he took them in stride and forged on. "Behold the mighty turtle who makes progress only when he sticks his neck out!" he told me during our first encounter.
Sadly, several recent events have dampened his usually indomitable spirit, prompting his swan song with street performing.
"Pretty well every time I'm down there somebody tries to snag something," he explained.
Lately, he's been targeted by one individual in particular, who goes by the street name, 'Tattoo' - aptly named because of his numerous tats, including two on his neck, one a rectangular design, the other a bear paw below his ear.
He was first allegedly victimized by him a year ago, but he's since resurfaced.
"Last year I had a run-in with this chap that I've actually known for a few years down there, he was really wasted on I don't know what and he was driving his mother's electric scooter. He drove it into my amplifier and stole about $80. He came back (last) Saturday, and he stole about $20."
"He came up to me and went, 'What the hell is the big deal phoning the cops on me?' And I don't even remember phoning the cops, somebody else probably did who saw the whole thing happen."
"And I said 'Well, when you steal from me you're a thief.' And his buddy was with him and said, 'Tone it down, tone it down, it's a private conversation.' "
"I said, 'This is not a private conversation, I'm out here in the public, the public gives me money, I'm using (this money) to feed my kids, so it's certainly not private.' "
"And then as I'm talking to his buddy, he kneels down and steals about $20, and I said, 'What are you doing, are you robbing me again?'
"He says, 'Apparently', and they leave."
"And then about two hours later, about 2pm or so, he does it again. That was like two shots in one day."
The amount taken may not seem like a large sum to many, but for Wheels, who commutes from his home in London Ont., and will often stay in a motel so he can busk for several days in a row, every dollar counts, especially once temperatures start to plummet.
"It's not like I'm making the money I used to in the summer. If I make 50 bucks, 60 bucks that's a good day, When you get popped 10-20 dollars (it hurts)."
"Before I even get there I have to make sure I've got my Greyhound covered, my motel covered. I've got to cover all of my expenses and then we figure out what we made."
Wheels has been performing in Chinatown for years and he's seen a marked increase of crime in the area since his early days. He attributes it in large part to drugs like crack cocaine.
"Chinatown used to be the safest," he reminisces. "You know, I actually miss the heroin junkies. Sounds weird, but I used to be able to leave my keyboard, go for lunch, give a heroin junkie five bucks to watch my keyboard, but it's the crackheads now."
"It's getting dangerous," he stresses.
"It's disappointing, it used to be that once in a blue moon somebody would hit me up for something, and you know 9 out of 10 times I'll give these guys a dollar or two if they need it."
Wheels' daughter called police after the second robbery on Saturday, but he doesn't expect much to come of it.
"Apparently the police were called last year, but they don't have a record on it, they don't have any report of it. So yeah, she phoned police the second time, around 2pm, and they filed a report but whatever happens to it, who knows."
After CityNews got involved, an officer from 52 Division vowed that the suspect would be apprehended.
"We are not going to stop until this person is identified," an officer said. "We are going to take him off the streets."
Wheels remains apprehensive.
"I know this guy has a criminal record for crying out loud. What's the point? If they find the guy, they'll throw him in jail for what, maybe a week or two? They protect the criminals."
"Then he comes out and he's even more pissed off."
Marky Wheels' story is dispiriting. After overcoming so much adversity, he shouldn't be forced to give up his livelihood and his passion.
But it looks like his mind is made up.
He'll be playing in Toronto on Friday, and he's planning on staying for a few days, then packing up and heading home for good. It will be a sad goodbye, and a big loss for the city, but Wheels simply doesn't feel that 'Toronto The Good', is living up to its name.
"It's not that accurate anymore, no," he says of the famous moniker.
His disappointment extends to those he says stood around and watched as he was robbed twice in one day at a bustling intersection, in broad daylight.
"It wasn't like there wasn't anybody around," he stresses.
"It's that nobody did anything."
Update: Man Arrested For Robbing Marky Wheels
Photo still from YouTube video
michael.talbot@citynews.rogers.com
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