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12 March 2014
The coldest winter in twenty years, that’s what the weather forecaster’s say. None of my homeless friends have been out lately. I don’t blame them. I boarded the Queen streetcar, heading east, and threw my gym bag on an empty seat. As I was about to sit down, the passenger in front of me turned his head and said, “So, You’re going to sit behind me are you?”
I looked closely at his face and asked, “I know you, don’t I?”
“Yes, you know me.”
“Sorry, I can’t remember your name. Do you remember mine?”
He thought for a moment then said, “No, I don’t remember.” He moved over in his seat to make room for me to sit down.
I said, “I remember talking to you in Moss Park in the summer. Do you still go there? Does anybody go there, or is it too cold?”
He said, “I don’t like to be with people. It’s just me, myself and I. That’s the way I like it.
“I was going to go to an A.A. meeting. I got all dressed. I’m wearing three coats now. Something happened and I lost track of time. See that building up there on the corner. That’s where I should have gone, but it’s too late now.” I could smell beer on his breath. That was the something that happened.
“Do you go to A.A? Have you ever?”
“No,” I said, “I used to have a drinking problem, but I quit on my own. Now, I just have a beer every once in a while, maybe a glass of wine.”
“Are you going home to have a beer?… It’s okay, I won’t charge you… I’ve been trying to get back into rehab.
“My roommate is pissed off at me for some reason. I don’t know what it is. I used one of his onions. Maybe that’s what it is. He’s Jamaican. They eat that funny sort of food. But, he’s okay. Maybe I had the TV on too loud last night. I don’t know.
“Do you know if there’s a McDonald’s around here?”
I said, “I don’t know the area very well. I’ve got a Tim Horton’s card. Is that any good to you?”
“No, I’m not asking for money. Is that what you thought? No, I’m okay.
“This is a nice neighborhood we’re passing through. I used to live around here. I had a sound system, three hundred watt speakers, a big TV. I got behind in my rent. I told my landlord, ‘To hell will you, for all the trouble I’ve had to put up with around here.’ I owed him two months back rent. He kept my stuff and changed the locks.
” This is my stop coming up. I’m going to visit a friend, to see if he’s home. If he isn’t home, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
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Streetsister 