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16 May 2014
“Hi, Joy, have you done your rain dance yet, ‘Rain, rain, go away’?”
“No, I don’t think it would work today. It’s just a light rain but sit here long enough, you can really get soaked.
“Do you want a latte? I don’t drink that shit. It’s from Starbucks, it probably cost her a fortune. She said it’s a ‘venti skinny Caramel Machiatto’ and its just AWESOME. You can have this bottle of orange juice too.”
A woman stopped and handed Joy a bag from Tim Horton’s. “Thanks”, said Joy as she felt the bag and looked inside. After the woman left she said, “I appreciate her giving me this muffin, but what I really need is some cash to buy a bag of potatoes. I’ve got lots of meat, just nothing to go with it. Jake eats a lot of potatoes.”
I asked, “How much does Jake weigh now?”
“He says he’s two twenty, but I swear, when he got out of prison he was pushing three hundred. He says he’s lost twenty pounds. I asked him, ‘How is that possible, you eat junk food all day, you never stop eating.’ I bought a large bag of chips yesterday, they were all gone before I even had one.
“At least he left at a decent hour last night. He was out by nine o’clock. Sometimes, I won’t be able to get him out by eleven. He stayed at my place for about a month when I had pneumonia, but I can’t live with him. I’m really a tidy freak and he’s a slob. He’ll come in, take his socks off, roll them in a ball then drop them at the end of the couch. The laundry bag is right behind him. Even Stella said, ‘You make a really nice couple, but you guys can’t live together.’ ”
I asked, “Is Jake still living at the Salvation Army.”
“Yeah, he has a permanent place there.
“He came down with me this morning. His parole officer wanted to see him. I don’t know what that’s about.”
I said, “I’m getting soaked here, so I’ll see you Monday.”
“Lean on my shoulder to help you get up. You can lean harder than that.
“Bye.”
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Streetsister 