27 June 2012
This morning Joy was sitting on her storage box, talking to Chester. They were finalizing the arrangements for Joy to move in. Chester shook my hand and then said goodbye.
“I still haven’t told Chuck that I’m moving, but I won’t be giving him any rent money for July. I’ll give him a hundred towards the cable bill. He’s really been nasty to me lately. He phoned me at the park yesterday and asked, ‘Are you coming home tonight?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, maybe I will, maybe I won’t.’ ‘If you do,’ he said, ‘bring me some pot.’
Andre came trudging up the sidewalk with his backpack, a raincoat and his folding stool. “I don’t know what happened last night, but I found this in my cap.” He held up a business card from a ninety-nine-dollar hooker.
I said, “That should give you some clue.”
“No, that’s not in my price range. What really scared me is finding this rock in my cap.” He held up a one-pound rock. “This swung in my cap makes a mean weapon, just like a billy club. I vaguely remember saying to some guy, ‘You want my money? Try and take it from me.’ I don’t know what happened after that. I went a bit haywire yesterday. I nearly got in a fight with Daimon. I said, ‘Your brother is three times your size and I took him, so come and get it.’ His brother is huge — twenty-two-inch arms, about six-foot-seven. He’s a monster. He’d have to duck to go through a door sideways.
“I’m going to have to go to work. I need a drink.” With that, he left.
I asked Joy, “If Daimon just got out of prison, would he still be an addict?”
“It’s much easier to get drugs on the inside than it is on the outside.”
“So,” I asked, “did I miss anything after I left yesterday?”
“No, It was pretty quiet. I waited for Pierre to come back. Then we watched a few videos. His son is twenty-four years old. He’s autistic and has a mental age of about twelve. We get along great. We were about to watch Paranormal 2. He said to me, ‘You’re going to be scared.’ I said, ‘I don’t think so.’ There is a part where this guy is being dragged off the bed by a demon. I jumped off the couch and ran down the hall. Everyone got a good laugh out of that.”
…
On my way to the park, I met Serge. “How are you doing, Serge?” I asked.
“I’m fine. I’m just going to the bench near the bank. I want to sit down before I fall down again.”
“Take care, Serge.”
“See you.”
At the park, the usual congregation was in attendance. There was lots of excitement in the neighborhood. Emile was swearing. He dragged Ian by the ankles for about twenty feet. Then Ian and Shakes started fighting, rolling around on the lawn.
I sat next to Joy and asked, “What’s this about?”
“Ian is drunk and was being a dickhead to everyone. Andre had enough and went after him.”
Ian eventually slunk back into the circle. “I don’t know what I did wrong?”
Andre answered, “Your woman screwed you over, and pressed charges against you. Now you’re drunk. You ask us for help. Sure, we’re going to help you, we’re family, but don’t act like a dickhead and treat us like shit.”
I noticed that Shakes’ leg was bleeding and that he had a burn scar near his ankle. “How did that happen?” I asked Joy.
“I’m not sure of the details. I don’t think he remembers. Someone set him on fire. The same thing happened to another homeless guy sleeping on a park bench. Someone doused him with gasoline, then set him on fire. He was wearing a plastic raincoat and it melted into his skin. He was released from the hospital and was staying at the Sally Ann, but after three days of pain he just gave up and died.”
Joy asked Andre and Jake, “Where’s your brother from another mother, Hippo?”
“He got money from his mother, now he doesn’t feel that he should associate with the likes of us.”
“He’s being a real asshole, considering all you’ve done to help him. If he comes back to your place (behind the dumpsters in the back of Starbucks) you should lock him out.”
“I’ll do more than lock him out, I’ll knock him out.”
“Did everyone hear the good news?” asked Joy, “Rocky just told me that Daimon and Lucy got beat up by some black dude named Buddy. Lucy was knocked out. Daimon was stomped and has a broken leg. It happened last night. Rocky was there, I wish he’d caught it on video.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Andre, “I was hoping to do that myself.”
Gene said, “Daimon’s not so tough. He kept bragging about his maximum-security prison background, but I beat him one time. He sucker-punched me on the side of the head. He was surprised that I came back with three punches. I knocked him into a closet. Then he ran away like somebody’s bitch.”
“When I was still with my Jake,” said Joy, “Daimon came after me. Jake pushed him and Daimon bounced twice on his ass. Jake said, ‘Don’t even think of getting up.’
To me, Joy said, “Chester says I can move in anytime, even if I haven’t got my check yet. I hope that Chuck doesn’t have a hissy fit when I tell him that I’m leaving. Maybe I should pack my clothes first. I don’t want him throwing my stuff out the door or anything.”
~~~
Sample my books for free — To date, $1945.00 has been donated to the homeless:
Gotta Find a Home: Conversations with Street People
http://buff.ly/1SGzGCY ($2.99 Download)
http://buff.ly/1qLHptc ($2.99 Download)
https://buff.ly/2lUfp6Q ($2.99 Download)
https://buff.ly/2Gkoyxj ($2.99 Download)
They Call Me Red:
https://buff.ly/2GJSDsG ($2.99 Download)
Private Eye: Eugene Leftowicz
https://buff.ly/2GJSDsG ($2.99 Download)
Podcasts:
http://buff.ly/1Pxlf9p
http://www.blunttalk.libsyn.com/
http://buff.ly/1XU368M
http://buff.ly/2iYvOE4
http://buff.ly/2jdjZd6
Streetsister 