Blessings to everyone!
Shalom
Pastor Patricia Rhame
Mary got out of jail in early May and not a minute too soon. Her birthday is May 25th and when I asked her if she planned to celebrate on her birthday, she said she planned to celebrate all month! Why am I not surprised? She will be 32 on her birthday and has been homeless and on the streets for 16 years. She truly is a master at homelessness and has no desire to change. Mary has a knack for picking up new men and one of the newer ones is Hippy.
He has been hitchhiking around the country since he was 13 and fit right in with Mary's lifestyle. One day he was sitting under the bridge with Joe and when I got there, he proudly announced that he had found a job...a two hour shift working at Subway...if he can keep the drinking under control. He said he desperately needed shoes (the ones he was wearing were about two sizes too small). I said my son had left a pair at the house that would fit him and I'd bring them down before he had to go to work. His first shift was that evening at 7 and it was already 3 so I suggested that he stop drinking now so he'd be ready to go to work. He kept insisting "just a little bit more". I gave up with the reasoning and when I brought the shoes back later, he was passed out along the trail. We haven't seen him since. I seriously doubt that his new career at Subway has taken off and they moved him into management... but I may be wrong.
May 1, I was driving past the SRM and saw Sam and Joe walking up to get a sack dinner. I stopped to talk to them and Sam was so groggy he couldn't stay standing while we talked. He said he had found some prescription sleeping pills along the trail and took one. I don't even bother to ask what he was thinking anymore.
The next day at Dorchester it was rainy and cold. Grover was there... we hadn't seen him for a month or so. He was passed out right by the picnic table where everyone was eating and people didn't seem to notice him. They just stepped over him and sat down. Sam was drunk also and seemed to think it was his duty to be Grover's caretaker. He was yelling at everybody to watch out and when we all left, the two of them were passed out on the concrete pad under the pavilion.
I was driving up I-25 on May 6 when I noticed the HOT cops and the clean up team down along the creek. They were very close to Sam's camp so I pulled over and debated if I should go down. Sam saw me and came up to the car to tell me they were tearing down the camps and giving tickets. I went down and talked to the cops and they said if Sam went to the Resource Advocacy Program, he could stay in his camp until June 1. It took a lot of convincing to get him to go because "I ain't going in no program". He got a letter from RAP which he could show to the HOT cops to guarantee his camping priviledges until June 1. He didn't believe it but we didn't have time to debate it. I had sent him to the VA to try to access some of their programs so our new mission was to get his birth certificate. We called his mom and made arrangements to pick it up on Sunday, May 9...Mother's Day. His whole family was there. They hadn't seen him for 4 years. Sam was surprised to hear that it was Mother's Day.
When I found Sam under the bridge two days later, he was drinking a few Cammo beers and was extremely mad. Word on the tramp trail is that the letter from RAP "don't mean nothin". There was no reasoning with him so I left.
At prayer meeting on May 11, R.J.'s name was drawn for a free night's stay. He and Joe wanted to use the room the next day as the HOT cops had told R.J. he had to tear down his tent and clean up his camp. Joe called the next day after they checked into their room and asked me if I could store some of R.J.'s things. When I got there R.J. put two duffel bags in my car. All his personal belongings including pictures of his children, and his wife's death certificate. Amazing that his whole life could be stored in two duffel bags.
The next day was cold and rainy so we called Patricia and told her we would pay for Joe and R.J. to stay one more night. The next night, someone who had paid for a whole week was picked up and taken to jail so Patricia gave Joe and R.J. his remaining nights. Now they were set until May 18. This was great because the job that was supposed to start on May 10. just might start on May 17 and if these guys aren't in a room with a phone, they can't get a call to go to work. On Monday, May 17, Joe was just leaving the room to go fly his sign when he got the call to go to work. A painting job. He was thrilled.
Lisa went back to detox on the 12th. I called to visit with her and she told me she was going to a program in Del Norte, CO. It's called Onesimus, is a 6 month program and you can work for your tuition and fees. She sounded positive and upbeat about it. They're picking her up on Wednesday and she's staying at detox until they pick her up. Just to be safe...and sober. This is the first time we've heard her agree to any kind of treatment. On Sunday, May 16, we went to detox and attended an AA meeting with Lisa. She was sitting next to a guy named Reno who was giving her very negative information about Onesimus. We told her we'd check it out. I talked to both Pastors at Onesimus on Tuesday, May 18 and they both told me the program was designed for people just like Lisa and they were looking forward to having her there. On Wednesday, the day she was to be picked up, Joe called when he got home from work and said that Lisa's backpack was in his room. Apparently, the program went through some administration changes from the time I talked to Pastor Mark at 1:00 and the time they called Lisa that evening at 7:00 and told her they were not picking her up. Guess Reno knew more than we gave him credit for.
Even though Joe says that tramps don't steal from other tramps, we've learned that not all tramps adhere to that code of ethics. At the Sunday feed at Dorchester, we noticed a new guy there with no shoes.
He said someone stole his shoes when he was sleeping under the bridge. Susie ran home and got a pair of her husband's boots for Roger. When he put them on it was like Cinderella. They fit perfectly and he was so thankful. Sam was at the park also and was drunk again. We hadn't seen him for a few days...he had gone to Oklahoma. Apparently he was walking to the Marion House and a guy in a truck stopped and asked him if he wanted a job...ride hot shot with him on an overnight delivery to Oklahoma. Sam took him up on the offer and made $200. We won't expect to see him sober for a quite awhile.
On Thursday,May 20th, when I was coming home from driving Joe and Z to work, I stopped to leave food for the cat and saw Judy and Mary sitting on the log down by the bridge
I ran down to say good morning (it was 8:30 a.m.) and noticed they were enjoying a big Cammo beer. Mary had no shoes on and wondered if I had an extra pair of shoes. Hers were stolen last night. Judy wanted to know the time...she has a meeting with her parole officer at 9 and she can't be late again. "I don't want no warrant out on me." Her PO has scheduled her to go to Crossroads in Pueblo on the 24th so she'll miss Mary's birthday on the 25th. I suggested that Judy not drink any more beer before her meeting but she pulled a pack of gum out of her pocket and smiled. Scott showed up a few minutes later with three more big beers for the girls and a big bottle of Crazy Stallion stashed in his sleeve. I hadn't met Scott before but Judy said she's known him for years. He used to be best friends with her ex, Gary. "Gary is the guy I had all my babies with and he's the one who knocked out my teeth". Wow! More information than I needed. The more they drank, the sadder Judy got about missing Mary's birthday and the closer to 9 it became. Finally, Judy looked at me and said she would be late if she walked. I dropped her off at the courthouse at 2 minutes to nine. She got out, popped a piece of gum in her mouth, leaned in the window and said "Thanks baby girl. I love you."
That afternoon, we went to the motel to give Patricia some donations we had secured. (Jay had read our blog and donated $ for our guys to stay in their room. David had heard many of our stories and wanted to help with expenses also.) While we were at the motel we went to Joe's room to see Lisa (she left detox when the program fell through and didn't have any place else to go.) She was there with a friend she had worked with years ago and reconnected with while in detox. Her friend was noticably drunk and wanted to take Lisa to her house to play Scrabble. We haven't seen either of them since so that Scrabble game must have turned into a tournament.
Sunday, May 23, I stopped to feed the cat and saw two policeman down by the bridge talking to Tex. Tex had called them to report that R.J. had pulled a knife on him and had threatened him with a long stick with razor blades taped to the end. (Joe had made this for Lisa to protect herself when he left to get food.) Apparently, Tex had made some inappropriate advances toward Judy and R.J. stepped in to stop it. They all carry knifes and are very protective of the women so it's not surprising that there is a stabbing down there every few months.
I left there and went to Dorchester because it was just about 1...time for the feed. Taz was there and looked great. We hadn't seen him for about two weeks. He proudly annoounced that he has had no alcohol for 7 days.
There were two new guys there, Larry and Robert, sitting with Joe, Ted, Jeff and Mary. Jeff was the one who was stabbed under the bridge in February. He just got out of jail...45 days for panhandling. New guys, Larry and Robert were on their way to Pueblo when their truck broke down on I-25 and Fillmore last night. (They got a ride down to Nevada and found themselves under the bridge for the night.) Larry was still drunk and kept asking me if I'd do them a favor and drive them to Pueblo. No, but they could use my phone to call family members for a ride. Larry was pretty sad. He'd been sober for 14 months and then fell off the wagon last night.(Amazing what an evening under the bridge can do). He broke up with his fiance and showed me the tattoo of her name on his ring finger. What's a guy to do? Robert was sober and kept talking about his truck and the part he needed to get it running. He then mentioned that they had left a puppy in the truck and could I go get it. Yes, get in the car. I took Joe along as a body guard in case Robert was an axe murderer and we went to get the dog. When we got there, the truck and dog were gone. I was sick.
Tuesday, May 25th....Mary's birthday. We planned to celebrate it at prayer meeting.
Joe told her "don't be all drunked up or nothing because Barb's getting you a birthday cake and a lot of people there care about you." Mary was not "drunked up"
and seemed to be happy that so many people cared about her. When we cut the cake, she wanted the piece of cake with her name on it. Taz looked at the size of the piece and said, "It's a good thing your name is not Elizabeth".
No comments:
Post a Comment