Here is that story......

Here is that story ... The other day I met my sister on Main Street as she was taking a walk. We sat together awhile until one of the street people showed up with a comforter wrapped around his neck, one rainbow striped sock and one grey work sock on his feet. No shoes. The three of us started talking. The young man said he was an anarchist and atheist. My sister popped into the discount store and came back with three Pepsi’s . She handed him one. He was extremely and genuinely thankful; a bit surprised too I think. We continued to chat until my sister headed home. I continued sitting on the bench and “josh” took a seat on the sidewalk beside the bench I was on.

He talked about living in Montreal and Kitchener and now Cambridge.
“About three months” he answered when I asked how lo

ng he was in town
“I have been kicked out of both shelters because I sleep in late so I sleep wherever I can..on buildings,in school yards,parks and sometimes under bridges” he went on

He told me all the drugs he had said he had tried. Coke at age 8 because his own mother gave it to him. “My street family means more to me than my own real family” he stated

He went on doing the tough guy act and I called him on it. His eyes dampened up and he lifted himself off the sidewalk. He rolled up the sleeves on his jacket and I saw the “crank sores” Crystal Meth. I had already thought so after seeing his teeth.

“I don’t do meth anymore. That stuff will fuck you up” he said when he had seen me looking at the sores.

“I only do hash and weed now” I wanted to believe him but somehow I couldn’t
I see him almost everyday now carrying around the blanket somedays and not on others. Wearing the same socks and same baseball cap. Jeans he had made using dental floss and old fabric. A hat he had decorated and still carries on decorating. The mteal parts of BIC lights crimped along the cap. Some days he is at the library sitting across from me. I wave or say hello. He replies “I am surprised you still talk to me”

Judging someone because they are homeless won’t change their situation.
I signed off the computer and said goodbye.
He waved at me and reminded me that his name was not Josh. “You know my name “
I know his real name but figured when and if he wanted to tell his real name and his whole story; he would.
Sadly ones reputation proceeds and follows them around.
When someone puts on a “thug face” people tend to stand clear. Maybe that is why he does it. Maybe he doesn’t want anyone getting close. Maybe he fears if people get close; they will leave him alone, to his own devices.
Maybe that is why he is alone.
Maybe he chooses solitude over being alone.
Sad ? truth can sometimes be sad
Another person with a different wall of self-protection