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| Bill (L) and Chris with the sore foot (R) at Bay Side Camp. Entrance to fishing bridge in background. |
Sunday,
October 5, 2014
I watched this little life’s drama unfold
before my very eyes.
Stosh rolled up the newspaper and held it
in his right hand as if about to swat a fly on the table. He slowly stepped closer behind Tina, who was
innocently sitting at the aforementioned table, in a deep conversation with
James, and totally oblivious to Stosh’s stealthy approach behind her.
At the same time, Mari was sitting not ten
feet behind behind Stosh, having picked up his intentions on her radar. She was ready and poised for the inevitable
moment of impact. Stosh had stealth, but
Mari had good vision and patience!
Stosh reached forward, toward Tina, with
the newspaper, staying back far enough so as not to be the recipient of a counter-attack. Watching Stosh’s six foot frame easing closer
to Tina, I knew his mission was doomed from the beginning.
He meant to tap her lightly to mimic a bug
landing on her right ear. But, he had
been drinking and his balance was not what it should have been for this delicate
and dangerous mission. At the last
moment, he moved forward too fast and smacked Tina’s ear harder than he should
ever have in order to continue residing amongst the living.
Mari, who was still behind him watching
her prey, leaped forward with the speed and agility of a leopard. With all of her 90 pounds in motion, she
raised her right hand high, like one would to dunk a basketball through the
hoop, and in one bound landed right behind him, her arm and hand coming down
hard on poor Stosh’s back.
Bent over in surprised pain, he stood
there between Tina and Mari who looked at each other momentarily. Leopards stick together during the hunt. Stosh should have known the variables and the
risks involved in such a bold move.
Having watched this silently, as one would
watch a leopard stalking a gazelle on the African Plain, I asked him,
“Stosh…how about a fresh, hot cheeseburger?”
At the same time Bill handed him a drink and a fruit pie, and Paul gave
him a bag of chips. We knew that food easily
solved the majority of guy’s problems.
Stosh was OK with that and started eating as if nothing had
happened. Guys are easy.
Tina, who had been drinking, was still
rattled by Stosh’s behavior. Her
conversation at the table now was about people taking advantage of her. Mari, who had been drinking, was upset that a
man would prey on a helpless woman and smack her with a newspaper.
I stood there with my outstretched hand
with a cheeseburger for each of them, but they were still involved in
discussing what had just happened.
Closure had to be reached before the cheeseburgers were accepted. I put the food on the table, gave them each a
hug and assured them that I loved them.
Which is true. Glory to God.
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| Left to right; Shorty singing "I'll Fly Away" with Stosh and Mari. Also the setting for the Stosh, Tina, Mari drama! |
Shorty comes up to give me a big hug. This man is very loving and giving. He is always coaxing everyone to cheerfulness.
“Hey, Jean-Luc, listen to this.” Without waiting for an answer, he suddenly
breaks into a rendition of “I’ll Fly Away,” and he encourages all who would to
join him in the singing. Shorty, who has
been drinking, is always cheerful and the life of the party.
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| L. to R; Leila, Shorty, James - who just moved from Indiana, works and stays in his SUV with his girlfriend, Leila, until they find a place to live. |
“Shorty,” I ask, “you have a lot of family
here in Pensacola, don’t you?”
“Ooooooh yea, I shore do. They are spread all over this town.”
“Don’t you ever feel like staying with
them, sometimes?”
He looked up at me and raised his eyes to
heaven, “Drama, brother…I can live without the drama…and they wouldn’t let me
drink.”
“Shorty, do you want me to pray for you to
stop drinking? Have you ever thought of
stopping to drink?”
“No,” he quickly replied, “no…I like my
drinking. Thank you.”
We looked at each other and then we both
laughed.
Chris is out all day long looking for a driving job. That seems simple enough. He’s single, unattached, foot-loose and
fancy-free. Except…for Brianna…this
wonderful dog. It’s just a very little
drama with a possible solution. He asked
me to make mention on this blog that she is up for adoption if someone wants
her. He just took over ownership from
Jersey who went to jail…for a long time.
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| Brianna with Chris |
Brianna, who is spayed, is a very
obedient, healthy, loving, playful, nine months old companion who gets along great
with everyone, including other dogs. Call Chris if you want to have her (free) and
take good care of her; or if you know of a driving job for him (he has a clean
record). Please pray for Chris and
Brianna. (Chris: 850-696-5009)
It seems Tim was waiting for us as Bill,
Paul and I drove to the Bridge Camp. We
greeted each other as I handed him a cheeseburger, Bill gave him a drink and
Paul let him choose which chips he wanted.
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| Tim with his fruit pie, cheeseburger, chips and drink. Bridge in background with Kelly's van far right. |
“So, how are you doing, Tim?” I asked him.
“I’m doing fine, now!” answered Tim.
Looking like a tourist, Tim is the most
laid back, relaxed, quiet homeless man I know.
He is very easy going and gets along with everyone.
“What do you mean, “now?”
“It got a little rough, here, yesterday,” said
Tim, who had been drinking.
This is not the easy-going Tim I
know. “What happened last night?” I really shouldn’t ask, but I was curious as
to what happened here that riled Tim up like this.
“All I can say is I’m glad the drama is
over.”
We didn’t have to ask what drama he was
speaking about, as he promptly continued.
He wanted (excuse me –needed) to talk to somebody about it.
Well, Shelly had worked a couple days last
week and made a little money. Her
boyfriend, Murphy, who had been drinking (along with Shelly) thought she should
share some of that money with him her (I’m going according to what Tim is
telling me).
There was a lot of arguing. Out here, they can’t slam doors or kick
walls, because there aren’t any. They
can’t slam a vase or a plate because they don’t have any. But, something’s going to get slammed because
when anyone is angry (and drunk) something is going to be found that is handy
to slam. They can slam a trash can, or a
folding chair, or a car door (if there is a car available). Most often, they slam each other, because
slamming is part of being angry, out here.
I’m glad people off the street don’t do this. Can you imagine?
Tim is telling us all this at the highest
speed I have ever heard him speak. After
the big slamming argument, Tina came to Tim to tell him all about it and get it
off her chest. She was repeating
everything Tim just witnessed from twenty feet away (his van is parked next to
Kelly’s). Tim told her he just didn’t care and didn’t want to hear it, as he
climbed in his van and slammed the door shut.
So Shelly left to go stay at the Bay Side
Camp and the other Bridge Camp residents all headed in different
directions. Tim said everyone left
because there was just too much drama.
Jack the Astrophysicist wisely went to the next town, and Pete went to
visit a friend in the safety of another town.
Murphy came back early this morning looking
all beat up - with a broken arm! Looked
like he got slammed real bad.
The tolerance for drama, in the street, is
very low.
I tell them that I love every single one
of them just as much as the other, and I encourage them to love one another as
Jesus loves them. As soon as they sober
up, they remember. However, this is the
first part of the month when some homeless are flush with their monthly check
and beer is shared with everyone – one for all and all for one!
By the tenth of the month, when the money
has run out, the party is over and the drama tide is at its lowest level,
again.
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| Bill (L) and Paul (R) walking from the bridge to John's Camp. |
We then rolled on to visit John’s camp by
the railroad tracks (see post Sept. 29, 2014). We were cheerfully
welcomed by four guys “shooting the bull” around a campfire. They were glad to see us, as they were
hungry. Patrick, who had been drinking,
was as friendly as I had ever seen him, as he welcomed us with a smile and
shook our hands.
I was surprised that John, who had been
drinking, had so many people at his camp.
Along with a friend who was visiting, we also found Tony at the camp.
“Hey, Tony, I thought you were gonna be in
jail for quite a while!” I asked.
“Nope, got out in twenty-five days.” We laughed, as we reminisced about the day he
told us he was going to go to jail (see post August 22, 2014)
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| L. to R. Tony, John, Patrick and The Visitor pointing his finger up, "Jesus is the one!" |
We fed them and stayed around to
fellowship for a few minutes before going back up the tracks where I had almost
been arrested myself, not too long ago (see post August 9, 2014).
I took a picture just before we left, as The Visitor pointed his index
to the sky and said, “Jesus is number one.”
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| Bill and Paul going back to the truck. The railroad people spelled Pensacola wrong! |
I love to go to the Palafox Camp because
of the variety of the homeless who are found there. We first ran into Chris and Mouse – Mouse is
the nicest pit bull you’ll ever meet! I
gave Mouse some dog biscuits I had brought for him. Ministering to their pets really blesses the
homeless. Then Chris shared with us a
little drama he had not only observed, but become part of.
Farther down Palafox Street, a couple of
blocks, are some nice little cafés with tables and chairs on the sidewalk. It’s a great place for some people to sit in
the afternoon sun, relax, people watch and enjoy some good food. Chris likes to go there, as it is a cheerful
place and, sometimes, people will give him a handout even though he doesn’t
ask.
There was a family with young children
eating outside at one of the cafés when a Bible College student came over to
hand them a tract and talk to them about getting saved (from what I’m told, it
is one of the requirements for them to come and minister on this street)!
The father, who was eating sushi, rightly
said, “Can’t you see we are eating? Go
away!”
Chris was standing by and said to the
Bible thumper, “Leave them alone. Can’t you see they’re eating dinner?” Most of the homeless, I’m glad to say, have a
good sense of justice verses injustice.
Bible Man continued speaking to the family,
making the statement, “You’re eating the devil’s food!” and tried again to tell
them about salvation.
Sushi…the devil’s food? Where did that come from?
Chris, by that time fully involved with
this useless Bible Man, answered, “This is not the devil’s food. That was made by a person – it’s man-made and
the devil had nothing to do with it (Chris used to be a chef).”
Still in front of the family eating their
dinner, Bible Man looked at Chris with disdain and retorted, “What do you know
about Christianity – you’re homeless?”
Chris was reliving his anger at Bible Man,
as he was relating the drama to us.
I gave another dog biscuit to Mouse, scratched
his side vigorously and said, “Jesus loves the animals, too, Mouse.”
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| Chris and Mouse, his smiling pit bull! |
Chris was pleased to hear this. “One of those Bible students once told me
animals don’t go to heaven because they don’t have a soul! Can you imagine that?” as he gave Mouse a
big, loving hug.
Bill, Paul, Chris and I stood there
looking at Mouse sitting on a park bench, looking up at us while wagging his
tail and smiling. We sadly shook our head that someone would say such a thing
about one of the most loving and devoted animals on this planet.
There are many more amazing stories of the
homeless we encountered just today - and I was out there only six hours! If I
had to tell you about today’s drama tide rolling in, and the drama tide going out
…well…I’d have to write a book.
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| Bianna loves to play - with people or other dogs! |
Good night, folks, and
God bless y’all.
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