****NAMES CHANGED TO PROTECT PORTLAND'S STREET KIDS*****
In the morning I begin my hunt for Kitten Lady as soon as I finish breakfast. I find one of the street kids sleeping on the sidewalk with one of her blankets. He says he saw her in the morning at Lloyd Center Mall. I tell Houdini where I'm going and hop on the max. I check every bathroom and finally find her in the food court popping all her face bumps in the mirror. I know her too well.
She tells me she started hanging out with some people and lost track of time because she was enjoying herself and just didn't come back. I scold her for making us worry. She takes her time popping face bumps and about two hours later we head back to day services for lunch.
When we get there they are all out of food. This has never happened to me before. I make a heaping bowl of cereal and eat while KL takes over the bathroom again. When they are finally able to get us out we go to Fred Meyer. We do our shenanghans and get yogurt, granola, bananas, pistachios and chocolate chips. We only pay for the bananas. Our normal people aren't working today so we get kicked out for the kitten. We're just as happy to leave. We know they are watching us and suspecting us of stealing. We just don't have much choice right now without food stamps or money.
We go to the benches by the Dollar Tree to eat our linner. We use the bathrooms at McDonalds then head back down to the other side of the bridge by Whole Foods and Powells. KL and Houdini go to Starbucks and to give them space I go into Powell's.
I go back to McDonalds where we all meet up again. KL is really sick and crying. The Methadone withdrawals have been killing her lately. When shelter opens Houdini comes up and I give him the sleeping bag and some warmer clothes for KL. They take my phone and go to sleep outside.
Nerd Boy Wonder starts yelling about someone deleting the Pokemon off of his DS. "I'm going to smash you," he screams.
The rest of us dissolve into giggling fits. We spend the majority of the night making fun of him. Later Director Lady gets us started on a conversation about books. I'm surprised to discover that not only is she secretly a nerd outside of shelter (She plays WoW) but she also fancies Twilight. What is wrong with her?
I rant about the terrible writing that is Twilight and how the fact that the books even got published makes me concerned for the future of American literature.
I finish off the night with the dishes. Since dinner was a terribly pathetic lasagna it's a small load tonight. I have the radio blasting and I'm signing along to it while I'm scrubbing bits of lasagna off of the plates when I turn around and there is a police officer standing behind me. I don't even know what to do. My mouth hangs open. I'm terrified that there is a random guy I don't know who happens to be a police officer standing right behind me. To top it off I'm embarrassed of my off key singing and irritated that he interrupted a very good song. (Somebody I Used to Know by Goyte.)
While my life is flashing before my eyes he asks me to turn down the radio. I obey, apologizing for my loudness as I had no idea he was there. He says he just needs to talk to someone outside the door. I go back about my business after he leaves.
"Hey, hey." I hear coming from the window. I look around my shoulders confused and see Ariel's head sticking in the window. She's standing on the roof outside. She puts a finger to her lips, "Sh. Can you warn me if staff is coming?" I say I'll cough or something to warn her. She has slipped out the staff bathroom window to sneak a cigarette on the roof. Street kids continue to impress me with their stealth at getting away with things.
"Why are the police here?" I ask.
"Some girl is suicidal."
That's fairly normal. People have died of overdoses in shelter. Whether accidental or not I can't really blame anyone for wanting to off themselves in this place. I wonder how many people come in here suicidal because of their messed up lives or end up suicidal due to the conditions we live in. It's impossible to tell which comes first. I continue the dishes with the radio even lower so I can hear staff coming and going. Ariel tells me she is going to bed and says goodnight. Nazi Man comes back in shortly after.
"The next time cops come parading into my kitchen you better warn me first!" I demand.
"They came in here?" he asks.
"Yes!" I hiss, "That scared the living shit out of me."
"I'm sorry I had no idea they were coming in here."
"Yeah, dude no, that scared me shitless. Never again."
Nazi Man promises me that next time he'll warn me. Street kids and police aren't exactly the best friends. It's not uncommon for police to show up at shelter for various reasons. They usually keep them out of the actual shelter part and try to keep them on the landings where they warn those of us who loiter there. Anytime cops show up in any of our service centers or shelter staff are nice enough to try and warn us. Usually people scatter the moment they hear the word police.
Nazi Man tells me to help myself to today's reject pastries that have been donated. I take three muffins and wrap them in tin foil for later. I go upstairs to shower where I take an Oxy with my sleeping pill because there's not a bone or muscle in my body that doesn't hurt. I wait for the medications to kick in while reading a book in the video game room where someone is passing the time killing zombies.
When I go to bed I fall asleep instantaneously.
--mm
We go to the benches by the Dollar Tree to eat our linner. We use the bathrooms at McDonalds then head back down to the other side of the bridge by Whole Foods and Powells. KL and Houdini go to Starbucks and to give them space I go into Powell's.
I go back to McDonalds where we all meet up again. KL is really sick and crying. The Methadone withdrawals have been killing her lately. When shelter opens Houdini comes up and I give him the sleeping bag and some warmer clothes for KL. They take my phone and go to sleep outside.
Nerd Boy Wonder starts yelling about someone deleting the Pokemon off of his DS. "I'm going to smash you," he screams.
The rest of us dissolve into giggling fits. We spend the majority of the night making fun of him. Later Director Lady gets us started on a conversation about books. I'm surprised to discover that not only is she secretly a nerd outside of shelter (She plays WoW) but she also fancies Twilight. What is wrong with her?
I rant about the terrible writing that is Twilight and how the fact that the books even got published makes me concerned for the future of American literature.
I finish off the night with the dishes. Since dinner was a terribly pathetic lasagna it's a small load tonight. I have the radio blasting and I'm signing along to it while I'm scrubbing bits of lasagna off of the plates when I turn around and there is a police officer standing behind me. I don't even know what to do. My mouth hangs open. I'm terrified that there is a random guy I don't know who happens to be a police officer standing right behind me. To top it off I'm embarrassed of my off key singing and irritated that he interrupted a very good song. (Somebody I Used to Know by Goyte.)
While my life is flashing before my eyes he asks me to turn down the radio. I obey, apologizing for my loudness as I had no idea he was there. He says he just needs to talk to someone outside the door. I go back about my business after he leaves.
"Hey, hey." I hear coming from the window. I look around my shoulders confused and see Ariel's head sticking in the window. She's standing on the roof outside. She puts a finger to her lips, "Sh. Can you warn me if staff is coming?" I say I'll cough or something to warn her. She has slipped out the staff bathroom window to sneak a cigarette on the roof. Street kids continue to impress me with their stealth at getting away with things.
"Why are the police here?" I ask.
"Some girl is suicidal."
That's fairly normal. People have died of overdoses in shelter. Whether accidental or not I can't really blame anyone for wanting to off themselves in this place. I wonder how many people come in here suicidal because of their messed up lives or end up suicidal due to the conditions we live in. It's impossible to tell which comes first. I continue the dishes with the radio even lower so I can hear staff coming and going. Ariel tells me she is going to bed and says goodnight. Nazi Man comes back in shortly after.
"The next time cops come parading into my kitchen you better warn me first!" I demand.
"They came in here?" he asks.
"Yes!" I hiss, "That scared the living shit out of me."
"I'm sorry I had no idea they were coming in here."
"Yeah, dude no, that scared me shitless. Never again."
Nazi Man promises me that next time he'll warn me. Street kids and police aren't exactly the best friends. It's not uncommon for police to show up at shelter for various reasons. They usually keep them out of the actual shelter part and try to keep them on the landings where they warn those of us who loiter there. Anytime cops show up in any of our service centers or shelter staff are nice enough to try and warn us. Usually people scatter the moment they hear the word police.
Nazi Man tells me to help myself to today's reject pastries that have been donated. I take three muffins and wrap them in tin foil for later. I go upstairs to shower where I take an Oxy with my sleeping pill because there's not a bone or muscle in my body that doesn't hurt. I wait for the medications to kick in while reading a book in the video game room where someone is passing the time killing zombies.
When I go to bed I fall asleep instantaneously.
--mm
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