Day Sixty-Two

    ****NAMES CHANGED TO PROTECT PORTLAND'S STREET KIDS*****

In the morning Houdini, Kitten Lady and I go straight to Day Program #2 to try and figure out what is going to happen with shelter for Houdini. Houdini is still more like himself and less like an asshole which is making KL and I very happy. While we're at the day program I start sticking the pokey thing in my ear again to try and hear. Houdini isn't really up to date with the various health problems KL and I have going on now so when he sees me doing this he yells, "What are you doing? Don't stick that in your ear! You're not the cat!" He is so concerned and intense that KL and I can't help but laugh. His reference to us picking ear mites out the cat's ear is hysterical because he sounds convinced I really thought I was the cat.

Later I tell him that people have started saying that I am doing Heroin now.
"No you're not," he says just as intensely and we're giggling again.
"Thanks for telling her babe," KL says, "She was really worried she might be."

Our fits of laughter does not take away from the fact that while he is silly Houdini does really care. He was really concerned I thought I was Tweak.

KL and I decide that since I have my food stamps back we should go to a grocery store and get some yogurt for my tummy. We do our usual stunt of paying for a few things and hiding the rest. We are pretty sure we are being followed around the store. We steal from here often enough I know they must have caught on by now. Girls can't live off cookie dough alone. (Okay, maybe we could).

As we are walking out the door with our stolen goods I see one of the guys who has been following us take out his phone. "Not the yogurt," I hear him say, "No just call the police."

I may have never been in trouble before but I don't need KL to tell me that we just go busted. I push her up hill in the opposite direction that they thought we were going as fast as I can. We pass one of the dealers KL has been looking for but just keep running past. I keep yelling for her to tell me which direction to go. I keep telling her to toss the unpaid for food but she refuses. Fat ass. Finally she throws my yogurt by a fast food restaurant by shelter and we keep chugging along.

KL keeps dropping things and I keep having to backtrack to get them. She loses her shoe but I don't want to get it but she keeps yelling at me to so I let her keep rolling downhill while I run back for the shoe. There's a big drop off as she's rolling down and she thinks I'm still behind her. People watch as she crashes on the sidewalk and the kitten goes flying. I scramble to pick up her and the kitten while people just stare and laugh. Not that I can totally blame them. She was wearing a face mask after all.

We finally make it to the day program where we run in to hide and catch our breath. Once our breath is caught we start laughing. One girl who can barely hear running pushing another in a wheelchair that's wearing a face mask and holding a kitten; we must have been a funny sight. We agree not to tell Houdini. He doesn't like it when we steal. He gets irate about it sometimes. He has a point though, we are going to get in trouble if we keep it up.

When we're calm and eating ice cream I'm actually most upset about my yogurt. That grocery store is the only one that sells that particular kind. I'm happy KL didn't throw the ice cream though it gives us at least something to eat until I can go back and pick up the yogurt.

As I'm pushing KL up hill later we have a spat that to be honest I still don't understand what it's about. I finally decide to just let go of her and let her push herself. I turn around and go to the library where I hide out until it's about time to go to shelter. By the time I get there KL is already up but Houdini is still waiting down. Nerdboy Wonder calls me a bitch as he walks around wearing a bike helmet. Houdini chases him down. There are no words to describe the hilarity of the scene as Houdini was running after Nerdboy who looked terrified. Houdini doesn't hit him or anything though just chews him out.

I'm laughing when Houdini comes back up. He says he won't let any guy call me a bitch. He says they shouldn't even use the word bitch. It is true. Houdini may be an asshole sometimes and he may talk shit but he has never called KL or me a bitch. I've never even really heard him use the word at all.

Houdini tells me they are letting him back up into shelter. The upstairs where I am. I am genuinely happy about this. I hug him. I actually did really miss him when he was in jail. When we get upstairs and he sees that dinner is lasagna he groans, "Lasagna again?"
 "I bet you miss jail food now." I say.

In shelter we have the house meeting which I run. We are expecting a lot of drama in the house meeting but there isn't any. I expect an angry mob to chase me down for saying, "We are all the same amount of homeless. You don't have the right to tell anyone how to live because you're in the same situation as everyone else. If you had all the answers you wouldn't be here" but Ginger Kid doesn't say a word. I'm shocked and honestly kind of disappointed.

After this I go to bed where I write until my sleeping pills kick in.

--mm