Monday, March 21, 2011

16th and Island - Chapter 5 - Echelons and Neon Green Carpet (Part 1)

Chapter 5 – Echelons and Neon Green Carpets
      “Well, I sure do appreciate it, more than you kin know!” Susan’s brown eyes, which I noticed were as big as Judy Garland’s, were shining.
      We walked out of God’s Extended Hand together.
      “Babe, Susan wants to go to Operation Hope,” I told Pete, trying not to let my voice show how ecstatic I was.
      “Jeb, we are going to go to a place called Vis-tah, they have a school for you to go to, and we will be away from this here place,” drawled Susan.
      Jeb tilted his head to the left and whistled. “Will they let me take my skateboard?”
      “Of course they will!” I assured.
      “Ok, well then I will call the tow company,” Pete said. “Where do you want us to tow your car Susan? To Vista?”
      “I reckon you know a good spot for it. I don’t know San Diego very good, so tow it wharever you be thinkin is best.”
      We arranged with the tow company to have it towed to the street in front of our church, Grace Fellowship, so that it would be easier to get it fixed for her. It was 11 am, and the tow company said they would be there in half an hour to forty-five minutes.
“We can come pick you guys up for church tomorrow so you can get to stuff in your car. Do you want to talk to the people at ‘Operation Hope’ and find out the rules and about Jeb’s school?”
      “You already had been talkin with them, right? I don’t want to be askin them the same things you asked them. They be sayin’ to themselves, this lady is re-dun-dant. I wanna be makin’ a good impression, so I ought not make them think I’m re-dun-dant,” Susan laughed.
      “Ok, whatever you think. I’ll just call to confirm that you guys are coming then,” I said.
      We began walking back to their car. Susan kept introducing us to her homeless friends, telling them that she and Jeb would be going to stay in a shelter in Vista. Meanwhile, Jeb road his skateboard up and down the street, and I kept a nervous eye out for Shelby, who had threatened to kidnap him. We met the wife of Bob, the veteran whose arm was hurt – she was visiting him from the hospital. Her diabetes had gotten so bad that she was in a wheelchair because her feet were too messed up to walk. Bob was upset that Pete would not jump start his car.
      It took us 20 minutes to get back to Susan’s car. “She and Jeb seem really popular down here,” I whispered in Pete’s ear.

2 comments:

  1. Great that Susan and Jeb are getting to Operation Hope and great thing that there is such a place!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Operation Hope is a great place - I wish there were more places like it!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...