This is a continuation of a true story of a homeless family I was writing this spring - and got distracted from with helping my husband with Greek intensives! Here goes:
Pete motioned the tow truck driver to Susan's car. Susan panicked, "I don't want that Shelby seein' us leavin', and we just saw him by "God's Extended Hand". Can you tell the tow truck driver to not be stickin' out like a sore thumb into the innersection?"
Pete agreed, mumbling under his breath, "What does it matter if we are leaving? It's not like that loser has a car to follow us in", but told the driver and went to go get our car, which was parked across the street from God's Extended Hand, so that Shelby wouldn't see us leave. As the tow truck driver hooked up her car, Charles the Echelon, Judah the man who had protected her from Shelby night before, and several other homeless men gathered round Susan. Charles exclaimed, "Everything will be ok honey. Don't worry. It will be ok!" Of course it will, you crazy man! I thought. Now that they are getting off the streets away from scary people like you, and psychos who are threatening their lives, they will be immensely better than they are now! Susan hugged her friends, Judah especially tightly. "I promise to keep in touch with you guys - you have all been so good to me and my Jeb - thank ya!".
Susan and Jeb, with his skateboard, got into the car, but I thought I saw in Susan's face the same look as I imagined Lot's wife to have when she left Sodom, as she waved goodbye to the five or so homeless men congregated around the car. I looked at Pete with a baffled look, who just shrugged. Pete told the tow-truck driver to follow him, and drove him to our church, Grace Fellowship, where we would leave Susan's car until we could figure out how to get it running.
Susan thanked us profusely. "You guys have been reel life-savers today - I don't know how to thank ya' for gitten' me and my boy away from that crazy Shelby!"
"Don't mention it - it is the Lord!"
"Those guys, Judah, and Charles, they sho' have looked after me and Jeb. Growin' up in a middle-class family and all, I used ta think that homeless people were all just a bunch of drunks and druggies, but I sho' was wrong! There are some reel good 'uns out there, some reel good 'uns."
"Well God protected you while you had to be down there, and He is protecting you now by finding you a placement."
Jeb sighed. "I'm glad to be away from that place. It sceered me. Yesterday I saw a man with a gun stuck in 'is pocket, 'ould you believe it?"
"Wow! Uh, what you like to do for fun, Jeb?" I asked trying to change the subject.
"I like ridin' this here skateboard, and I used to play with my cousins back home." I almost expected him to say, "and we went fishin' for crawdad's and caught Junebugs and put 'em in jars and visited Gomer at the fillin' station."
"Too bad he can't be with his cousins'" sighed Susan, "but my family, they just plain don' wanna help us, and we can't stay aroun where there ain't no jobs. That's why we come out to California." How could you think there would be jobs here? I puzzled.
We pulled up to the church. Pete paid the tow truck driver, who happened to be a Christian and gave us a discount. "That's as much as I can take off without gettting into trouble," he told Pete.
Susan got a few things from her car. "Well, I guess we better go by the house so I can change before work," Pete said.
Wow! Guns...no child should see that.
ReplyDeleteNo, they should not!
ReplyDelete