Friends

  One thing you learn early on is that you can't be out on the street without friends.  Not only is it good from a standpoint of conversation, it is also good for security.  The street can be dangerous.  So, I wanted to use this story to list some of the friends I made, while on the street.  Most are still my friends, although a few have passed away since then.  I will also refer to most of these folks in future stories.

 Bruce was probably my best friend on the street.  He was funny and educated.  He was a concert pianist and had a Master's degree in Social Work.  He had also been a paralegal.  Bruce was on the street primarily because of an alcohol problem.  

 Mark was Bruce's friend, so he became mine.  He was a computer programmer.  He also had a drug problem.  While we were on the street, he got a good job with computers, but he used most of his money on drugs, and they had to fire him.  He has since turned his life around.

 Terry was a Navy veteran.  He just wanted to live by himself.  He did have a friend for a while named Mike.  They had a falling out.  Terry has a rough exterior, but he has a helpful heart.

 Eric used to work in convenience stores and was an accomplished guitarist.  He was out on the street because of finances, much like me.

 Marcus was a great writer.  He had anger issues and had a hard time holding down a job.  He was probably my second best friend on the street.  A very creative person.

 Kevin was one of my protectors, when we slept outside.  He knew a lot about the ways of the street, and he taught me a lot.  He had a bad heart, which would later kill him.  He let me have a sleeping bag.

 Mike and Bill were almost twins.  Mike was from Ohio, and Bill was from Hilton Head.  You hardly saw one without the other.  Mike was funny.  Bill was catatonic.

 Sandy was Mike's friend.  I was with him and Bill on the street later on.  He also protected me from others.

 I may be leaving out one or two others, but you get the idea.  We could talk about the most mundane things and make them interesting.  One thing about homeless people is that they know everything about the weather.  They have to in order to live.  Many of them are well-read, since they spend a lot of time reading in the library.  One thing I learned to survive in that environment, especially at the Mission, was to tell stories about my work in movies and TV.  The people I had worked with.  The folks in the music industry that I had met.  Some of the stories I made up.  I had to for survival.  It was sort of like the 1000 tales of Scheherazade, or at least it seemed like that.  I was homeless purely for economic reasons.  My eyes were opened to the world.