It’s 5 AM and I’m freezing. The line seems to stretch on forever. I see my buddy Benny from 2nd street shuffling along with everyone else to get his bowl of grits and coffee. I ease over to Benny to see if I could get a break in line. He sees me coming and makes some space for me to slide into. I turn to see how Benny is doing and I notice the slight glaze to his eyes that tells me he’s already had his morning fix and won’t be much on talking. See, Benny is one of the few of us who has a job, but his habit eats all of his pay. I’m lucky I guess, no habit, but I can’t get a job. If you don’t have a residence its hard to get a job, even temp work. Benny got his job before he lost his place. Now he lives in an alley off 2nd between Grace & Franklin.
AHH hot grits and hot coffee, tastes like shit but its hot and takes the pains away. Over breakfast, if you want to call it that, Benny tells me it’s his day off but this demolition crew needs a couple of people to help clean this lot where a house was torn down. It’s a lot of toting and carrying shit then throwing it on a dumptruck but it’s fresh green bills at the end of the day and chances like that don’t come very often. So Benny and I head down to Stafford & Carrie.
We find the lot and the foreman tells us what to do. He gives us five dollars for lunch, tells us to break at 11:30 be back at noon and he’ll be back around four to pay us. I don’t ask how much because it doesn’t much matter, I’m just happy to know I’ll get a good meal today. The foreman leaves and one of the other guys comes over to show us where to start. I guess he’s the guy Benny knows because Benny tells him thanks for the tip about the job. Oh well, time to get to work.
Lunch time came quick. Benny and I walked down to the store at Carrie & Meadow. I got two pieces of chicken, some potato wedges, and a quart of beer. Benny skipped lunch and got a ten dollar egg to ease his sickness. I went with Benny down under the overpass so that he could fix. Then I shared my chicken with him and drank my beer, both of us enjoying our own types of high until time to go back to work.
The foreman came back at about quarter after four. He paid us $55 apiece and that shocked me. Most people wouldn’t pay us a descent wage because they know we won’t say anything. We’re just happy to get some money. He also said we could work for the next three days if we wanted and maybe more after that. Benny couldn’t because of his job but I said hell yeah! My daddy used to say even the sun shines on a dogs ass some days. I guess this was one of my days.
Benny asked me if I wanted to celebrate with him and I said yeah why not. Like I said, I don’t have a habit but I still like to get high. Besides I hadn’t been doing anything but staying in the old elevator shaft I called home. We went back to the store at Carrie & Meadow. I went in the store to get us beers while Benny went to get us a couple of bags from his man at the seafood joint across the street.
Benny had a clean point, he let me use it first then he fixed after me. It feels good to really relax after a real days work. We walked over to the park on Clay St. at the top of Jackson Ward to see some friends that stay over that way and watch the young bucks play ball.
We hung out until about 10:30 getting pretty twisted then I told Benny I had to go. I had to get up and go to work in the morning. Man, that sounds strange coming out of my mouth but goddammit it felt good. I stopped by Alladins and got a slice of pizza then made my way back to the elevator shaft.
Now as I lay here, my body half numb, I have to say today was a good day. The next three days ought to be good ones as well, after that I don’t know. I just take it as it comes. I been around enough to take whatever life throws at me. I’m a survivor! I might be down for now but I got to have hope that Ill make it one day and have something to call my own. Until then I have to make the best out of what I have and for now today is about as good as it gets. Goodnight.
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