Day 7

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 It was definitely a bizarre day yesterday. I woke up in a park in Vacaville CA. I was waken by the heat of the sun. It was only 9:30 and the heat was already pretty overbearing. I tried to go back to sleep but way too hot. I got up, did my morning stuff and walked 15 minutes to the closest Starbucks. I stayed at Starbucks for about 4 hours writing and relaxing. 
     I decided to walk north east and check out the down town where there was another park. I took my time walking there because it was hot and hauling all my stuff only made it worse. Downtown Vacaville is really nice. At the end of the downtown street there is a bridge that crosses a creek entering a park. Very pretty. 
    As I entered and looked around. There were a bunch of people and traffic around there. I right away thought I probably wouldn't stay the night there. As I walked through the park, 3 teenaged girls approached me. They said their family party has a bunch of extra food and if I was hungry they would give me a plate. For some reason I havnt been having much of an appetite the last few days so I told them very sincerely thank you anyways. 
    As I walked further down the path there was a older african American man on a bench. He was dressed in ragged clothes. He was drinking a jug of orange juice and reading some papers in a packet. He shouted out "say man! Take off a load!". I have been thinking of using the yes man strategy (to an extent) on this journey so without hesitation I said ok and sat down. The man introduced himself as Mr Robinson. Right away I asked if he was hungry. He said yes. I went back to the 3 girls and they made him a big plate of food and delivered it to him. We then started talking. Mr. Robinson smelled like a sailor who got into a barrel of some moonshine. I asked what he was up to. He said he was reviewing his papers from the emergency room a couple nights ago. Apparently Mr. Robinson had a bit too much to drink and got into a fight downtown. He said he was basically blacked out but did remember getting choke slammed by "some dude". He didn't remember anything else from the night but only waking up in the morning in ER. He was such a funny guy. The way he told the story was classic. His smile was awesome even with the missing few teeth he had. He lived in a friends back yard. Me and him laughed quite a bit together and he told me he had a good buzz and was ready for a Siesta in little bit.
   As me and Mr. R talked a girl came walking up from a distance yelling something I didn't quite hear. She got closer and was looking right at me. Becca was a cute dirty blonde girl and around my age. She was obviously hammered and possibly on drugs. She said she wanted to sit next to me in a flirtatious way. I told her she could have my spot and I will stand up. She said no, she wanted to sit next to me because she felt me from far away and said I was "good". She talked in a bit of a country accent. So I laughed and said ok. I moved my things and Mr. R had the end of a piece of watermelon still sitting there. She told him to throw that behind him. He grabbed it and went to set it on the ground next to him. She got upset and said in a very demanding way, "no no no, toss it over your shoulder behind you!". He looked at her and kinda grabbed it and fumbled it. He was so laid back and moved slow so it was like her demands were to fast paced for him. After he fumbled it and dropped it on his lap she said "now pick it up and throw it over your shoulder like this" (showing the motion). So he tossed it behind his shoulder and starred at her with a look like he was pissed off. She said "goood joobbb". And then she sat down. She looked at me and asked who I was and that She never seen me before. I told her I'm just traveling through and going north. As she began asking me questions Mr. Robinson looked at me like "I'm getting the he'll out of here" and he took off tippy towing away. It was really funny and she didn't notice. I couldn't really say by to him because becca was in my face. 
   She said there was something about me and to follow her down by the creek because she was hot in the son there. So I figured I would see what her deal was and wanted to know a little about her. We went down by the creek in some shade to a bench down there. She started to tell me she's gonna tell me things because she sensed she could trust me and also she saw a calmness in my eyes. She told me she has been up for 3 days and shooting up, smoking crank, weed, and also drank an entire bottle of tequila that day. She wanted to move again to the creek and put her feet in the water. She was going a thousand miles an hour. She soaked her feet ( the water was gross looking so I did not ). She said she has been through so much and her soul is badly damaged. Her family had major drug drama and her dad was busted big time and was now on the run. She has a 6 year old son who she doesn't see. She cried when she said that and was obviously hurting. This whole time I was really just listening and when she asked me something I would answer with a few words. She said there was too many bugs and she wanted to move. We went up a hill and under a bridge and sat on some rocks. It was weird because we were literally moving to a new spot every 5 minutes or less. She said the crank made her restless and just kept wanting to find a more comfortable place. I liked that she was honest and knew where she was wrong in life. I respected that. We sat on the rocks and she pulled out a bag of weed about the size of a tennis ball. With her stories of her families drug involvement it didn't surprise me. She said she saw me on a deep level and sees something big. She looked at her bag of weed and said she had all that weed but no way to smoke it. She said she should just eat it. She then stuck the entire bag into her mouth and deep down her throat. I was thrown off big time. She moved her eyes towards me and began to start sucking on it. She did that for about 10 seconds before she pulled it out and asked if I liked that. I told her not to do that and that I'm not gonna join her in anything like that ( I told you it was a little dirty and I reacted like many of you. Shocked. But again it's just what happened and It wasn't my action. This journal is all real life truth. My moms gonna kill me for this) We moved again as I kept picking my things up to follow her. She lead me down a dirt trail where there was a tree with a tarp over some branches and a pallet underneath it. She sat on the pallet and I sat on my sleeping bag. She talked a little more about how she was so high. She said she was so high that she couldn't even get higher in the last day and that she was having to deal with emotions and didn't like that. She asked why i sat so far away and I just said because I just sat there. She got onto her knees and crawled over to me putting her hands on my legs rubbing my inner thighs. She said she can get closer if I want her to ( god I hope my grandma doesn't read this! ). I told her to stop and that I'm not here for that. 5 years ago i would have turned that hill into a mudslide but that's really not me anymore or what I'm looking for. If you know me that's the truth. She actually smiled and said that I'm so sweet and she couldn't believe I wouldn't do that. After that she said to follow her again. We went up to the playground in the park and she kept asking me where I came from. It was about time I should start heading to find a place to crash so I told her I was gonna take off. Before I left she told me that she thought god made us meet today. She said she needed what I gave her so bad and that I was a guardian angel sent here for her. She said she wants to get clean and I really make her see that. Again she started to cry. I told her I didn't know what to say to that but thanks, I guess? She hugged me and said good luck and be careful. I left as she took of the opposite way. ( I didn't know how else to describe that in a less dirty way so I just wrote down what happened).
    I decided to head towards the next Starbucks but it was a ways off. I walked for a while and my feet were hurting and my knees also. I saw a bar on the way that had a sign saying free wifi. I stopped in there and got a water. The waitress asked where I was headed? I told her the plan and the purpose and she was so thankful. She brought the owner out and another lady employee and they all shook my hand. All these people thanking me is really surreal. It's amazing how I have been appreciated. One of the girls offered me to stay at her house that night on the couch but I said I was ok and thank you. I am soon gonna start to take those offers though to get good rest and clean up. I got a picture with the owner and bartender, finished my water then took off. 
    As I approached Starbucks there were some bushes out front where I heard some bums in there talking. I heard one say "he's about 5'8 or 5'9" that's all I heard clearly and had no clue what they were talking about. I headed behind the Starbucks to scope it out. It was 1:00am when I finally got there. I ended up laying down by the back doors of the Starbucks and a sprint store next to it. The picture of the two doors is where I slept (kinda). I decided to take a picture at night since it was light enough. I sat down and leaned against my sleeping bag. I checked my emails as the wifi still worked outside. About 5 minutes after I got there a little cat came around the corner and circled in front if me meowing then taking off. After that I heard someone walking by and I was pretty sure they saw me. It was uncomfortable and I didn't like that other homeless were around there. I laid there with a hand in my pocket on my knife. I also heard in the sprint door crack someone yell "I can't even see my kids!" and then music turned on. My head was right next to the back door. I was confused why someone was in there so late. I was so tired  that I eventually fell asleep about 1:30 or so. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Nick,
Just want you to know I am hooked on reading this everyday. May God bless you and keep you safe while you are making this brave journey.
Love,
Aunt Brenda & Uncle Jim

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