My Night on the Town

Before my roommate and I moved out of our apartment, she inquired as to where I was going to be staying. Nowhere. I had no idea where I was going to go. She told me that I could stay with her if I needed to. I didn’t answer right away because I was baffled by that proposition. She had barely spoken to me in the weeks and months leading up to the move, yet now she was offering her couch…. I didn’t understand that.

There was hope, though. A friend, when she heard that I didn’t have any place to go once I moved out of my apartment, invited me to come and stay with her. At first, I was reluctant because she had just moved into her apartment, escaping from a difficult situation. I did not want to intrude upon her new found freedom. But the closer I got to the day I had to move out, I decided that I had to take her up on her offer.

My hope was short lived. My friend informed me that she realized that she had reacted out of emotion and would have to rescind her offer because of some personal issues she was currently dealing with. I understood. I mean, I was dealing with some personal issues of my own. I know how it feels to be in a situation that is out of your control and be in a position where you are unable to help someone else, no matter how much you want to.

She did help me to move my belongings and even allowed me to store them at her home. She let me stay with her the first two nights, but then, I was on my own. She really did help as much as she could. She fed me and gave me money, and told me that I could stop by to shower and sleep when I needed to.

So, I was left that first day and night to take on the city.

I used the money my friend had given me to buy a bus pass and I was approved for emergency food stamp assistance the day before, so I was able to get something to eat. There also happened to be a man on a street corner in the city’s downtown area who was helping people sign up for the Lifeline phone service. The awesome thing is that he had the phones right there with him and he handed them out for free if the applicant was approved.

Woo-hoo!!! Things were looking up for me! I had a bus pass that would allow me to go where ever I wanted to go within the city for a whole month. I had some money from some Mary Kay products I had sold before I moved out. AND, I had a brand new Lifeline phone with 250 minutes and unlimited texting. I’ve never been one to readily accept government assistance, but in this case… I had to do what I had to do… and I was thankful!

I spent most of the day riding busses and writing and surfing the internet in the library. That evening, I stopped by Walmart to get me some food and a flashlight to prepare for my first night on the streets.

When I started my day, I had no worries. I didn’t have any bills to pay, nothing to clean up, no dinners to cook, or papers to write. I felt free. I looked forward to sleeping out underneath the stars and relaxing. I thought back to my days in the Marine Corps when I would lay out on my cot in the desert, enjoying the cool breeze and looking up at the clear skies.  

The actual experience of sleeping on the streets was quite different. Police and security officers seemed to troll the streets, looking for people like me. I saw some people living in the woods earlier that day, but the thought of going into the woods in the middle of the night frightened me. What if there were snakes and critters in those woods? What if someone else was already living there? I needed a plan B. I found a vacant shopping center and I thought I could make my bed behind one of the large planters, but there was a lot of traffic rolling through and the wind began to blow hard and fierce. I had to find a place that was more covered and would protect me from the wind.

I found a dark area where there was a tree surrounded by thick bushes. I figured I could lean against the tree and the bushes would hide me, not only from the elements, but from the public. It worked for a while, until the sprinklers came on. It was much too cold out there to get soaked.

Just across the parking lot, there was an empty bench waiting for me. It was hidden in a dark corner outside of a grocery store. I got comfortable on that bench for a while, laying down with my head on my backpack. I allowed myself to relax as I observed the life that continued around me. It was between midnight and one in the morning, yet there were still people working at the local hardware store. The nearby fast food restaurant was busy with cars going in and out of its drive-thru line and people walking in to enjoy a midnight snack. I had just decided that this would be where I would spend my evening when a pair of bright headlights shone in my face. It was time to move on.

I walked for a bit, trying to find someplace else to rest. I spotted a dark area near a department store and thought I would see how long I could rest there. I set the alarm on my phone for a couple of hours and laid down to try to get some sleep. I did sleep – for about an hour – when a security guard, from his vehicle’s loud speaker, told me that I couldn’t sleep there. I quickly and quietly got up and walked on.

This time I went to an old, abandoned restaurant. I had stopped by this place earlier in the evening, but it looked like someone had already claimed the space. There were phone books stacked in a dark, secluded corner and there were the leftovers of a recently eaten meal. I thought that I better not stay in case whomever was there came back. But no one ever did. The corner looked the same way it did before – undisturbed and waiting for me. I sat down and got as comfortable as I could in the little cleared space. It would be where I would rest for the night.

As I sat there, wishing I had settled in this place earlier, a hopeless feeling swept over me. My feet were hurting and my body was aching, and for the first time since I realized that I would be homeless, I felt like crying. I finally saw my situation for what it was, and I no longer felt carefree and alive. For a brief moment, I wanted to give up.

But then… I felt comfort. I heard God tell me that this would not be my end and He reminded me of His promises. He gave me a vision that He had shown me many times before and told me not to worry. I remembered that He promised to take care of me, never to leave me nor forsake me. I smiled and thanked God that I finally had a place to rest.

I woke up a couple of hours later and the first thing I heard was the Holy Spirit saying my ex-roommate’s first name, telling me to call her.

The busses had started running around that time and I climbed aboard. I rested my head against the window and slept. I rode a few busses around the city that morning and got a few hours of sleep. When it seemed like a decent hour, I contacted my ex-roommate and asked if her offer for me to stay with her for a while was still on the table. She said yes and told me I could stay with her for a week or two. I happily accepted.