"I don't know why I always come this way, the same black man stands on the corner every morning Nina! Are they ever satisfied? I always give him my loose change and dollar bills on my way to work."
"For real? There's nothing I despise more than a beggar, especially the ones young and able, shit that's why I can't find a husband now, these men always want something for free."
"That ain't why u can't find one, your OCD is grounds for annulment by itself!"
"Well, cleanliness is next to Godliness! MuhDear said that rest her soul! Don't give him another penny! Tell him hell no when he asks Toya, Im serious. U ain't working all them hours to take care of no homeless people. Either he going to buy beer or drugs...u are basically contributing to his habit."
"Oh, but that's the thing...he never asks, I just can't pass him by like that."
"Shoooot...no ma'am, u are too nice."
"I believe in ten fold anyway, besides I'm blessed, I have 5 dollars...well about to be four, all my utilities are on, I have food stamps and our clothes are clean...rent, that's another story but Im working on it."
(Laughter)
"If u say so...I just can't see it, they can work."
(Rolls window down)
"Thank u very much, God will bless u."
"Unh Hunh...and girl he always says the same thing, and I just can't help but notice no one else even acknowledges him! No matter how many times I say I won't roll down the window, I still end up digging in my purse! I even separate the money I am going to give him before I leave home! Im about 400 dollars short, rain, shine sleet, snow...he's here."
"Take the tollway!"
"No, that costs more than the homeless man!"
(Laughter)
"Well, I don't know what to tell u, except ride the bus..."
"That costs more too, why does dodging somebody have to be expensive? It's not that serious...and I'm not inhumane. Well, Im here...let me chase this sack for the day."
"Well I aint chasing na'an til tonight, and not that kind Boo..."
(Laughter)
"LEAVE THAT MAN ALONE! Bye girl, I'll stop by on my break..."
"Bye Cousin."
SIX MONTHS LATER
"We don't have any beds Ma'am, u have to be here at 4 p.m. when the doors open..."
"What? The signs said between 4 and 6! Its 5:15, look, I am so cold...please!"
"Im sorry, first come first serve! Next!"
(Intercom)
THERE WILL ONLY BE ONE TRAY PER PERSON, LINE UP AT...
(Leaves window, exits shelter)
"JUST GREAT! MY LUCK COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE!"
(Crying)
"Its so cold, I can't go to the bus station anymore, but I need water and all the napkins I can get! WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE LORD! I HAVE OBEYED U! I asked u to order my steps and here I am at a SHELTER! U MUST HAVE A PLAN!
JUST GREAT, IT'S ABOUT TO RAIN! NINA! I MISS U SO MUCH! I know if u were still alive I could live with u! U would be so mad at me right now, yea I know u already know I dropped out...please tell God don't forget about me!"
"HEY BABY, WHERE U GOING! U NEED A RIDE?"
"NIGGA SHE HOMELESS! DON'T U SEE HER DOWNTOWN! IM WORRIED BOUT U FOOL...!"
" HEY STOP HERRR! MISS! COME BACK! HEEEY!"
"HUNH, ME?"
"MR. NOBLE GAVE U HIS BED!"
"WHO? MR NOBLE? WHO IS THAT?"
(Runs back down sidewalk)
"Ma'am, (breathing hard) Im glad I caught u, come on..."
"NO LOITERING MABLE!"
(Opens door)
"Fill out the paperwork. Ill get u a blanket and a hygiene kit."
"Thank u, but I don't understand..."
"Mr. Clarence Noble gave u his bed girl, he must like u! He a mean old something...fill out front and back."
"Well where will he sleep?"
"He hardly ever comes in but we always reserve him a bed, I just feel so sorry for him. You're looking like u don't know who that is! Clarence Noble? U not from here are u honey?"
"No Ma'am, I was attending classes at the University and well, its a long story...I just had to put it on hold. I was studying law."
"Oh! Im so sorry! I knew u didn't look like these prostitutes and drunks that check in everyday at 4, my goodness bless your heart? Where are ya children?"
"That's a long story too..."
"U ain't got time? I do, we ain't taking in no more people, everybody come in this time of year for them Christmas bags, just to go sell them. People got hidden agendas and don't want the help. CARLA! SHOWER!."
"Well I really appreciate the bed Miss Brenda." (Looking at her name tag)
"Thank Mr. Noble, U will see him around. He came in right behind u, I don't know where he went. It was good to see him."
"Im confused, he's homeless too right?"
"Unfortunately. Sad, sad, sad...God got something in store for him, u just hold on Mr. Noble"
(LOOK LADY JUST TELL ME WHO HE IS!)
"Well who is he?"
"Mr. Noble...(Laughter)
Oh honey, everybody knows Mr. Noble around here. U see that tall building downtown? It was once his, lost everything he had. U can catch him on the corner of Holmes and Hutchins every morning about 8, he just stands there and look across the river at his office window. People won't even look at him, either they love him or they hate him either way nobody can stand to look at him in his eyes. Especially the ones that don't like him and it started long before he ever had to stand on a corner."
"WOW! I know the building! He worked there?"
"Worked there? Chile..."
"I gotta know Miss Brenda what happened?"
"10 MINUTES CARLA!"
"THAT AINT LONG ENOUGH MISS BRENDA! I GOT A DATE!"
"Girl u gone give somebody something they cant see..." (Mumbles)
"I remember when it happened, I was working at the Western Union right by what use to be Noble and Noble, u see its called Grant Solutions now...unh hunh, it ain't always belonged to Seth Grant, It use to belong to Clarence Noble and his wife. The whole building, he started the business from ground up. And u know the first thing colored men buy when they get a little piece of change, aint no refunding neither, and it sho ain't no extended warranty. Now, judge Calvin Grant's wife Christina was leaving the courthouse, walking to the parking lot, she had the baby boy with her, I believe Noah was about 3, the papers said he had just celebrated his birthday a few days before it happened. His ole wife, honey she wasn't worth an eggshell, but he had married her and she had come from money, her daddy was a judge. Grandaddy too. He was just an olde country boy she met him in college, fell in love with him. He drove her crazy, started messin around on her. She started using cocaine, especially when she found out he was messing with a black man's wife."
(THAT'S MESSED UP BUT GET TO THE POINT!)
"He didn't see that child, I know he didn't and the Good Lord do too, he just came outta nowhere! Just like that honey! I looked up just in time! I was counting money and It went everywhere! Them skid marks was in the street for so long, I couldn't stand to go to work. Witnesses said they heard her fussin at him, one said she was squeezing his little arm so hard it was just red! Judge Grant was in his Chambers with Clarence Nobles wife and she caught him! She was angry honey! That child snatched away from her and when he did...everybody's world got flipped upside down."
"So the homeless man is...wait a minute, he killed the little boy?"
"I can still see him, he jumped out of that Lincoln so fast and grabbed that baby, and sat down on that ground praying and calling on God, made me wonder what he had done for God not to hear him, wouldn't even give the woman her baby. Told her it was her fault. That heffer went in her pocket, took out that cocaine and put it in his car, I watched her do it. But u know, some folks word ain't no good round here honey. Paramedics got there Mr. Noble was full of blood...and Noah was gone. Mr. Noble got out of jail 15 years later and his wife was with Judge Grant, they now own Grant Solutions. He got out of jail, and the millions of dollars he had were gone. He still wear the same clothes he had on when he run over that baby. I wash em for him, I wish I could do more. I make it my business to keep him a bed. Now he see his ex wife everyday in the back of that Limo, on her way to the office."
(WOW! The man on the corner?)
"So if she was married to Mr. Noble, how did she marry the Judge?"
"I don't know, what I do know is they didn't get no divorce, Mr. Noble was smarter than that."