There and Back Again

Warning: A few expletives are ahead so if you are bothered by them then please skip this posting!

This afternoon, I walked down to the Piggly Wiggly once again to see what was going on and to purchase my usual snack of chocolate milk and cheese on wheat crackers. The whole gang was in full force today. Slop, George, Cap w/Tag guy, Weasel and… HIV/AIDS Guy?!?! Yes, much to my surprise he was down there as well and must have gotten someone to bail him out of jail. I sighed as he made a beeline straight towards me when he saw me.

“Hey man, can I bum a few dollars to get something to eat?” He asked loudly as he walked towards me aggressively.

“Fuck off dude!!!” I said to match his aggression.

“Come on man! Just five bucks!” He pleaded. “I will pay you back tomorrow.”

I was not about to finance his pipe filling and knew I would never get paid back. I just started to walk faster towards George and Slop as HIV/AIDS Guy let loose a slew of racial slurs aimed at me calling me such words as “fucking honky” and “stingy white cracker.” I had really pissed him off by ignoring him and just walking on.

“Dat nigga don’t know when to quit!” George said with a big grin on his face as I approached his bench.

George held out his hand for me to shake it.

“He drives me fucking crazy,” I replied. “I wish they would have kept him in jail.”

George and Slop both laughed.

“Come over here, my brotha,” George said as he got up from his bench and motioned for me to follow him.

George pulled me to the side and asked me a hundred questions about my ex-wife, Rachel. He acts like he knows her and speaks to her occasionally. He wants us to get back together so I can start getting “laid” again. I told him the last thing I would want to do is to get back with her. I couldn’t imagine a hell any worse than that. George was very insistent and said he was going to call Rachel when he got home. I told him to take his best shot. George sometimes lives in what I call a beer induced fantasyland. He means well though.

Weasel was all cleaned up today and had shaved and had a shower. George said his mother had let him move back in on the condition that he gets a job within a few weeks. Weasel still looked pretty sullen though; sitting on the bench between the dollar store and the pig. Everybody was avoiding him. He was drinking a 40 oz bottle of malt liquor wrapped in a brown paper bag. I would be pretty sullen as well if had to live with his mother from what I have heard about her. I don’t know what is worse for Weasel, homelessness or the mother from hell.

Lunch time had come and I looked at my watch. It was almost one o’ clock. Ella would have finished cooking by then. I started the walk home to my parent’s house. I opened their door with my key. Ella had fixed a wonderful lunch of meat loaf, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and cornbread. I ate until I was full and locked the door behind me as I left.