Like I said, I’d been watchin Mr. and Mrs. Tuesday. They wadn’t like the holiday volunteers. They’d come ever week and talk to the homeless folks, and not seem to be afraid of em. Talked to em like they was intelligent. I started to think Mr. and Mrs. Tuesday might be tryin to do some real good ’stead a just makin themselves feel better ’bout bein rich.
So when they started talkin somethin ’bout goin down to the Caravan of Dreams, that got me interested. There was a lot of folks at the mission that respected me. I thought if I went that might encourage some others to go, too. Besides that, I had lived downtown ’fore them millionaires started fixin it up. I hadn’t seen a lot of them new buildings, and I thought I might like to go down there and check it out.
By that time, I had me a job workin in the clothing store at the mission. It wadn’t nothin but a warehouse that seemed a hundred years old, with boxes a’ clothes and shoes and such stacked up near as high as the lightbulbs hangin naked from the ceilin. When I heard about this trip to the Caravan, I grabbed the best suit that come through there that day. Picked it out special.
To tell you the truth, though, I was kinda hopin the cars would be full up, then I wouldn’t have to go. You know how it is when you tryin to do the right thing even though you really don’t wanna do it. Well, just my luck, God saved me a seat. All them men loaded theirselves into the big Suburban and which seat you think they left? The front one, right next to Mr. Tuesday. I just stood up on the steps, waitin and hopin somebody else’d come outta the mission, late and wantin to go to the Caravan ’stead a’ me.
Well, that didn’t happen, so I got in the car. Next thing I was hopin was that Mr. Tuesday wouldn’t say nothin to me. But that was about like hopin the sun wouldn’t come up, and of course he started right in. And then at the Caravan, not only would he not let me go on about my business, he had to haul off and put his hand on my knee! I guess he didn’t know I’d knocked men out for less.
I didn’t want him by me. I didn’t want nobody by me. I wanted to be by myself. So I got up and burned off. That was just my way.
But after a while, I started feelin kinda bad about that. I’d been watchin Mr. and Mrs. Tuesday, and I knowed they was serious about helpin folks. It would’ve been kinda ugly of me not to tell em I appreciated it. So after the concert let out, I waited for everbody to get in the cars. Then I edged over to Mr. Tuesday and apologized.
He said that was okay. Then I said maybe we could have some coffee at the mission.
Lord-a-mercy, did that open up a can a’ worms.