When I was homeless; I met a girl whose name were not going to say, so let us just call her Lola. She was of short stature with reddish brown hair, she had nice blue eyes; and for someone who I assume hasn’t been to the dentist in years, she had a glowing smile.
We actually met before without even realizing it till later. The first time we met, she was asking me if I had a dollar so she can buy a lighter; I did not and she left.
Our first real meeting was on a rainy night in April. It was pouring and my rain jacket was worn out so water would seep through to my clothes. Lola had gotten out of a car and was running toward to me with only a towel over her head. There was little room in the dry cover where I was but I made space for her. “Thank you”, she said.
We waited in silence for the rain to stop until the winds started howling and the weather became more unruly. We both knew, we were going to be here for a while. I asked her if she was okay because she seemed off. She said it was because she hasn’t slept for days. In my head I thought why would a pretty person like her, be outside in the rain, surely she has someone to stay with. I asked what she has been doing during those days. “Trying to make money”, she replied. I understood there, that we were both in the same boat.
We talked about drugs and how each one affected us, which we disliked the most, which was our favorite. Her belief was that the greatest ideas ever created were because of hard drugs. Her proof was Ray Charles which I can give her some credit for… However, she also said Albert Einstein and yeah safe to say I did not agree. She tried to convince me by saying anyone with hair like that has to be doing drugs. We both agreed that crystal meth is our favorite. The rain was ongoing and lighting made an appearance.
I wondered what was she doing before all of this; she said she doesn’t remember. We conversed more while she nodded off. I learned that she had a baby and hasn’t seen her baby or baby father for years. She didn’t have no place to stay. She had no one to turn too. She had went to shelters but said that their in terrible conditions and rather stay outside. I lended my ear; stayed quiet and shared her pain. I could feel the aching sorrow she was in.
“Are you okay”, I said. She had her head down on my lap; I rubbed her back doing my best to comfort her; “no”, she replied. I knew she wasn’t and it hurt me more that I couldn’t do anything to help. The rain finally stopped and she said she had to leave. She asked for my name, gave me a hug and went on her way. Ever since then we have been best friends.
She would have been 29 today.
I miss my homeless best friend.
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