Remember the 30-something homeless lady with a hair dryer I met at the Aliso Viejo Library? Well, as things turned out, I had a chance to get to know her better. After a night in a motel room provided to her by Saint Edwards Church, she found herself without a place the next day. Churches and like organizations have limited funds and could usually only give vouchers one evening at a time. That was Thursday the 5th of June. It was late in the afternoon of the 6th when I met up with her back at the AV Library. I had missed a CMC Meeting because I’ve been fighting what felt like a flu for the last few days. It was a pleasant surprise to see her back at the AV Library but disconcerting to the extent that she didn’t have a place to stay for the night. The Bus 187 only runs the route close to the library during peak hours and by that time, the last bus had already gone. It didn’t take very much for me to decide to invite her to sleep in my car. And so our two day adventure started.
Friday evening, we camped by a building that was for sale. I’ve been parking there for several weeks now, a preference I developed because of the peace and quiet. Moreover, because the property is for sale, all the lights in the parking lot are turned off making for easier zzzzzz’s. We parked early as I have, at that point, been feeling under the weather. Dinner was the usual fare of room temperature canned good soup (Progresso). It was not gourmet by any means, but it did the job of filling the belly. I was out like a lamp quite early and woke up to the sounds of bird songs the next morning. Right in front of the parking space that I usually occupy is a pine tree with a large branch that was slightly parallel to the ground. On it is a knot, which this little bird usually stands on every morning between 6 to 7 AM. Sometimes he arrives early and sometimes a little late. Whenever he does, he regales his audience with melodious tunes as he sings to his heart’s content – a performance that my friend had fortunately witnessed that morning. It has been my favorite parking spot precisely for that reason.
We spent most of the day at the AV Library. She spent most of the day emailing her resume to prospective employers and all the computer work. I was worn down because of the flu like symptoms that I was fighting and was quite lethargic. The day flew by and by the afternoon I decided that it was probably not a good idea for her to stay in the car that evening. At that point my cold had morphed into the coughing variety. Earlier in the day, she told me that the owner of the motel was willing to let her stay a few more nights. I told her it was probably better to try to get her back to the motel if she were to avoid my cold.
My gas gauge was already in the red and judging by the mileage I’ve been getting from the V6 engine, I knew that there wasn’t enough to get me back from the trip. We were both down to a few dollars and without a word she simply started walking around the parking lot asking people – strangers – for gas money. I’ve never seen anything like that. In no time she not only had enough gas for me to drop her off and return but she had also collected enough money to pay for minutes on her pay-as-you-go phone.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
