1902 ARNOLD AND TERRI
Yesterday morning I took one of my early drives.
I kinda ride the main roads in our area- Cross-town- 37-
these are the overpasses that let you drive the whole region without having to
stop at a ton of red lights.
On the way back- around 6-7 am- I got off by the area where
I bought the Jesus carving last week [remember the pic?]
I have been wanting to kind of start an outreach to the guys
in that area for a while [remember the dollar I offered to the Mexican brother-
who thought I had a gun?]
Yeah- that’s how it works- you just walk up to the guys- say
hi- and over time you make new friends.
Isn’t that risky John?
To be honest- yes.
But I determined a long time ago that we [I] would take the
risk.
Have there been times where you thought- for real- that this
might be the big one?
Yes- a couple of times.
A friend- freaking out over some stuff- walking around with
his loaded gun- I did think he might have killed us both that day- for real.
Another friend- who actually attempted to murder a couple of
cops- one day I was at his house.
He knew that everyone knew him to be crazy- and that
everyone feared him.
One day at the Fire House- the guys were talking about one
of the local gang type guys.
His name was Campos.
They come from a big drug family in Kingsville.
Anyway- they had some ambulance run the night before- a
shooting or something- and this Campos guy was involved.
The guys who knew Campos- some of the younger Mexican firefighters
who grew up in the area knew all the war stories about him- he was the local
‘infamous hero’ to them.
They were talking about all the stuff Campos has done- shootings
and stuff.
I got tired of hearing it- I told them ‘heck- my buddy beat
the crap out of him one night’.
They shut up.
Yeah- this is my friend with the reputation of being nuts.
So anyway- as I was at his house- he just got out of prison.
He is talking to me- and he pulls out a very large hunting knife.
I could see it’s a test- he wants to see my face.
I sat there- knew it was a test- and gave him the look like-
‘I have been here before my friend’.
I guess I passed the test.
Both of these friends [the gun guy and knife] are long dead.
My ‘knife’ friend- well I mentioned him the other day and didn’t
want to say too much- his brother and nephew are friends on my Face Book page.
But I’m sure they know- one night at the firehouse we had a
call that some guy was attempting to kill a cop [again? I don’t know the whole
story- but that’s how we heard it].
Something of that nature.
He possibly swallowed a bag of coke and went into a coma.
It was my friend.
I visited with him and his family at the hospital for about
a week- they finally took him off life support.
He’s the one that’s buried at the ranch picture I posted the
other day- in Bishop- Texas.
Okay- enough of this.
The reason I bring this up is I always felt I would take the
risk- that I was supposed to.
So- Sunday morning when I got off on Morgan street- I really
wasn’t intending on meeting any new ‘friends’.
We were going to go to church and all- and I try not to do
outreach on Sunday.
But to my surprise there were a couple of street guys sleeping
right on the bus benches.
In the ‘olden days’ you couldn’t do that.
This road [Morgan and Cross-town] is a high crime spot.
A kid- Jacob- committed a triple murder right at the
intersection not too long ago.
But as I saw the guys on the benches- I thought ‘damn- let
me stop and get them breakfast’.
There’s a McDonalds right there.
I got a laugh- when I ordered the breakfasts- the girl asks
‘is this a senior discount’.
Hell- I just turned 50- but I told her ‘if you want it to
be’.
Yeah- the Lord blessed me.
So I got the meals- and headed out to the street.
It’s funny- all the people driving by- you know- one of
those spots where you make sure the doors are locked.
I took a few pics- hope to post this morn.
But I walked across the street and simply told the kid on
the bench- ‘hey bro- you want breakfast’.
I woke him up- he said ‘yeah man- thanks’.
I talked to Arnold for a while- nice Hispanic kid.
I gave him a few bucks- and he ran across the street to get
some coffee- on the way back I told him I was gonna go offer the other meal to
the guy on the other bench.
Arnold grabbed a car rag out of his pocket- he was going to
the car lot right off the main street- the guy pays him 10 bucks to simply wipe
the dew off the cars in the morning.
I walked over to the other guy- sleeping too.
‘Hey man- you want a breakfast’.
‘Oh yes- thank you so much’.
Terri has been homeless for a while.
He’s around 57- used to print the Ad Sack- our local paper
where you list the stuff you want to sell [you know- the caveman Craigslist]
I sat with Terri for a couple of hours.
He enjoyed the meal- told me how breakfast is the most
important meal of the day.
We walked across the street- I offered to buy Terri some
smokes- not beer.
We walked in the store [Stripes] and the girl kicked him out
fast.
I guess they know him.
I told Terri ‘I’ll get the smokes- what do you want’?
He wanted Kite- they are the roll your own type- lots of the
guys buy these when they are broke.
‘C-mon Terri- my treat- get what you want’.
No- he said the Kite were fine.
Sure enough- they don’t carry Kite- he got the classic- Marlboro
Red.
I sat there- right on the street- having a good time talking
to Terri.
It was obvious Terri was an alcoholic- I did tell him I’m
trying to get clean myself.
I told Terri that I passed this road many times over the
years.
When I was a firefighter in Kingsville we used to take the
badly inured to the hospital that’s right across the street.
It used to be called Memorial- it was the highest rated
Trauma hospital in the region- it was also the free public hospital for those
who had no coverage.
So lots of the addicts and stuff use it.
I noticed Terri had a medical band on his wrist- and he was
wearing the hospital type pants.
Yeah- he was probably what we call an MHMR patient.
Mental health pt.
Terri seemed like a nice guy- down on his luck- living on a
bus bench- right across from Arnold- living on the other one.
Yeah- I finally made 2 new friends- I will go back at least
once a week- maybe take the guys to the buffet.
This is how it’s done- I have been doing this for years-
ever since the day my buddy pulled out the knife- or the other one with the
gun.
Sure- you do take risks- but most of the guys are like Teri
and Arnold- harmless people down on their luck.
It’s not a race thing- Black- White- Mexican- they all have
had their hard times.
I will try and chronicle their stories as time moves on- I want
you to see these people.
Even though Terri was obviously not all there- he still had
his senses.
As I sat with him- a pack of dogs walks right by us- you
know- those little dog gangs.
A few cute pups were in ‘this gang’.
I asked Terri ‘are these regular’s’
He said no- he has never seen them before.
I told him ‘I guess they just heard some guys giving out
free food’.
Terri laughed.
Yeah- I made some new friends- living on bus benches.
I told them ‘hey- can I take your pics for the site’?
They loved it.
Enjoy the pics [if they post?]
NOTE- As I sat with the guys on this Sunday morning- I
noticed not all of the cars driving by ignored us- some stopped and gave a few
dollars- or a taco- to the guys.
They were wearing rosary beads and stuff- the people who also
helped.
I felt like they were good Catholic people on their way to
Mass- living out the teachings of their church- helping the poor.
May God bless them.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
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