Before the beginning - The Story of the homeless with home PART 1

The Story of the homeless with home

 

This is the story of how I become a homeless just for one day and how with this experience I found a home for my heart.

One of the points to start my story could be my hangover. Last night was Wednesday night. This means in Perth, and for the students or backpackers, party night. It what happened that night. I party hard in another legendary night on Mustang bar and, as always, the day after became completely unproductive. I spend all the day at home trying hard just to survive. When my mind was completely awake again, the sunset appears on the sky.

I need to do something for save my day, I recon to myself. I started to send some messages to my friends trying to convince someone to have a cheap and quick dinner in the centre. All that effort didn’t had any regard and I decided to enjoy myself alone in the real world just for a while in this day.

I had an amazing dinner in Taka, a cheap busy Japanese restaurant in the CBD. After this moment of culinary happiness, I went to relax and enjoy myself in front of the library of Western Australia (WA). There is a big screen in this square, and every day there putts interesting documentaries or short alternative movies.

That day I founded something else there, one peaceful and happy Korean homeless. He came near me and asked very politely if I don’t mind if he could seat next to me in the stairs. Of course I said I didn’t mind, but inside my mind I just could think: “Shit, again this uncomfortable situation where he would ask me some money and I would say no even I have some, and I will feel guilty for that”. Nothing farther than the reality. He never asked for some money, instead of this he proudly just show me his busking carton asking for help in 20 different languages and typographies. We started a short talk about our origins and own stories. He told me he had been travelling around Australia backpacking and with hitchhiking. The Korean guy also told me he couldn’t find any job in Perth during one month of searching and for this reason he was asking for money in the street. We keep talking about the life, about how this society stresses to much all the people and trying to fix somehow this world.

Suddenly, one aboriginal woman comes to us so ruddily asking   for some dollars. My new Korean friend said that he have some coins and open his old bag with all their live inside, took one plastic bag with some coins an pick some for the aboriginal woman. One wave of extremely kindness enters inside my heart at see this situation. I felt myself like a shit person. I was thinking of how this aboriginal woman could do something bad to us, and he just wanted to help her and know more about their live. I was ashamed. That woman left and we keep talking about the life and reflections in general.

I started to roll a cigarette and offered another to him. He refused because he had some tobacco in his pocket. Again this feeling as a shit inside myself. I don’t have too much things right now too, I thought. If he refuses my tobacco maybe is because he doesn’t need always the help of everyone and this shit feeling inside myself it’s just mine, because he didn’t want help.

After a while of talking about how much freedom you can feel without anything material, and how many real people you can knew travelling and in the streets, I asked him if I could take a few beers with him and sleep with him on the street this night.

Lloyd, my new homeless friend, started to be very excited and happy about my offer. He told me that we was doing busking with another two Japanese homeless more and we could meet all together for take some beers and go to sleep on the beach.

After a quiet and silence  time enjoying this idea and watching one documentary about the earth planet on the big screen, one of the Japanese homeless, Taku, arrived there. Before Taku comes, Lloyd told me that Taku was been living by his own in the Amazons for two months. He built one small boat with some trees and had fun with this in the Amazon River.

I felt very small for all their stories and incredible experiences, but at same time proud of myself for choose share this night with such amazing guys, lucky me for this.

We had a chat for a little bit more meanwhile we were planning our “homeless party”. Taku recon he really need a beer after his long and hard day in the street, and Lloyd asked Taku were they can took a shower.

Again this shit feeling inside me. I wanted to offer them my home for take a shower, but I am shearing a house, and my housemates maybe will not like the idea to take two homeless guys to sleep and have a shower there. But I needed to offer them some help, and I offered to them come tomorrow morning to my home and take a shower there.

-          “No way!” They answered at same time.

-          “We prefer take a shower with the sunrise in the beach rather than in a house, but thanks for your offer.” Lloys said.

Feeling like an asshole again. For my fears and this false felling of superiority for have something more, when they were enjoying much more without having nothing.

-          “Ok , if you want to be happy and enjoy the life is not my problem.” I answered with one big smile in my face, and all of us started to laugh a lot.

We couldn’t wait more our other Japanese friend because the bottle shop was going to close soon, so we decided to go there for some beers to spend a good party night. In the way to the bottle shop, Taku asked how many money  they did on the street this day, and Lloyd said to him was really good day and they made more than $60 for sure. They started to think how many beers we can buy, and how much will cost the tickets for the bus to the beach, and if we have some more money left for a breakfast tomorrow morning.

Was enough for me, I couldn’t let them pay for all this things for me having money in my pocket.

-“That’s alright mates; I can pay my beers and the ticket for the bus.” I said with a kind voice.

- “No way! We cannot spend any of our money these days we are on the street, Lloyd didn’t tell you this? Answered Taku straightaway.

-“Oh, no sorry. I lied to you before, we are not real homeless.” Said Lloyd and both started to laugh.

I didn’t understand anything about what was happening there and in the expression of my face appears one big WTF??? Lloyd continue explaining that they have a home and just went two days to the street for a personal experience and understanding about the homeless live and his troubles with the society. Lloyd had to invent this story of he was looking for a job for one month and he is homeless now because all the people asked to him how he arrive at this situation or asking for another personal circumstances and details and it force him to lie for make his experience as much real as he could arrive.

I was shocked, dumbfounded, they were doing same as I decided to do this night but for two nights. We couldn’t believe that the destiny join us and we just been laughing about this the rest of the way to the bottle shop.

We arrived to the bottle shop, took some beers, stopped to the 24 hours shop to buy a shampoo for our future morning shower, take some cartons from the rubbish bean to make our beds, and return to the library square to join the other Japanese homeless friend, Shun.