Chapter 43

Lucy sat on an egg crate talking and laughing with several of the homeless men at the Pittsburgh shelter. The gossip about what was happening around the country was flying fast and furious. A lot of the news dealt with the artist William had hired to create a statue of Happy Harry. It seemed he was starting to demonstrate that he was really an artist.

Natalie, ignored by just about everyone there, was standing behind Lucy watching the men and women deal with her. It was amazing to her how nicely they treated Lucy. At the same time, they allowed Natalie the distance that allowed her to do her job. She knew it was out of respect for Lucy and not for her.

She glanced over at High Roller who was staring at her like a lovesick puppy and shook her head. In a way, Natalie was glad that High Roller was watching her rather than Lucy. He wasn't the most stable of the homeless men. High Roller was addicted to gambling. He had lost his home, his family, and himself betting on anything and everything.

Handlebar, called that because of his substantial handlebar mustache, entered the gossip pit and noticed that they had two special visitors. He reached into his pocked and pulled out an interesting rock that he had found the other day. Twirling his mustache, he said, "Hello Lucy Diamonds."

Happy to see one of her favorite homeless men, Lucy grinned at the sixty-something year old man. With a body shaped a lot like Santa Clause, he reminded her of a grandfather. Smiling and happy, he always had the best stories and told them with a flourish.

Despite being homeless, he always carried around something to give out as a gift. Sometimes it might be a toy and other times it might be an earring that he had found. She shouted, "Handlebar! I was getting afraid that I wasn't going to see you."

"Ah, my favorite street urchin has come to visit," he said with forced joviality in his voice. He wasn't feeling well, but didn't want to let her know that.

As she approached him, she noticed that he didn't look very well.

He seemed to stagger and lose his balance. Filled with concern, Lucy rushed over to support him. Noticing that there was a problem, Natalie stepped away from where she was standing to help Lucy. The man wobbled and, despite not wanting to look weak in front of Lucy, said, "I'm not feeling well."

Handlebar suddenly turned pale while the world spun around him.

He knew that something was very wrong. It was like someone flipped a switch. One minute he was talking to her normal as can be and then next minute he was sick as a dog. He threw up on Lucy. After emptying his stomach all over Lucy's blue jeans, he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

In a reaction that demonstrated her concern for him despite what had just happened, Lucy knelt down next to the man. Afraid that he was going to choke on his vomit, she wiped some of it from his mouth. She looked up at one of the nearby homeless men. He was staring at the scene in shock. Worried, she said, "He's real sick.

Get me a wet towel so that I can clean him up."

"Lucy Diamonds, you get away from Handlebar. We'll take care of him," High Roller said with a frown even as one of the other men ran off to fetch a towel. He had no idea what to do, but he felt that it wasn't right for her to get so messy because of one of them.

Ignoring High Roller, she put a hand on Handlebar's forehead. It was burning hot. Not having medical knowledge, she didn't know what the problem was. She said, "He's got a high fever."

High Roller danced around trying to think what he was supposed to do. He looked at Lucy and said, "Let us take care of him, Lucy Diamonds. It's not right for one of us being sick on you."

"Calm down, High Roller. He's just got a stomach virus or something. We'll clean him up and take him to a Fusion Foundation Clinic," Lucy said wishing that was all that was the matter.

Seeing that Lucy was covered with vomit from her waist down to her feet, Natalie moved in to take over. She said, "He's right, Lucy. You step back and we'll take care of it."

"Go get the Hugger so that we can take him to the clinic," Lucy replied. She pointed over at the vehicle to emphasize her order.

Frowning, Natalie walked over to the Hugger knowing that arguing wouldn't do any good. Rock was going to be furious.

The man who had run off for a towel returned with a towel that was soaking wet. Lucy twisted it to remove the excess water. She cleaned up his face and then held the damp towel to his forehead.

Concerned, she said, "He's really burning up."

"Ma'am, you should leave him alone. You're liable to catch what he has," High Roller said near tears. He wished Bottle Cap or Half Feather was around, they'd know what to do. He called out,

"Where's Bottle Cap?"

"Bottle Cap and William are helping get Sad Man to the hospital.

He'll be back in a little while," Lucy said. Even as she spoke, Handlebar convulsed and started throwing up again. At the same time, his bowels let loose and the odor of shit filled the air. She knew that wasn't a good sign. She wiped his face with the towel and looked over as the Hugger pulled up.

"High Roller, open the door and then help me get him in the back seat," Lucy said afraid to waste even one minute. She moved around so that she could carry his feet. Natalie climbed out of the car and picked him up by the shoulders before High Roller had a chance to move. Together they carried him to the Hugger. Natalie was much stronger than she looked and basically manhandled him through the door. Lucy raced around the vehicle and climbed into the back seat of the car with Handlebar. She rested his head on her lap and stroked his forehead. His magnificent mustache was twisted and ruined.

Natalie closed the door and got in the driver's seat. As the Hugger pulled out of the Homeless Hotel, High Roller was dancing around in frustration shouting, "It's not right!"

Amazed by what he had seen, Seamless Sam went over to High Roller and said, "Can you believe it? I mean, she didn't even flinch when Handlebar threw up on her."

"It's not right for one of us to be sick on her like that," High Roller said shaking his head. He was afraid that Lucy would stop visiting the Homeless Hotels.

It was almost two hours later before Lucy returned to the Homeless Hotel. William and Bottle Cap were seated on egg crates waiting for her. Natalie had kept them informed of what was happening and they were both worried about how Lucy was dealing with the death of her friend. Handlebar had been one of Lucy's favorite homeless men at the Pittsburgh Homeless Hotel.

Seeing the Hugger pull up, William stood and headed over to it.

Lucy got out of the Hugger and ran over to William with tears streaming down her cheeks. He held her in his arms and, despite knowing the answer to his question, asked, "What happened?"

"Handlebar died before we got him to the clinic," Lucy answered sobbing. It was her first experience with death and she was having a hard time dealing with it. After she had explained what happened, the doctor at the clinic told her that it was probably a massive stroke.

Holding her close, he noticed that she had a bruise on her face.

More concerned about her tears, he said, "I'm so sorry, Lucy."

"I liked Handlebar," Lucy said. She sniffled and wiped her nose.

Voice cracking, she said, "He always treated me like a granddaughter."

After watching the pair for a moment, Natalie went over to Rock to let him know what had happened. Before she got there, he asked,

"How did she get the bruise?"

Tight faced, she answered, "According to the doctor, Handlebar had a massive stroke. He got sick all over Lucy. We put him in the Hugger and he threw up, went into a seizure, and then died. He hit her during the seizure. We hadn't even left the homeless hotel before he died."

Rock looked over Lucy and said, "You did everything you could.

At least no real harm was done to Lucy."

"I left her at the clinic for a half an hour to wash the Hugger while she explained to the medical types what happened. When I came back, she was still filthy. She was crying and I had to force her into a shower at the clinic and wash her up. At least we had some spare clothing in the Hugger," Natalie said watching William comfort Lucy. She didn't feel right trying to comfort her clients since her job was to protect them from the next threat.

"Rough day," Rock said thankful that he had not been there. He watched Lucy crying in William's arms. Her obvious distress made him want to hold her protectively. He tore his eyes from the scene and examined his surroundings. His job demanded that he stand back and watch for threats. Frowning, he said, "It is hard not to love them, isn't it?"

"Yes," Natalie answered. She didn't have the same level of affection for the homeless as Lucy, but she had come to accept them as good acquaintances. Lucy liked all of them and loved a few of them. She felt that Lucy was a better person than she was.

Her eyes sought out High Roller, but he was gone. She asked,

"What happened to High Roller?"

"He told Bottle Cap what happened and then left."

"He was pretty upset," Natalie said. She hoped that he wasn't going to do something stupid. She'd never admit it, but she was rather fond of him.

"I know. He charged over to Bottle Cap and complained about what had happened. He kept saying that it was wrong for such a pretty girl to have to deal with such ugliness. Bottle Cap asked him what he expected Lucy to do. William explained there was no way that she'd leave a friend who needed her. That seemed to calm him down," Rock answered.

He looked around the homeless hotel noticing how all of the homeless men stood around watching Lucy with wide eyes. He knew that the legend of Lucy Diamonds was going to grow in the telling of stories around camp fires across the country. She wasn't even aware of the impact that her concern for Handlebar had on the homeless men and women.

Bottle Cap was watching everyone, noting the reactions of the homeless men to Lucy's obvious grief at losing a friend. He knew that they were wondering if she would have the same reaction to their deaths. It was obvious that a lot of them believed that she would. Smiling, he thought about how lucky William was to have found her.

After things had quieted down, Lucy pulled out her cell phone and called Barbara. When the other woman answered, Lucy said,

"Barbara, we need to made funeral arrangements for Handlebar."

After less than a week on the job, Barbara was not sure that she understood correctly. She asked, "Who?"

"Handlebar."

"Could you spell that?" Barbara asked.

"H A N D L E B A R," Lucy answered.

"That's what I thought you said. Where is... Handlebar?"

"He's at the morgue in Pittsburgh. I want a first class funeral for him," Lucy said.

"Okay, I'll get Sandra started on making the arrangements right now," Barbara said. She had never thought that one of the first tasks they'd be given was to arrange a funeral.

"We'll need to have a tombstone carved. I want one with his face on it," Lucy said. His handlebar mustache was going to live forever even if people didn't know who he was.

"Anything else?"

"Hold on," Lucy answered. She turned to Bottle Cap and asked,

"What do you usually do when someone dies at a Homeless Hotel?"

"Usually we'll sit around the fire telling his stories. It's our way of celebrating his life," he answered. Sometimes the story telling lasted for hours and other times folks didn't have much to say.

Even amongst the homeless, some people were more likeable than others. He expected the storytelling to last for a long time that evening.

"Nothing else at the moment," Lucy told Barbara.

After Lucy had hung up, Seamless Sam came over to Lucy and held out a rock. He had been waiting for her to calm down. He hadn't wanted to intrude on her interaction with William.

Nervously licking his lips, he said, "Handlebar dropped this when he got sick. I figure he meant to give it to you."

Smiling at him, Lucy accepted the stone from Seamless Sam. She looked at it. The stone was a flat little disk that had been polished smooth in a river somewhere. It had a greenish cast to it that was rather unusual. Like most of the gifts he gave her, it wasn't worth anything other than as a sign of affection. She rubbed it and said,