Chapter 17

The flop house I was dropped off at wasn't half bad, but I knew I could do better. I wandered around looking through trash cans until I could find an old right work boot that somebody had thrown out. It fit, ok it was a little big, and they didn't match, but it was definitely better than having two left shoes.

I wandered the East side looking for a better place to bunk. I knew there were the Municipal Lodging House and the Salvation Army shelter, as well as others. My mismatched shoes took me down Doyer Street. It was about 4 PM and the line for the shelter that had been set up in the old Chinese theatre had started to form. I got in line, talking to the others in line I found that the spread was jake and even if you didn't get a mattress, at least you could sleep on the floor out of the rain. I was warned about the Municipal Lodging House by the gee. The last time he had stayed there he didn't get a bunk until one in the morning. Then they woke him up around 4 AM, to do three hours work. I would rather stay here.

We were let in after about an hour or two. The line shuffled forward until we filled a large room. Then came a religious service. I don't remember how long it was or what denomination it espoused. After the service we filed past a poor box, I dropped my nickel and a couple of pennies in, and down a set of stairs. There was a huge basement area where we shuffled up to a counter and got our food. The minister and volunteers then led us in singing hymns. Once we had finished eating and singing, the mattresses that were stacked against one wall were spread out to cover the floor. There were about 300 of them. We each lay down on a mattress. I found out later that some of the joints on the street would give you a free shot of hooch, but if you left and somebody else got your mattress, you would be sleeping on the floor.

The next day started early, it was still dark out. We piled up the mattresses and got a bowl of oatmeal, plain with no honey. It would be all we got to chew that day, unless we were lucky enough to get a job that went all day and gave you some grub. The plugs all walked out to begin another day. I was moving slow, so all the jobs were gone and the rest of the plugs had gone off to do what they did.

I was standing outside alone when the reverend came up to me. He said. If you want to work and will do a good job, you can repay the mission for dinner last night and breakfast this morning." I nodded 'yes' and he led me down to an overgrown, unkempt churchyard. He told me, "Here you go, make it look nice."

I found some rusty tools in a shed out back and went to work. He looked in on me throughout the morning and must have been happy with my work because he brought me a hunk of cheese and a couple of potatoes for lunch. That afternoon I finished up the yard and even found a left over can of paint and touched up the outside of the church building. I cleaned the brush, put all the tools away and went to get in line for the mission. The minister shook my hand and thanked me for my 'good works'.