Unheard Voices of San José #1
“I had been homeless for two years before I met John* and I was living in Manteca, CA with an older brother. He ended up getting married and having two kids, and I volunteered to move out, and unfortunately, at the time I had just gotten laid off from my job, and I was trying to find another job. So I didn’t know what to do, and the last time I was homeless, I remember I was here in San Jose, and I was in Orchid. That was a shelter, so I figured I would go back and see if they would help me. I was at the park one day, and I was reading a book and waiting for the people that pass out the food. John* shows up and says can I sit next to you and the first thing he falls asleep. And I’m thinking is that why you wanted to sit next to me? And I’m like “okay,” and I continue doing my work and all of a sudden comes THIS guy with a full-on hobbit look. He had a trench coat, a walking cane, and he was walking with a limp. The instant I saw him, the first thing I thought of was oh my god its a real-life hobbit. And I noticed he started walking toward us and I was like uh oh uh oh what do I do? I didn’t want him to start and start talking to us, but luckily he walked to my friend, and he was like “Oh hey.” I noticed that he kept staring at me every 5 or so seconds. I forgot I was wearing these short shorts and they were skin tight shorts, and I was like oh my god. John* was like “Hey can you go get me some pizza” since they were serving them. I tried to run away as this guy was watching me get up. I came back, and my friend ate and just fell asleep right afterward. It didn’t look like he wasn’t feeling very well and I was like do you want some pizza or something. He ate both of my pizzas and all of a sudden he was talking to me. He asked me if I could take him back to my tent. And I didn’t want him to go back by himself based on the way he looked because I thought he would fall. He ended up spending the night to make sure he was okay, and afterward, one night became two, which became three, and after that, we never separated. It’s already been a year and two months. We fight sometimes but always end up making up with each other.”
