Poor David. He has worked part time at a commercial laundromat forever. The laundry has gone out of business because of owner mismanagement, and now he just got a letter from Social Security saying he is off the rolls and owes them $95,000. They say he never declared he was working for the last 10 years. Considering he has been filing taxes, I don't know how this happened. With every decision from SSI you get a period in which you can appeal. In the end I really don't think he will owe them any money but for now it's a crisis. He lives with “his girl Tina” as he refers to her. That night they go home, he drinks(she doesn't), and they fall asleep. David awakens in the middle of the night and declares he is going to kill himself, there is no more reason to live. Tina calls the police who haul David off to Corrigan, a state run mental health facility in Fall River. Corrigan has him admitted to the Arbor, a private hospital in Attleboro,near Providence RI.
David stays the minimum 14 days. While he is there, obviously there is no alcohol. They adjust his meds, and he gets some perspective. Considered not a danger to himself anymore they release him early in the week. By Wednesday he is already planning to drink again on Friday night. Tina won't let him drink at her apartment so he is going to do this at Mary Ann's house.
Mary Ann and David have been friends since childhood. She refers to him as "brother" and he always calls her "sister".
Mary Ann is 49, 5'2” short dark red hair, and weighs about 225. She would be considered pretty butch but she is a raging heterosexual. She actually has a degree as a machinist. Married to the same man for 35 years on and off (there were divorces and separations and a few different weddings)her husband Bill died a year and a half ago. Mary Ann seems to have her shit together more than the rest of this crew but, also seems so desperate and lost without her husband.
Mary Ann has a heart of gold. She has taken in a stray named Fred. Fred is 69 and bi-polar. He is a fireplug of a man, still handsome with light grey hair. He is also sort of her beau. There is no sex though because Fred broke his penis about 20 years ago and is impotent. So they just snuggle. When he takes his meds he's ok, but when he forgets or skips doses suddenly demons are everywhere. People are breaking into,and as he says "fucking with his car". He can't let this happen so he “hides it” by parking on other streets. Other times he has to sleep in the car to make sure it's ok. He also believes random people are going to the bank withdrawing money from his account. One time he drove to the bank with Mary Ann. While she waited in the car, he went inside to make a withdrawal and slipped a note to the teller that he was being held hostage at Mary Ann's address. Later when they arrive back home, they discover that the back door has been broken down and there is a note from the police to please get in touch. Fred does not want Mary Ann to call, he thinks it will cause trouble. He won't tell her why he thinks this or what he has done. Because they don't call, the police show up again. The police tell Mary Ann the story, and she's horrified . Realizing the detective in charge was a neighbor kid when her children were growing up, she calls her daughter and asks her to come over. The detective and the daughter talk, and Fred is let go with a warning not to do it again.
Fred also disappears a lot, sometimes for a week at a time. When he gets his check for the month he often takes off for Mohegan Sun. He never calls or checks in and Mary Ann worries endlessly. She will drive around Fall River til she finds him. After he has lost all his money he comes back and she'll find him sleeping in his car at Ruggles Park. He’ll brushing his teeth at the water fountain and taking a shit outside between his open car doors.
Mary Ann also lives with a roommate named Mark. She started renting him a room after her husband died. I guess you would have called him a boarder in another age. He pays rent and in return gets a furnished room with a bed, laundry services, meals, and for paying half of the Dish Network bill, satellite TV.
Mark is 56, neat grey hair, moustache and beard. He smokes and has some sort of chronic lung condition where he is constantly coughing up phlem. It is very difficult for me to be around him too long without feeling nauseated listening to him hack up his lungs. Mark has been married and divorced. His last girlfriend two and half years ago, pressed charges against him for beating her up. He spent a year in jail. Since then he has been single and dates nobody.
Mark and David go everywhere together. Mark does not drink. He is also a miser and spends none of his money except on necessities. David has an old conversion van so Mark is the designated driver. Mark also is a bank, lending David and Tina money for cigarettes,marijuana, and for David to get alcohol.
In order to drink on Friday night David sells his food stamps to Mary Ann. He had $60 worth so he sold them for $30.
Tina won't let David drink at her house. David is a mean drunk. He gets very verbally abusive. Tina is a cunt and a whore, no good and a loser.
Fred has disappeared again so Mary Ann, Mark and David hang out at Mary Ann's house, watching TV til David drinks himself into oblivion.
The next day Tina is fed up and breaks up with David.
They have an actual fistfight at Towne House, a clubhouse for the mentally ill, and the staff person there has to call the police. Since David has been living with Tina, he leaves and moves into the woods,living in his conversion van. The next time I see Tina 3 days later her face is still swollen from crying. She does not want him to drink but is still in love with him and can't imagine life without him.
Mark and David hate Fred. They think that Mary Ann is too good for him. When David gets drunk he fights with Fred. He tells Mary Ann she should be with no one in order to honor the memory of Bill her former husband.
Fred is gone for a week. Mary Ann is very sad and talks about how Fred has to move out of her house, she can't be responsible for him anymore. I think this is a really good thing and encourage her because I know Fred is never going to change. I tell Mary Ann that either she has to accept him the way he is or tell him he has to leave.
She keeps repeating the plan to me and others and seems to be resolved to do it.
A week later Fred reappears at Towne House. He has been there since 7am and is waiting for Mary Ann to show up. When she arrives and finds him there, she tells him it's over. He must get the rest of his stuff and go. But then he offers her $125 for the month so he might be able to use her house for showers and laundry. Her plans fall to pieces and she takes the money.
Mark and David have a fit. They are really angry at Mary Ann for this. Mary Ann can't believe that Mark thinks he can tell her whom can come to her house. If she wants to allow Fred to come over than Mark has no right to an opinion. Mark is so mad that he spends the night at Tina's house.
I meet them all for dinner at the 1st Baptist church soup kitchen. Mary Ann, Fred,Mark and I all eat supper together. David is hanging in the woods with his brother who lives in some sort of tent city. Tina is home crying. Mark rides in Mary Ann's car with Fred and sits at the same table but won't speak to Fred.
I don't know why they call it a soup kitchen. Very rarely is there soup.
Tonight we have salad, roasted pork loin, red bliss mashed potato's, and mixed veg. Cake for desert. The only thing I hate about it is the prayer they say before the meal starts. If there really is a god why are all of us sitting here at a soup kitchen, instead of being chauffeured in a limo and eating at Nobu? Why are we all suffering from mental illness, addiction, and poverty ?
YES!
ReplyDelete