what looks like an old baby carriage, near my tent
7:00 a.m. I woke up in my tent. I just laid in the tent for a while, then I got myself ready for the day and I headed off to work.
I arrived at work around 9:00 a.m. and I went to a local faith-based homeless day shelter with Mitchell from the local drug treatment center. This is a regular hangout in the morning and early afternoon for many of the homeless people in the area. I try to get there before 10:00 a.m. That’s when they do prayer and preaching. We connected with a lot of people and we provided hats, socks, drinks, gloves, and snacks. No one was interested in other services this morning.
Next went to the path behind a local Spanish food and fruit market where there is access to a small park and the walking trail that leads into the next town. We called Uriel a man that lives on top of a picnic table on a Pagoda next to the water. He has built his tent right on top of the picnic table. I called Uriel and he wasn’t around, but asked me to give him a backpack, cosmetics, socks, drinks, a couple cigarettes, and food.
We followed the trail and met with Liea who refused to give her last name. Leia was living in a tent right off the trail. Her boyfriend was in the tent but refused to come out. I asked Leia to come to the shelter to get supplies, and I let her know that I could help her with further services. This was my first meeting with Leah. She seemed distrusting of me and Mitchell.
From there we came back to the shelter to interview my new Street Outreach partner, I’m really happy with this interviewee. I’m pretty sure he’s going to get the job. He’s bilingual, knows the streets, and he does a lot for the community. The rest of the afternoon was spent updating the homeless database.
At 4:30 p.m. I left work and drove to my cousin’s house for my aunt’s birthday. My aunt Kris visited me when I was in Framingham and we did a YouTube video. I love my family dearly, and they have supported me through some really hard times. I planned on bringing my girlfriend but she was unable to drop her son off in time. She was unable to go.
I left my cousin’s house around 7:30 p.m. and drove back to my girlfriend’s apartment in Lowell. When I arrived at my girlfriend’s apartment she was very angry and distraught. She had a terrible day. It seemed that her son threw a Wendy’s Frosty in her car at her. He’s only 3 years old. She then got in a fight with one of the neighbors at her son’s father’s apartment building. I tried to calm her down but to no avail. She began to turn her rage and anger on me. She began to say cruel, hateful, and degrading things about me. She made concerning comments about harming herself. I did everything it could to calm her down. Eventually I couldn’t stand it any longer. The verbal abuse was overwhelming. I told her I was going to leave for the night and we could talk tomorrow. She and I had actually made a plan in the past that if she were to have an episode like this that’s what I would do, just leave for the night. At this point she told me that if I left she would call her ex-boyfriend over there. She then broke up with me. I realized at this point if all it took was her having an episode, and me leaving for the night, for her to seek company from another man, then I want nothing to do with her. I left her yelling and screaming as I walked out. I hope to find a better partner, somebody who isn’t filled with anger and hatred. I do not trust her either. She’s not always like this, but I believe that when she erupts, it is a vision into her true psyche, something she probably masks usually. When she reaches her boiling point the truth comes out.
Some people may think that somehow I hold responsibility in some way. I know I do not. I know when I’ve done right and wrong. I was never mean to this girl, and I always treat her with love and compassion. I do believe it is something inside her that makes her hateful and abusive to others. If anyone does not believe me I have saved the text messages she sends me, as well as the voicemails. It’s easy to talk ill of someone, but one thing you cannot refute is actual proof that they are the problem and the aggressor.