What About Little John? Part Six
A true story.
Little John is just one of many that I chose to meet, talk to and get to know. John is not a young boy. He was about thirty-five, six-three and well over two hundred pounds when we met. He must be in his mid-forties now.
Today I am writing about feet. The ones exposed to forty and fifty degree weather even in the rain.
Stepping in to help and knowing when to step out of the way.
It broke my heart to see his open-bottom shoes.
It is one thing to stand and talk to the man face to face or take him to the grocery store. It is another to see his feet popping out the sides of his shoes. I would have given him a pair of my shoes, but Little John is a couple sizes bigger than any shoes I have. I am not sure if he has ever had new shoes but I know there is a good size shoe store only five blocks from the park, right near the train station.
That day I handed John five hundred and told him to get himself some shoes. I also told him where and that they would be expecting him. After leaving, I stopped at the shoe store to tell them that a large lumberjack of a man with many layers would be stopping in. I had purchased many pairs of shoes for my children at the same store. They know me and would be kind to John.
The following week I went to see him and he had his new brand name sneakers. I don't believe he could dance, but he was making some moves. I inquired about his ID and asked if he had talked to his son. He had the ID in process but the topic of his long lost son had him stuttering and looking downward. I did not push, but offered to take him to a place and pay for the call.
When I left him, I pulled out a couple hundred to hand to him, as usual the money came from my back pocket. To my surprise, he held the money as if it were a book, about stomach level, and his thank you was not as jovial as it had always been. I left him that day, hoping that he would recall some of our previous conversations on business and money. I found myself wondering how he had been able to survive before we had met.
In coming weeks I had taken him to the grocery store again and he was a bit more veracious in filling the cart, which did not bother me. I asked him to make sure he had some extra things to share or trade with others. Smiles and a Thank you were abundant on grocery days, but the other Fridays were starting to seem more like a transaction, even a hint of disappointment.
It seemed that my arrival was required. If I did not arrive early enough to chat, he was a bit annoyed and expressed a missed expectation of sorts in his own way. It came out in partial sentences with stuttered beginnings. I had not lowered the amount I was giving him, and I was still concerned about his well being. I had been talking to him about getting a place to live, but my questions about that met a shrug.
I know from experience that anyone of any class generally grows into a new, higher, salary or hourly wage. As it turns out, so did my friend. Before his new shoes were a month old, Little John had taken up smoking. I had seen him on his bench one rainy Friday as I passed him in a taxi. Despite the apparent degradation of our friendship, and his new found habit, I did not plan on giving up on him.
Find out how an ex-smoker deals John in part seven and here on Steemit.
Not @done yet. To be continued...
Isn't it strange how familiarity tends to create expectations- I've always wondered about how when someone initially helps another it is met with such enthusiasm and gratitude, but when that help becomes a regular thing it can lose some of the early magic. Though perhaps in Little John's case it might be worry of your expectations of him. I'm just musing- loving this journey my friend ;)
Hahaha, do not worry @done, we all have happened at some time, I will wait for the conclusion of the story.
However, I can not stop commenting that when I read I could only imagine the feeling of happiness that John must have experienced, with his new shoes, thank God I have always had my basic needs covered, so, I can not take it anymore, Try to imagine how difficult it must be.
Greetings, I look forward to the conclusion, happy evening.
As I told you before, although we do not know for sure why he has fallen into this situation, the majority of cases are family problems, disappointments and as in this case is showing "a vice against him" is perhaps a hardened alcoholic.
I never smelled any alcohol on John. He was never smoking either, until this point anyway.
That's important, however, how long have you known your friend John? Do you know anything about his past life, how he was with his family? ... it's good to get a little deeper into his past, even if it doesn't mark our destiny. Greetings friend @done
It is normal that he is showing new needs, remember that in the situation in which he lives he could not buy anything at all, so as you support them he will show you new needs. But their social work is still impeccable, we do not have control of their actions.
I am very happy that you bought him new shoes and necessary things for him, you are a person of good feelings. This fight story is getting more interesting and I am already looking forward to the next part of this great story.
Hello, @done. Today your story fills me with uncertainty. Little John is changing, he looks like a child, he seems to be re-living, it seems that he is already a teenager. I imagine, as you've taken the story, will commit an act of rebellion, I see today that he is happy with his new shoes and I see annoyance by the late Friday.
@done maybe "Smiles and a thank you" from the shopping days happened "to look more like a transaction" and maybe that gave you "an indication of disappointment". But is not this what happens to us once as parents? One day we are the sun and others are just one more star in the vast universe.
Today the story leaves me a taste of hopelessness: will it be that after the effort of @done small Jhon will be lost in that world again? This ray of light can not open a gap in the dark? Because it can not be? I stop to think and I tell myself, but when is life what we want it to be: just, balanced, consistent, without suffering?
I would like to know if in all this time you have seen improvement in their way of speaking, thinking and acting ... sometimes people in that situation recover quickly when they find a support like yours @done, is a micro biography of john.
Still it has a lot to cover in this story this just got me hooked to keep waiting for the next one great part of the story
@done you are the most generous and loving personality of steemit. Your contribution here is lot. Your stort writting skills are awesome. I am glad to see you posting a story serial regularly. I am a big fan of you and always trying to learn from you. Stay blessed. Tc
I also felt sorry after reading these lines and pictures of torn shoes.
Interesting development of story, we are all the same, human is very egoistic species and once we receive something we accept it as a gift initially and are so grateful but with the time that feeling becomes more routine like it should be. I know there is always exceptions among us but majority is the same.
I was glad that John received new shoes those one on your picture look like almost fallen apart. To this occasion I wanted to share my drawing with you with he same topic. Actually I love drawing and painting and that drawing I have done for drawing contest and was specially for Steemit and of course with my name on it.