Part 4 (1/2)
”Yeah,” Perry said. ”Lots of that down here. Some of them are the paramilitary wing of the AARP, old trailer-home retirees who've run out of money and just set up camp here. Some are b.u.ms and junkies, some are runaways. It's not as bad as it looks -- they're pretty comfy in there. We bring 'em furniture and other good pickings that show up at the junkyard. The homeless with the wherewithal to build shantytowns, they haven't gone all animal like the shopping cart people and the scary beachcombers.” He waved across the malarial ditch to an old man in a pair of pressed khaki shorts and a crisp Bermuda s.h.i.+rt. ”Hey Francis!” he called. The old man waved back. ”We'll have some IHOP for you 'bout an hour!” The old man ticked a salute off his creased forehead.
”Francis is a good guy. Used to be an aeros.p.a.ce engineer if you can believe it. Wife had medical problems and he went bust taking care of her. When she died, he ended up here in his double-wide and never left. Kind of the unofficial mayor of this little patch.”
Suzanne stared after Francis. He had a bit of a gimpy leg, a limp she could spot even from here. Beside her, Lester was puffing. No one was comfortable walking in Florida, it seemed.
It took another half hour to reach the IHOP, the International House of Pancakes, which sat opposite a mini-mall with only one still-breathing store, a place that advertised 99-cent t-s.h.i.+rts, which struck Suzanne as profoundly depressing. There was a junkie out front of 99-Cent Tees, a woman with a leathery tan and a tiny tank-top and shorts that made her look a little like a Tenderloin hooker, but not with that rat's-nest hair, not even in the 'Loin. She wobbled uncertainly across the parking lot to them.
”Excuse me,” she said, with an improbable Valley Girl accent. ”Excuse me? I'm hoping to get something to eat, it's for my kid, she's nursing, gotta keep my strength up.” Her naked arms and legs were badly tracked out, and Suzanne had a horrified realization that among the stains on her tank-top were a pair of spreading pools of breast milk, dampening old white, crusted patches over her sagging b.r.e.a.s.t.s. ”For my baby. A dollar would help, a dollar.”
There were homeless like this in San Francisco, too. In San Jose as well, she supposed, but she didn't know where they hid. But something about this woman, cracked out and tracked out, it freaked her out. She dug into her purse and got out a five dollar bill and handed it to the homeless woman. The woman smiled a snaggletoothed stumpy grin and reached for it, then, abruptly, grabbed hold of Suzanne's wrist. Her grip was damp and weak.
”Don't you f.u.c.king look at me like that. You're not better than me, b.i.t.c.h!” Suzanne tugged free and stepped back quickly. ”That's right, run away! b.i.t.c.h! f.u.c.k you! Enjoy your lunch!”
She was shaking. Perry and Lester closed ranks around her. Lester moved to confront the homeless woman.
”The f.u.c.k you want lard a.s.s? You wanna f.u.c.k with me? I got a knife, you know, cut your ears off and feed 'em to ya.”
Lester c.o.c.ked his head like the RCA Victor dog. He towered over the skinny junkie, and was five or six times wider than her.
”You all right?” he said gently.
”Oh yeah, I'm just fine,” she said. ”Why, you looking for a party?”
He laughed. ”You're joking -- I'd crush you!”
She laughed too, a less crazy, more relaxed sound. Lester's voice was a low, soothing rumble. ”I don't think my friend thinks she's any better than you. I think she just wanted to help you out.”
The junkie flicked her eyes back and forth. ”Listen can you spare a dollar for my baby?”
”I think she just wanted to help you. Can I get you some lunch?”
”f.u.c.kers won't let me in -- won't let me use the toilet even. It's not humane. Don't want to go in the bushes. Not dignified to go in the bushes.”
”That's true,” he said. ”What if I get you some take out, you got a shady place you could eat it? Nursing's hungry work.”
The junkie c.o.c.ked her head. Then she laughed. ”Yeah, OK, yeah. Sure -- thanks, thanks a lot!”
Lester motioned her over to the menu in the IHOP window and waited with her while she picked out a helping of caramel-apple waffles, sausage links, fried eggs, hash browns, coffee, orange juice and a chocolate malted. ”Is that all?” he said, laughing, laughing, both of them laughing, all of them laughing at the incredible, outrageous meal.
They went in and waited by the podium. The greeter, a black guy with corn-rows, nodded at Lester and Perry like an old friend. ”Hey Tony,”
Lester said. ”Can you get us a go-bag with some take-out for the lady outside before we sit down?” He recited the astounding order.
Tony shook his head and ducked it. ”OK, be right up,” he said. ”You want to sit while you're waiting?”
”We'll wait here, thanks,” Lester said. ”Don't want her to think we're bailing on her.” He turned and waved at her.
”She's mean, you know -- be careful.”
”Thanks, Tony,” Lester said.