I\u2019ve mentioned my regular homeless couple C and M before. They were very happy together even though they lived in a derelict shed and supplimented their incomes by begging.\u00a0 Last year they told me they\u2019d moved into a friend\u2019s house for the winter and I didn\u2019t see them for a long time.\u00a0 Then just before Christmas, I was on the train and who should come along but M.\u00a0 He looked better dressed than usual.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got into a house,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re getting clean.\u00a0 We\u2019re trying to get the kids back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wonderful Christmas news.<\/p>\n
Alas it did not last.\u00a0\u00a0 A couple of weeks later, I saw M at the junction.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s left me,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI tried to stop her drinking so she left me and went off with some wino.\u00a0 If you see her round tell her to come home.\u00a0 Tell her I miss her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t seen C again.\u00a0 From the things she shared with me when she\u2019d had a few, stories of domestic violence with a previous partner and the removal of children by authorities, I suspect she has a lot of things to blot out. Sobriety wouldn\u2019t come easily.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve seen a lot of M though.\u00a0 He travels down my line most days. \u00a0The new house is out the other side of town, but he assures me he\u2019s still there.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut my friends are all out here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
These days he mostly has a tin of Wild Turkey and Coke in his hand.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve mentioned my regular homeless couple C and M before. They were very happy together even though they lived in a derelict shed and supplimented their incomes by begging.\u00a0 Last year they told me they\u2019d moved into a friend\u2019s house for the winter and I didn\u2019t see them for a long time.\u00a0 Then just before …<\/p>\n