I remember at some time in my misty past, looking down on street people. I viewed the homeless as the lazy, unmotivated scourge of society. Then witho...t warning, I was a card carrying member of their ranks. After a few months of living hand to mouth and aimlessly wandering the city, I somehow managed to find the courage within me to change the direction I was heading. With the help of social services, I found a job at a Safeway, also on Swanston St., just up the street from work. It wasn’t. ” “Apparently not,” said Jen. “His,” she lowered her voice, “Fucking incessant sneezing got the two lads wondering what the hell was going on.” “I snuck off deeper into the bracken,” went on Mike. “Hoping they’d just find me if they went looking. But…” Jen stared at him, raising her eyebrows as if daring him to explain the next bit. “But as it turned out, it was Jen they found, not me.” Lisa and I had our hands to our mouths; Saul had a wide toothy grin. “I was lying face down, trying to be. A very different type came by last Tuesday. Karen met him. They went to her home and he raped her. Jennifer heard her screams and brought a pistol. She shot him. They never were sure of men before all this and that cemented their feelings about your gender, particularly Jennifer. I think they are wrong in that and even more wrong about you. Karen is Jennifer’s aunt though I don’t know if that explains anything.”“Some. I’m sorry for their situation. My personal opinion is that it will not work. "Casually thinking directly of her I thought, "Thank you," and got the reply, "That's a start."Oh," she added, "You're welcome."I laughed to myself, unsure whether or not the others could hear me and Tammy talking. No one reacted with a look toward me so I assumed I'd either been successful in couching my thoughts or they'd ignored me.A soft force moved me around the end of the table settling me into the chair next to Tom. Interesting, I thought. No more shoving to be in line. Just move things.