Eddie
I met Eddie walking along Wilshire, in front of the Smart & Final. He was pushing and pulling his two carts,
headphones over his ears, eyes down. Once I got his attention he was surprised, but asked for Pepsi and pistachios.
For over an hour, he tried to not look me in the eye, but talked as though he were starved for conversation most of all.
His words were quick and soft, and often overpowered by passing traffic.
At one point, he revealed the incredibly organized packing inside one of his carts to show me his juggling balls,
and a precious gift given to him by a stranger last Christmas: a small green plastic bag with holiday bells on it.
“ I have a birth certificate that says I was born December 16, 1953, but I don’t remember the first four-and-a-half years. Elementary school is as far back as I remember, so I don’t know if it’s true or not. ”
“ I went to Menlo Elementary School in South LA… I used to go to Fairfax High School back in 1969. I knew some people that used to drive us up to school in a Volkswagen.
I don’t know their name though. ”
“ Back in the ‘70s, in ’72, ‘73 or ’74, I went to Georgia with a lady and they still had a sign up there posted that said no blacks were allowed in the swimming pool. They still had that sign up. Still practicing that. Fortunately Obama is president. Things are different now. He legalized gays in the military, I think… He might help some matters. "
“ I just move around quite a bit. I walk through parts of the city. Now I’m waiting here to see if I can pick up my [welfare] check…
My PO box is here in Beverly Hills…
Yeah, they don’t like homeless in that area,
so I’m trying to get it moved. ”
“ I have two sisters… I don’t know if they’re still around or not. I heard [sister] died… Shot herself with a gun, but I don’t know if that’s true, ‘cause I heard Robin Williams also had died and tried to make it look like it had might have been suicide.
So I don’t think she committed suicide. ”
“ Last time I had an ID I threw it away intentionally ‘cause cops use it to write tickets… I see it happen often… If I’m carrying a California ID card, they’ll do that. Come out and write tickets just for sittin’…
I think they’re just trying to lean on people. ”
