The Bag Lady, the Boat Bum and the West Side King

by Sam Lee Jackson

  “For forty bucks I’ll sleep with you,” she said.

  I stood for a long moment, looking at her. “What am I going to do with you?” I said.

  She stepped into me, putting her arms around me, “Blow job twenty, sleep with you for forty.”

  I disengaged her. Her wrists were skinny as sticks. She had that musky odor of the unbathed. “Reggie,” I said. “I’m tired, and it’s really late. I’m going home.” I turned and started walking. She stayed right beside me, about a step behind.

  I stopped and barked at her, “Don’t follow me. I can’t help you.” I turned and started walking again. After a few steps, I looked back. She was standing there watching me. I moved on up the block. At the next street, I looked back. She was following me.

  By the time I reached the boarding house she had caught up to me and was just a few feet behind. I went around to the back entrance, which had a small porch attached. She followed. I unlocked the door, went through and locked it behind me. I went to my room and sat on the bed. After fifteen minutes, I went back down the stairs and gently opened the door. She was sitting, huddled in a corner, her eyes were large in the faint light. I just looked at her. She looked back.

  I shook my head, disgusted at myself. “Come on,” I said holding the door open.

  She bounded up, through the door and up the stairs two at a time.

  She was giggling while I unlocked my room. “Don’t get too happy,” I said. “I’m going to sleep, so are you, and you get no money. You just sleep.”

  We went in and I turned on the lamp. She immediately starting inspecting everything I had. I tried to ignore her. I got into the closet and took the extra blanket out. I shoved the pistol way back into the corner, under a box. I spread the cover on the floor.

  “You get the bed,” I said. “You’re gone in the morning. I have to get some sleep.” I took one of the pillows and turned off the light. I lay down on the floor, leaving my foot on. I tried to get comfortable.

  She jumped on the bed, then peered over the edge at me. “Ain’t you going to do me?”

  “Go to sleep,” I said. “It’s late.”

  The bed creaked as she lay back. I took my foot off, closed my eyes and tried to empty my mind.

  “Hey Jack,” she said. “Maybe you could loan me twenty bucks?”

  “Go to sleep,” I said. “We can talk in the morning.”

  “I ain’t ever known a man that didn’t want a blow job.”

  “Now you do. Go to sleep.”

  I lay in the dark a long time. After a while I heard her breathing deepen. I rolled to my side and went to sleep. I came awake to find her lying next to me, huddled up against my back. She was sound asleep. I went back to sleep.

  When I opened my eyes, it was light. Reggie wasn’t next to me. I lay listening. I was alone. Crap, she was probably ransacking the house. I sat up and climbed to my feet. I was a little sore from sleeping on the floor. I put my foot on and went to the door, it was unlocked.

  I stepped out into the hallway. I could hear something down the hall. I moved toward the bath and then realized I was hearing someone singing.

  Reggie.

  I went back into my room and lay on the bed. I put my arm over my eyes and waited. I must have dozed, I came awake when the door opened. She came in, her hair still wet. She looked better. I sat up. I unhooked my foot and rubbed my stub.

  She started laughing, “Oh my God,” she said. “I didn’t know you didn’t have a foot.”

  “Now you do,” I said.

  “You sure say that a lot.”

  I reattached the foot. “I’m going down to see if Mrs. Haggerty has some breakfast for us.”

  “What is she, the cook?”

  “She owns this place. I rent this room from her.”

  “You don’t even have your own bathroom.”

  “It’s a boarding house. I share the bathroom with two others, which is why I hope you left it clean.”

  She had wandered over and was exploring the closet.

  “You aren’t going to find anything in there,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

  I found Mrs. Haggerty in the kitchen. She gave me a disapproving look. I had to smile.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Haggerty,” I said.

  “Good morning, young man,” she said avoiding my eyes.

  “I have a guest this morning,” I said. “Will it be okay if she joins us for breakfast?”

  She turned to look at me, a spatula in her hand. “I can’t let this be a common occurrence.”

  “No Ma’am,” I said. I felt silly saying it, like trying to explain a puppy to your parents, “She followed me home last night. It was late. I couldn’t leave her on the street.”

  “An act of charity,” she said skeptically.

  “Believe it or not.”

  “And, what about tonight?”

  “I have a friend that runs a safe house for young women. I’ll see if he can help her.”

  She turned back to the stove, “The bacon will be ready in a moment.”

  When I got back to the room Reggie was sitting cross-legged on the bed holding my pistol.

  “You had this hidden pretty good,” she said.

  15

  I was born with a lot of quick. I stepped into the room and with my right hand, pointed toward the corner.

  “What about those?” I said, looking toward where I was pointing. She turned her head and I took the pistol with my left hand, bending it back and out of her hand. Luckily, she didn’t have her finger on the trigger or I might have broken it, or she might have pulled it, and Mrs. Haggerty wouldn’t like that.

  “Jesus,” she yelped.

  I put the pistol back in the closet. I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall, studying her. She was skin and bones. The dark smudges under her eyes couldn’t be washed away. I could see the tiny bug-bite marks on her arms where she had used the needle. At least her hair was clean. She smelled like soap, instead of the dusky unwashed smell she’d had last night.

  She swung her legs off the bed and sat facing away from me. I think this was her pouting. It was wasted, I really wasn’t ready to believe any given emotion from her. Addicts, and especially street addicts could instantly use whatever emotion they needed to get what they wanted. And, they mostly wanted the next fix.

  I reached over and shut the closet door, “Come on, Mrs. Haggerty has breakfast for us.”

  She looked at me, “Me too?”

  I opened the door and waved her up, “Come on.”

  She followed me down the stairs.

  As we entered the dining room, Mrs. Eberly was seated at the table, eating. She looked up, then stared at Reggie. This put Reggie on the defensive, so she stared defiantly back at the woman. Mrs. Eberly dropped her eyes with a short sniff and began fussing with her food.

  I held a chair for Reggie. At first she was puzzled, then she sat giving Mrs. Eberly a smug look. Mrs. Haggerty came in from the kitchen carrying platters of food. I took a seat.

  “Reggie,” I said. “Our hostess is Mrs. Haggerty.” I indicated Mrs. Eberly, “And, this nice lady is one of my fellow boarders, Mrs. Eberly. Ladies, this is Reggie. A new friend of mine.”

  Mrs. Eberly gave a short nod but didn’t look up.

  “Welcome Reggie,” said Mrs. Haggerty. She arranged the platters on the table next to the large pitcher of syrup. “We have bacon, eggs, and pancakes and toast this morning. I’m afraid the butcher didn’t have the sausage I like, so it’s just bacon.”

  “This will be fine, Mrs. Haggerty, isn’t that so, Reggie?”

  Reggie looked at me, “Delightful,” she said.

  I took the platter of pancakes and handed them to her. She forked three onto her plate. Three eggs, four strips of bacon followed. I suppressed a smile. She stood, leaned forward and reached half way across the table for the syrup.

  “I could have handed it to you,” I said.

  “I ain’t helpless,” she said. She poured syrup over the to
p of everything on her plate. Mrs. Eberly was watching, wide-eyed.

  Mrs. Haggerty came into the room, a carafe in her hand, “Who wants coffee?”

  “I’d like some,” I said, lifting my cup. She expertly poured it.

  “I want a Pepsi,” Reggie said around a mouthful of food.

  Mrs. Haggerty didn’t miss a beat. “Let me look,” she said.

  A moment later she returned with a can of Coke. “All I have is Coke,” she said.

  Reggie shrugged, shoveling more into her mouth.

  Mrs. Haggerty placed the Coke in front of Reggie then joined us at the table. She looked at me and said, “Coke’s are a dollar.”

  “Put it on my rent,” I said.

  We ate in silence for a while.

  “Reggie, do you have a job?” Mrs. Haggerty asked politely.

  Reggie was wiping up the syrup with her finger then sucking it off. “I’m a flight attendant,” she said.

  “Which airline,” I asked benignly.

  She looked at me, cocking her head, her eyes narrowing. “Southwest,” she said.

  “That must be very exciting,” Mrs. Haggerty said.

  “Oh, I’ve been all over the world,” she said brightly. “I’ve been to China and Hawaii and Australia. Just about everywhere.”

  “You must meet a lot of interesting people,” Mrs. Eberly said. I couldn’t tell if she was being serious, or snarky.

  “How about Outer Mongolia,” I asked.

  She gave me a look, “Yeah, I think I was there once.” She turned to look at Mrs. Eberly. “I met one of those Arabian princes.”

  “What seat was he in?” I asked.

  “13C,” she said, giving me a look. She looked at Mrs. Eberly, “He gave me a hundred-dollar tip because I was doing such a good job.”

  “I thought they had their own planes,” Mrs. Haggerty said.

  Reggie abruptly stood, “I have to go to the bathroom,” she said. She left the room, and we could hear her going upstairs.

  Mrs. Haggerty and Mrs. Eberly sat looking sweetly at me. I finished my coffee, “I better go see if she’s okay.” I stood and retreated behind Reggie.

  She was in my room, sitting on the bed.

  She didn’t look at me as I entered, “I don’t feel so good,” she said. I leaned against the wall and waited.

  She finally looked up at me. “Loan me twenty bucks, Jack.”

  “I’ll do better than that,” I said.

  “You’ll give it to me?”

  “No, I’m not going to give you any money. I’m going to introduce you to a friend of mine. He can help you.”

  She looked at me suspiciously. “What do I have to do?”

  “Nothing. You don’t have to do anything. Come on, we’re going downtown.”

  “What’s downtown?”

  “My friend,” I said.

  I dragged her down the back stairs and walked her to the nearest bus stop.

  16

  We had to change buses twice and I almost didn’t get her on the second one. I took her hand and pulled her up behind me. When we disembarked we were still two blocks from Father Correa’s. Father Correa ran a facility he called Safehouse. He sheltered young mothers who would otherwise be on the streets. I had met him a while back when I had been involved in trying to find a young girl who had ran away from home and had been swallowed up in the streets.

  Safehouse was a non-descript building with an industrial feel to it. There was a small plaque at the door to identify it, but no windows or other identifying attributes. Father Correa wasn’t in his office. The office hadn’t changed much. Small and cramped with a grey metal desk, a file cabinet with the perpetual coffee pot on it, and a couple of simple chairs. I parked Reggie in one of the chairs with orders to stay put and went searching for the good Father.

  He was in the laundry room, on the floor behind one of the washers, surrounded by an array of tools. He didn’t hear me come in. I stood silently, waiting for a moment when I wouldn’t startle him. I could see he was putting his considerable weight on a pipe wrench handle, trying to bust a frozen nut loose. The wrench slipped and he barked his knuckle on the pipe.

  “Dammit, dammit, dammit,” he said putting the offended knuckle into his mouth.

  “I didn’t think priests were allowed to swear,” I said.

  He looked up, his face breaking into a wide smile, “Jackson!” He climbed to his feet. “Priests are supposed to be priests, not plumbers.” He grabbed me in a huge bear hug. He was a bear of a man. You couldn’t tell he was a priest by the way he dressed.

  “It’s good to see you my friend,” he grinned.

  “And you,” I said.

  He wiped his hands on a towel and examined his knuckle. “Is this just a social call, or something more?”

  “Yeah, something more. I’ve got someone in the office I’d like you to meet. Someone who needs help. The kind of help I can’t give.”

  “Let me wash my hands,” he said moving to the sink.

  “One thing,” I said. “My name is Jack Summers.”

  He washed his hands under the running water then wiped them on the towel again, “Really? Is that your real name, Jack Summers? Not Jackson?”

  I laughed, “No. It’s Jackson, but I’m Jack to Reggie.”

  “Reggie is my new friend? I assume Reggie is female, I can’t take in a male, be too disruptive.”

  “Reggie’s a girl.”

  “Tell me Reggie’s story.”

  “She’ll break your heart. She’s a little scruff of a thing. Living on the street, doing heroin and whatever else she can get her hands on. I think she’s turning tricks to get the money. She offered me a blow job for twenty bucks.”

  He was watching me.

  I smiled, “No, I didn’t take her up on it.”

  He chuckled. “No, I wouldn’t think so. Not the white knight.”

  “Some knight. How much heroin does twenty bucks buy?”

  He shrugged. “It changes. Most start on opioids, then go to heroin. Believe it or not, heroin is cheaper than opioids. Is she strung out now?”

  “Yeah, she’s pretty jittery. I’m surprised I got her down here. I figure she has no place to go and no one to go to”

  “I’ve got a room I can put her in,” he said. “I can feed her and clean her up, but she’ll have to decide to stay, and she’ll have to decide to fight her demons. I’ll do what I can to help her, but ultimately it’s up to her.”

  “She had a bath this morning at the boarding house,” I said.

  He cocked his head, “Boarding house?”

  “Yeah, I’m staying at a boarding house.”

  “You don’t have the houseboat anymore?”

  “No, I still have it. Do me a favor, don’t ask me about it and I will come back when I have everything worked out and tell you all about it.”

  “Tell me what you know about Reggie. Tell me even the smallest detail. You never know what might help.”

  So, I told him everything I could recall about Reggie as we went back through the building to the office. I left out the part about Cicero Paz and why I was working at the bar. I just told him how I met her and how she followed me home. How she sat on my porch until I relented and took her in.

  When we got to the office it was empty.

  “You have any money in here?”

  “I’m not that dumb,” he said.

  “I’ll be back,” I said and went out the door.

  Reggie was a half block down the street. I caught her at the corner. She wasn’t fleeing, just walking.

  “Hold up,” I said. She stopped walking but didn’t turn to look at me.

  I moved around in front of her so she’d have to look at me.

  “You’ve come this far,” I said.

  “For what?”

  “I want you to meet Father Correa.”

  “A Father? You trying to give me religion, Jack? What kind of shit is this?”

  I took her arm and gently pulled her with me. “Co
me on, Reggie. Trust me on this. If he can’t help, you can just walk away. This isn’t jail.”

  Father Correa was standing outside on the sidewalk.

  “Who’s that,” Reggie said.

  “That’s Father Correa,” I said.

  She giggled. “He looks like….like…”

  “Friar Tuck, right?”

  She looked up at me, “Who?”

  I smiled, “Never mind.”

  Father Correa was beaming at her. He stepped toward her, holding his big bear paws out to her, palm up.

  “Hello, my dear,” he said. “I’m Father Correa.”

  She couldn’t help herself. She placed her tiny hands in his. He has the uncanny magnetism that just draws you to him. It’s kind of irritating, how he’s so damned happy all the time.

  Holding one hand, he opened the door.

  “I’m just so glad you came to visit,” he said. He led her inside.

  The door shut and I was standing outside. She didn’t even look back.

  17

  I had talked to Blackhawk and Nacho, and we had decided it was time to make our move. I was at the bar. Frank had gotten so used to me that he never said a thing about me getting behind the bar to wipe things down, clean the mirror, or fill the ice bin. It was one of those half-filled nights. Bernie was in, sitting in her usual spot, half-way down the bar. She had her voluminous purse on the stool next to her. More than once the purse had instigated a problem because she wouldn’t relinquish the stool to a customer.

  I fixed Bernie an extra strong Grasshopper, and set it in front of her, as Frank was busy at the other end.

  I winked at her, “On the house,” I said conspiratorially.

  “Why, aren’t you sweet,” she said. She immediately drank half of it.

  Nacho came in the door.

  “Frank taught me how to make it, is it okay?”

  “Yeah it’s great.” She watched Nacho in the mirror as he came to the bar. She literally licked her lips. She moved her purse, sitting it on the bar. “You can sit here,” she said to Nacho, giving him the full wattage.

  “Why that’s mighty nice of you,” Nacho said.

  “What’ll you have?” I asked him.