And it was such a nice little town..

by Amy Marie Brander

To a lot of people through-out Canada, the town of Truro didn’t exactly hold much of interest. It only had one mall, which regularly suffered from seasonal flooding due to the fact that it was built on a flood plain. It had a terrible lack of variety in restaurants. If one was in the mood for authentic Mediterranean cuisine, one wouldn’t find any in Truro, or much else in the way of a unique or multi-cultural meal. There was however two things you could find in abundance in Truro, Nova Scotia: pizza and church. What possible connections pizza had with places of worship was not apparent, but with a total population of roughly twelve thousand, having 29 churches and countless pizzerias seemed a little like over-kill. It was obvious that the people of Truro loved two things, religion and greasy, over-priced cheesy bread.

  Augustus wasn’t a fan of pizza. He didn’t enjoy the thought of slaughtering an animal and consuming its flesh on a pie as if it was some joyous occasion. The pizza sauce looked like congealed blood and the whole experience made him feel like a carnivorous monster. Furthermore, he was lactose intolerant and cheese gave him gas.

  Augustus wasn’t a great fan of church either. Every Sunday after the opening services in the congregation, the children were asked to go downstairs and continue their bible studies in a youth group under the church. He despised it. The other children were made up of students from his school classes and made fun of him Monday to Friday. The weekend was supposed to be his solace from the torment! Yet there he was every Sunday, dressed in his best and waiting for the inevitable taunting.

  Augustus’ parents went to St. David’s United Church in Bible Hill, which if you don’t know anything about the denomination; it is basically as un-Christianly as you can get without pissing off God. It could be said that anything went without punishment in that religious hall, unless of course you count the gossip and judgments of the members of the congregation. Lately the scuttle bug had been whispers regarding a family that lived in Augustus’ neighborhood. Apparently the couple was getting separated. (Oh won’t someone think of the children!?) Augustus couldn’t understand why adults taunted each other over such circumstances. In his opinion, these people were no better than the unrelenting peers he dealt with in Sunday school.

  For several years Augustus begged his parent’s not to force him to go to St. David’s. He had tried all matter of excuses from faking illness to throwing things in hysteria; all attempts only proving to his parents why it was so important for him to attend.

  Defeated, Augustus had to give up. He realized no amount of nagging was going to get him out of church. It was clear he had to find another way out of situation. Something that would not implicate him in the crime of skipping out behind his parent’s back. He must not be seen outside of Sunday school, he mustn’t attract attention. Augustus found this problematic as he had a particularly striking look about him. He was a gaunt little boy with large dark eyes and long black hair. He stuck out to adults because his appearance was always so disheveled. He looked as though he had been a long time neglected, which wasn’t entirely untrue. Although Augustus’ parents fed and clothed him, they were gone most of the time due to work. It left the boy alone in the apartment to care for himself and consequently, the growing mass of cats that started to collect in the basement.

  One Sunday, Augustus decided that he would slip into the balconies above the congregation when the children were asked to proceed to their bible lessons. He stole away behind an old piano until everyone had passed then tore up the stairs into the overhang. No one was allowed up there due to renovations but Augustus was more frightened of his peers than of some broken floorboards.

  On the balcony stood a few rows of pews which he began to weave through until he tripped on something. Peering down, he realized that it was a sleeping bag roll. Next to it sat a small ripped back pack and a mug containing a toothbrush that had clearly seen better days.

  “How strange to see this here,” Augustus thought, “and without any trace of the owner.” Augustus spent the remainder of the service in the balcony and carefully timed his meet up with his parents as to not raise suspicion. He had successfully evaded the usual taunting’s. No one made fun of his hair or overly slender nose. No one called him Augustine. He had solace at last so it was settled; he would retreat to the balcony as long as he could get away with it. Sunday after Sunday, Augustus played around the balcony with not a sight or sound of the sleeping bag’s owner…until the evening Christmas service.

  Augustus crept up into the balcony and noticed to his surprise that the sleeping bag was not empty. The squatter had returned!? Perhaps he always returned in the night. The stranger smelt badly of rotten egg and urine, Augustus thought. There was some half rotted food strewn around the person, which he figured had populated the stench. He had no wish to disturb the man and so he crept quietly away. Unsure if he could find another hiding spot, he waited outside the door at the top of the stairs. “I’m not going to Bible Study! No way!” he assured himself.

  Had Augustus had someone to talk to regarding the smelly man in the balcony, he probably would have, yet instead he sat in the basement of his apartment building talking to the stray cats who wandered in from the broken window by the laundry machines.

  “There is a strange person living in the church,” he confessed to the striped ginger kitten laying in his arms. “I don’t know why he’s there and if he stays, I’ll be forced to go back to Sunday school. Everyone is mean to me there and even the teacher doesn’t notice. I looked really hard for another hiding place but they are all too well travelled.” He remarked. Unfortunately, the kitten didn’t respond. It merely licked its large paws and meowed knowing Augustus had a can of tuna on him somewhere.

  Augustus pulled out the open can wrapped in a plastic Sobeys bag and set it down for the cats. A series of mating-like noises emerged with the low hum of happy purring cats. A big grey mancoone pushed many of the smaller cats aside.

  “Maybe I should ask him to leave,” Augustus said “it can’t be legal for him to stay there.” he began to wonder why the man was there in the first place! He though perhaps he should confront the camper. Maybe if he explained how he needed the balcony, the man would leave willingly. He looked at the cats, already beginning to meow for additional appetizers of which Augustus had no more to spare. “Look at them,” he thought “I’m sorry my friends, we have nothing left to give. Mom told me to stop feeding you completely because we can’t afford it. But I’ll continue to find food for you somewhere. That’s all I have for you today.” And with that Augustus left the basement and went to his room to do his homework.

  The Sunday to follow after the pep talk with the cats, Augustus ran upstairs to talk to the man on the balcony. He walked up to the sleeping bag to find it empty. As he stared down he felt a firm hand on his shoulder which caused him to spin around quickly. Before him he saw, not exactly a man, but a younger looking person with gentle and childish face that bore a funny smile. Augustus had seen people who looked like this man before. His plump face reminded him of another boy-man who had once been a part of the congregation. He re-called that his mother said he had some sort of syndrome and that was why he had acted rather strangely.

  “My name is Alex” he said proudly. “Are you a friend?” Augustus had no response to this question. Clearly he had never met the person before, what a silly thing to say.

  “No sir, we haven’t met.” He said replied to the stranger. “Can I ask you why you are staying here in the church?”

  “I have nowhere else to go,” the stranger explained. “The home closed down and all the people were picked up by their special ones. Someone was supposed to get me to take me to my new home but they didn’t.” very little of this explanation made sense to Augustus. Special ones? What on earth was he talking about?

  “Do you mean you are homeless?” he asked the boy-man. He received only a nod in response. How sad, Augustus thought. But if the stranger was homeless and now making the balcony his home this presented quite the predicament for hi
s respite from Sunday school.

  “Perhaps I can help you out. I will see if we can’t find you a real home. A church is not a home.” Augustus explained but the Alex didn’t seem to understand. The church was always open, he knew. “I will come and find you tomorrow after I find a real home for you.”

  “Oh thank you!” the boy-man smiled hopefully. Augustus figured he would corner his parents about the matter straight after Church. One of the few moments he had with his parents was the walk home.

  Let’s just say that the issue didn’t go over well. When Augustus had mentioned that the homeless man should be taken into their own home, he’s parents were horrified. “We can’t even feed those cats in the basement and now you wish to feed a grown person. Dearest, the man needs help, but we are not the ones to help him. Let me call the authorities and they will see that the man is taken care of.” His mother had a point so Augustus made no argument…for a change.

  That evening, Augustus snuck out to the Church. He wanted to apologize to Alex and explain that the proper authorities would take of him. “He will be happy when he finds out that he doesn’t have to stay in the Church, and I will be happy to reclaim my hiding place” he thought to himself. When he got to the church he hurried up the stairs calling for Alex. Alex responded in a small, quiet voice. His words were inaudible. Augustus ran towards him lying in the sleeping bag between the pews. He began to speak but then looked into Augustus’ eyes... they were losing their light. He leaned over the boy-man and let his hand rest on his shoulder. He watched Alex’s lips moving, completely soundless. Augustus squatted, fear growing in his chest as he watched Alex slowly cease all movement. His eyes turned glassy and dark, the light fading slowly out. If only Augustus had done something sooner, who knows what might have happened.