Tyrone turned over. The night had been very cold. But he was getting used to being cold and alone. “Thank you, Lord, for waking me up this morning. What shall I do today? Whatever it may be, I ask that you lead me, Lord.” Tyrone got up from his bedclothes and climbed out of his cardboard box. The sun was starting to come out. The alley was getting noisy from the garbage trucks coming down to pick up trash. He knew that his house and belongings looked like trash. He had better remove them from the alley. He laid his box flat, wrapped it in the large sheet of plastic that had been given to him, and stored it on the far side of the garage where he had slept.
Cyril was happy until her brother told her that she has to leave his house. “Cyril, I need to ask you to move out. My girl’s son needs the room. We can’t have him visit us unless he has his own room.” His girlfriend needed the bedroom for her 9-year-old son. Ward, her stepbrother said, “It was only supposed to be until you got yourself together.” He had been allowing her to stay there, until she could get settled. That had been 5 years ago. Now at the age of 41 she was used to living in his backroom.
Life changes all the time, but she thought that meant as you got a lot older. She had to find a new place to live. “Cyril, you got to get up out of my place. Linda wants to bring her kid over for the weekends. The judge said he must have his own space and a separate bedroom for his visits.” Ward had told her Friday morning before work. Cyril looked at him and asked, “Why have I got to leave now? What happened to Linda’s apartment?”
“She had to change from a two-bedroom apartment to a smaller one to reduce her rent. The boy’s father is pushing for full custody. He wants to stop paying alimony because he keeps the kid during the week. Now to see her son, she has to prove she got enough space for him. The social worker is coming by next Tuesday. The room has to be set up for him by then.”