The Unsavory Side of Life

Anthony, a former street guy/current employee of MITS, and I were walking through Eastleigh doing a quick base run. (Bases are where street kids live, be it a trash heap, alleyway, or the side of a building.) It had rained two nights in a row, so the streets were now lakes and sewage ran freely, sometimes gathering in a pothole where it would sit and become stagnant. People continue to stare at me as I walk down the streets. I was wearing my brother's shirt he and his partner created - the red one with the Canadian leaf that says "Eh?" I was pleasantly surprised as I passed a young street boy that looked at my shirt and exclaimed "Canada!"

Suddenly Anthony turned to me. "So, I found out that one of my friends that lives on the streets was killed this week," he said nonchalantly. "I learned of it yesterday. He and his friend were drunk. They'd gone to a bar and were very drunk. They were just hanging out. Then they got into a fight over 100 shillings. (close to 1.50 or so) The guy killed my friend. He chopped his head off." I stopped in my tracks, stunned beyond belief.. He kept going... "I went to the 7th street base and they told me what happened. A couple of days later the guy that killed him came back. He was drunk. He said he was sorry, but he didn't tell them what he did. He just said he was sorry, but that he needed food. They said to bring P- back and then apologize.. then they killed him, too." "Anthony... I am so sorry!" "No.. that's the street life. You die. You kill and you get sick, and you die. That is life."

I found out later that the guys at the 7th street base had called the police before killing him, which is extremely rare since they don't trust them. The police came, looked around, and then they left, basically silently giving them permission to do whatever they wanted to do with the guy. So, especially since the way their friend was killed, they killed him.

I am dumbfounded, shocked, words cannot explain it. My instict was to comfort Anthony for the loss of his friend, but he didn't need to be comforted.

This is life on the streets.