Chapter 26

I used the little money I had to take the bus up Bonanza Road until it stopped by the Las Vegas Rescue Mission. I hoped I could get something to eat and a bed to sleep on. I was new to the whole homeless thing. At least God had given me a new rosary bracelet. I just needed a woman to give it to. Still, my entire family was dead, murdered in fact. I had to pick my battles one at a time. In the meantime, I walked up to the gate of the rescue mission where a man sat in a shack.

"Excuse me, I'm hungry, and I have nowhere to sleep," I said to the man in the shack.

"We don't serve dinner again until tomorrow night at 5," he said to me.

"What do I do now?"

"Wait in the street out back with the rest of the folk." The man pointed to the street behind the Las Vegas Rescue Mission. I walked around the corner, and I saw the mass of humanity. There were men, women, and children sleeping on the ground in the filth. It was already dark, and most people were trying to get some sleep. A couple of men sat around passing a bottle of whiskey among themselves. A black man with dreadlocks smoked a cigarette while sitting on the sidewalk. These were my people now.

How far I had come! A Harvard trained military scientist, and now I was homeless. Then again, I lost track of time at San Diego Psychiatric Hospital. I hadn't been a Navy physicist in years, especially since the DSS special agent officially fired me for the Department of Defense.

"Hey, buddy," said a shaggy man who hadn't shaved his beard in weeks. "You look lost."

I didn't want to admit I was new to the homeless community. Who knows what these people might try? I had exactly $1 with me, and I was saving it. Maybe I could buy some French fries and a cup of water at McDonalds. Oh what the heck!

"I am lost," I said to the shaggy man. "Where can I get something to eat?"

"Just go to Rawson-Neale," the shaggy man said.

"What's that?"

"It's the state psychiatric hospital. They'll feed you if you just act touched in the head."

"No way! I just spent six years in a psychiatric hospital."

"Trust me, you'll love it there. Ask for Natasha."

"Who's Natasha?"

"She's the one you're supposed to give that rosary bracelet to." The man pointed to my pocket.

"How did you know I have a rosary bracelet?"

"A little angel told me."