Chapter 3 

      As Sam went into the main entrance to the Mission, she smelled the distinct odor of old clothes, old furniture, and a musty lobby. The overseer of the mission, Brad Davis, immediately recognizes her, “Sam, what happened to you last night? Don’t tell me, you spent the night in the Water Gardens again. Man, you need to come here and sleep at nights. You’re getting too old to be drinking an sleeping outside all the time.” Brad was a good ol guy. He is a white man about 6’2” slim build, short combed blonde hair and pushing 40 years old.

      Sam stopped, “C’mon Brad, you know I can’t sleep in the shelter. It’s like a house of horrors. People moaning and screaming all night, I don’t get any sleep.”

      Brad nods his head, “I know, but it’s safer in here and the noise eventually dies down and everybody gets some sleep. You need the rest, and you need to stop drinking the wine.”

       “I know, but it’s hard to make it through the day. Everything depresses and upsets me.” Sam was now looking down at the ground when she spoke.

      Brad knew she was becoming uneasy, “Stay around here for a while and we’ll get you some help. I mean real help, a good doctor.” Brad believed Sam would feel better if she had some medical attention.

      Sam, still looking down but now shaking her head no, “I’ve tried medicine before, and it doesn’t work. I’ll think about it Brad.” She then started to walk off.

      Brad was still trying to stay positive, “That’s right, you think about it Sam. I’ll be here, okay. Hey, go by the kitchen and get you some scrambled eggs.”

      As Sam walked off, she saw several children trying to play in a side room off the lobby. She walked over and said, “Hey kids, how y’all doing?”

      The four kids who were playing saw her and jumped up yelling, “Sam!” All at the same time. The kids ranged in age from five years old up to eight. They ran over and began hugging her. She knelt and began hugging them back.

      “Ya’ll look like you’ve been having fun over here.”

      A sweet little white girl named Becka with light brown hair and a face like a doll about 6 years old spoke softly, “Sam, we’ve been playing with those old popsicle sticks, and I built a house.”

      Sam hugged her saying, “Becka, that’s one of the best looking houses I’ve ever seen. I’ll tell you what, I bet Santa can bring you a doll for the house at Christmas.”

      All the kids screamed, “Yeah! Santa’s going to bring us toys!”

      A small black girl named Latisha who was five years old with a cute little face and beautiful black hair said, “Sam, do you think Santa will come this year?”

      Sam stopped cold. She bent down to hug her, “I’ll bet Santa comes this year sweetheart. He’ll bring presents for everybody.” It bothered her to say those words because she had no confidence in them.

      One of the boys yelled out, “Hey Sam, you bring us anything today?”

      She began to smile, reaching into her pocket and pulling out two red rubber balls. Both rubber balls fit into one hand. She had found them in the Water Gardens and was keeping them for just such an occasion. She held them out and hands started grabbing at them as the kids screamed, “Yay!”

      She handed one of the balls to Latisha who got a big smile and ran into the room to play with the ball followed by one of the boys.

      The other kids grabbed Sam by the hand and led her back to the room off the lobby, “C’mon Sam, play ball with us.”

      Sam went into the room and sat down with her back against the wall and began tossing the balls with the kids. There was laughing, and squealing as they threw the balls back and forth to each other. Sam and the kids were laughing even if only for a little while.

      Brad came over to see what all the commotion was about. He saw Sam sitting in the room with the kids as they all laughed and played. Sam was amazing with the kids.

      After a short time, she got up to leave, “Ya’ll have fun with those rubber balls an I’ll see you later.”

      Suddenly the kids stopped playing and stood there just looking at her. Latisha walked over and took her hand, “Please don’t go Sam, stay a little longer and play.” The other kids joined in chanting, “Yeah Sam stay and play some more, stay and play, stay and play, stay and play!”

      Sam sat back down up against the wall, “Okay, I’ll play a little longer, but then I have to go find out what’s going on in the big city today.”

      She had to get started early to find money to get her wine for the night. She’s got a few dollars, but the social security check doesn’t come in for several more days, so the money she has needs to last her.

      She played a little longer with the kids and left them playing merrily with the rubber balls. She went back into the kitchen to get a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. She then left the mission, walking back towards the downtown area. The depression began working on her mind. As she walked, she became upset over her own situation, and the kid’s situation at the mission. She continued thinking about being hooked on wine, having to survive every night in the water gardens, not having any money, and the list goes on.