Wade Masters, taking a break from phone calls and setting up meetings, made a simple choice.
The night he arrived in Sacramento, the attractive Kindred he met stopped to tip a blind man.
That blind man had watched her walk away.
Perhaps he was simply a person adept at playing blind in order to garner sympathetic donations. If that was the case, and the man was that talented, perhaps Wade would do well to set up amicable relations with the him. After all, another set of eyes on the street is never a bad thing in Wade's line of business.
The other option is simply that the man was different somehow. Blind, but able to see... or sense... or who knows what.
The choice, then, was to attempt to find the man and to figure him out. What was his angle? Was he a poser, preying on the common person's sympathies? Or was he something altogether different?
With that intent, Wade grabbed his lightweight leather jacket and put on his fedora and stepped out into the night, heading for where he crossed paths with the man originally.
Wade recalls that he and Madison encountered the blind man with the dog on the street a block or so from the Asylum. Heading near there, he doesn't see the blind man or the dog, but at nearly the same spot he sees an old woman with a shopping cart full of paper shopping bags and plastic garbage bags.
The bags appear to be full of cans and rags. The woman is wearing a well-worn winter jacket and jeans that hang loosely on her skinny legs. She's also wearing a red and white Santa cap. In one hand she holds a bell, in the other a bucket with the words "GOD BLESS" and a cross emblazoned on it, apparently in marker. Around her neck hangs a cardboard sign: HOMELESS AT CHRISTMAS PLEASE GIVE. She rings the bell steadily and says "Good evening" to passersby. Most ignore her, but a few drop some change in the bucket. Any time someone makes a donation, she says "Merry Christmas, and God bless" in the low, raspy voice of someone who has smoked too much for a long time.
Wade approaches and tucks a $50 in her bucket. "Merry Christmas, dear woman. Might I ask you a question? A little while back, there was a gentleman here with a dog. I believe he was blind. Do you by chance know where I might find him?"
The woman's eyes practically bulge at the sight of Wade's donation. "Blind man with a dog..." she appears to think for a moment, then says, "Oh, you must mean the Rev'rend! He's here and there... I saw him earlier tonight, just a couple blocks down the road, though he ain't there no more."
The woman glances downward into her pail, then back up at Wade. "And.... I know 'bout a place where he hangs out sometimes. Nice and sheltered from the cold, and ... private, you know?"
"Where might this place be, ma'am?" Wade asks, as he retrieves his wallet and holds it. He doesn't make a show of pulling it out, nor does he try overly hard to hide his action.
She clearly notices Wade's actions, but only glances at the wallet before glancing back to his face. "It's four..." she glances off to the side as she thinks. "No, it's five blocks down, the intersection where there's that coffee shop at one corner, and the deli right 'cross the street. Good sandwiches there. Anyhow, you turn right, then turn left into the dead-end alley there. Back behind the dumpsters, there's a spot, he goes there sometimes."
She lowers her voice and looks around, before looking back up at Wade. "Says that's where God talks to him, sometimes," she says in a loud whisper. "I don't want to sound like I don't believe in God, 'specially with it being the holiday, but... God talking to him?" She taps her temple with one dirty finger while shaking her head.
"He would not be the first person God has spoken to over a few thousand years, if you believe the stories. And they do say he works in mysterious ways."
Reaching into his wallet, Wade pulls out a pair of $20s and puts them in her bucket. "My dear woman, you have been an immense help and for that, I thank you sincerely. I do hope you have the merriest of Christmases. Perhaps I shall see you again, before then, to help ensure your holiday is warm and bright. If this is an area you frequent, I will see about looking for you around here. Bless you, ma'am."
With a tip of his hat, Wade heads off in the direction the woman indicated. Perhaps he, too, would speak with God. More than that, though, he wished to find the Reverend.
On a side note... I need to make some calls. Find a venue, volunteers, gather donations, and supplement what I can with my own funds. There are good people living on the streets... but, more importantly to me, there are constant eyes everywhere. Eyes most people pay no attention to. They would be a very valuable asset. For that, they need to value me... Ah, but first, our "Reverend."
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