Continued from "Dover" leaving off where I got my bike, hung out with Devin, and met my roommates. The day I'll start out with is Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007. I had to speak with the Shelter Manager, a very big black guy who always wore a tie. I re-explained my case, and he encouraged me to find some work, and that I would need to talk to a Case Manager sometime within the week.
I went outside and unlocked my bike, and decided to head toward the area of that Super Fresh grocery store, instead of toward North Dupont Highway, which was right down the street with a college on the way off to the left. Instead I went right, out of the shelter parking lot, and there were no sidewalks on this area, but throughout my journey I got used to it.
The first place I decided to go to was that grocery store. It was the only place I knew in the area, and today was the day I got to know the area well, and learn the streets. I went inside to see if they were hiring, but they weren't. Everything inside was overpriced like normal grocery stores, and I just decided to wait on shopping, as I had the whole day ahead of me. Coming out of the grocery store, slightly down the street to the left, was a Dunkin Donuts. When I went there, I ordered my Iced Coffee, and some breakfast, and chatted with the employees there. I soon learned that they were hiring, and was interested. After applying, I talked to the manager and spent some more time talking with everyone else. Since I became familiar with this place, I thought this might be a good place to hangout to pass time.
I went outside and unlocked my bike, where some kid slightly older than me was waiting. He had blond hair, wearing shorts, and was also riding a BMX bike. His name was Louden. He asked if I BMX biked, and what kind of stuff I was into with bikes. I told him that I used to race, and go to the skatepark often, and he offered to ride with me. After a small conversation, I told him that I was staying at the homeless shelter, and new to the area. We ended up biking all over Dover, he showed me around and introduced me to new places. We went downtown, where a lot of construction was detouring a lot of main streets, but we rode through it and stopped at another BMX shop, where they also sold skateboards. This was where Louden did all of his shopping when it came to bikes. This tour really helped me get to know the area, and it was indeed a very fun ride.
We then rode to his house, through some back roads and through a field, where several houses were lined up in a neighborhood, with the same chain-ling fence for each backyard. He went into this shed to do some adjustments on his bike, and pumped my tires up slightly. I went inside his house and got some grape kool-aid, and when we were about to continue our trip, I noticed that his house was only a couple houses away from Devin's house.
I told him about her, and we decided to go over there to see if she was home, after calling her first. We all met up, and since the three of us found a common hobby, we all played soccer in field nearby behind Devin's house. After a couple hours of soccer, Devin came back to Louden's house with me, and we went upstairs to his room and he showed us around. I'm not sure when this happened, but I remember riding my bike with Louden, and he showed me to this area downtown that was full of streets and apartments, and a lot of schools. This was near a street called Pear Street, and it was pretty close to the Division Streets which lead to downtown. We passed by this building, and he stopped and went inside while I waited in the lobby for him. He came back out with some pieces of paper, and said that this was the school he wanted to go to, but they were full, and that he was on next year's waiting list. The school was Campus Community High School, and so we then left down the street and passed by a couple sports fields where people where teams were practicing. This is important, and you will understand why later on. At the end of the day, we all went back home, and I went back to the shelter.
The next day, I decided to go to the Mall. I dressed nicely, even though I knew I was bound for another sweaty bike ride. I rode my bike left out of the shelter, passed the college, actually rode through the college campus, and out the parking lot onto North Dupont Highway, and continued down that road until I reached the mall which was across the street. While at the mall, I parked my bike outside and just explored, browsed all the stores, as well as the food court. There wasn't much to see, but it was a nice place to hang out. After I visited the mall, I stopped by plenty of other stores nearby looking for some work. On my search for work, I came across Staples. I went inside and applied on the computer they had set up. I had plenty of time to spare in the day after that, so I decided to go down to Dunkin Donuts again to write in my notebooks. That day, I wasn't able to get contact with Devin for some reason, I remember her being worried about trying to keep me a secret, all I could do was wonder if she was okay.
I'm not quite sure what happened in the next couple days, but between this day of Wednesday and Friday, I stopped at a Pizza place near that Dunkin Donuts, in the same plaza as the Super Fresh and Devin's favorite Ice Cream store, and talked to the manager about a job. He asked me a couple very simple questions, if I was in school, how old I was, and if I could show up Saturday morning to start work. He said to bring a white T-shirt, and jeans, I don't remember what time though. It was a small restaurant, and I had heard from Louden to try this place for work, and I remember not being with him when I went in.
Friday, was the day I had to have a meeting with my Case Manager. Her job was to gather information on why I was here, and what my current situation was and how she could help. I'm not sure what her job was officially, but she ended up sounding more like a therapist. Her office was behind the Homeless Shelter house, with about four other people in there sitting at desks and computers. I don't remember exactly what we talked about, but I'm pretty sure it had to do with money and wanted to make sure I was going to be able to support myself. I remember helped out with a shipment on the way out, some heavy boxes. For the rest of the day, I biked all over Dover again. Somehow I never got tired, and I listened to my MP3 player which had lots of songs, but while I was there I mostly listened to Final Fantasy soundtracks.
My first day of work was Saturday, August 25th. I went to Dunkin Donuts before work, I left early because I didn't know how long it would take to get there from the shelter. When I got there, I remember my T-shirt being too big, and I was partnered by a younger kid with blond hair and glasses who was very polite. He taught me how to work the dishwasher, and I spent the day doing dishes and fetching ingredients from the fridge whenever the manager needed them. Because of my address, the manager knew that I needed this job, that's why I was more of an extra employee working part time, and minimum wage.
The next day, Sunday, was an interesting day. I finally decided to go to Wal-Mart, which was further down North Dupont Highway than the Mall was. I locked my bike up on the side of the building, and went inside to check out some of the sales they had. I had my backpack with me, so I decided to get a 12-pack of Mountain Dew since it was on sale for cheap. I carried all of them in my backpack to the shelter. When I got there, I shared some of my soda with the people there. I quickly learned that the soda machine downstairs was all out, or that it wasn't cold, so people ended up paying me for my cans of soda, using small change. I gave some away to my roommates, and still had enough to last me a while. The manager announced that this day was a cleaning day, and we had to thoroughly clean our rooms. I remember we found maggots in one of the corners of the room. After that, I showered for the first time there, and went to bed.
I got a phone call early in the morning, for an interview with Staples. I was to go in at around 1:30pm, so I quickly got out of bed and dressed to go out. I didn't have any appropriate shirts, so I went to TJ Max which was very close to Staples, and got a black T-shirt jacket, with my white T-shirt underneath it. The manager there asked me about my previous work history, which I had trouble on. At the time, I had thought the interview went well, but as I look back on it, I can tell I had no chance. I took a nap before I had to go to work from 530 to 930. After work, I noticed that Devin had called, and I missed it. I tried calling her when I got back to the shelter. I don't remember what she said, or if it had to be through text, but I may remember her telling me that she's not sure she's able to keep me a secret anymore, and that she's really stressing it. I tried to calm her down by assuring her that nobody had to know, and to trust me.
The next day, Louden and I went for a bike ride. I don't remember if we passed by her school this day, but I do remember that he wanted to show me a track that he visited often, called the Tidbury Track. Here, there was tons of dirt jumps, it was in the forest, and some neat bike trails. I remember Louden telling me the quickest way to get back was a certain way that connected to Division Street, as he went a different way home. I found myself on Pear Street, because I was starting to get lost and it was the only familiar street I knew. When I passed by Devin's school, I knew where I was and that I was on the right track. As I passed by, I noticed lots of buses, and kids piling out of the school. I continued down the street, heading back to the shelter.
I remember where I was when I got this call, it was Devin. She broke up with me. Her words, she convinced me that she just couldn't do it anymore, she couldn't hide me, and that it was too much to have an older boyfriend. She was crying, and angry. I didn't want to believe it at the time, but at the same time, knew it was going down and wouldn't work out. After she hung up, she made it very clear in text, that this is what she wanted.
Writing this next part isn't easy, because I look back on this as someone I'm glad I'm better than. Don't think of me any less after hearing this part, because I'm a lot more today. I rode my bike to Devin's house. She wouldn't answer her phone, or text back, so I rushed their as quickly as possible. There were no cars in her driveway, but she answered the front door, and stood there casually, depressed. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me, out of breath, that she couldn't deal with having someone like me anymore. I told her what I was going through, and that I had come down there for her, and that she didn't have to do this. I had a pocket knife with me, and I opened it and laid it onto my arm as she fell to the floor in tears, screaming, yelling, begging for me to stop. I pressed hard and didn't think it would hurt as bad as it did, but I kept it there as she sat there hopeless, full of regret and cornered. I told her that if I lose her I lose everything, because she was the only one left in this world that made me happy, so she promised to stay friends after. I helped her up, and we hugged one last time.
The next day, after going to the Mall, I called Devin to see if she was alright, and requested to see her again. I'm not sure who decided on it, or if it was agreed on, but I went to the school to talk to her. I remember it was planned, because she had been accompanied by 2 of her friends that I haven't met before. One was a girl, and the other was a black kid. I wanted some alone time with her, but she told me to talk in front of them too. I didn't know what to say, I just wanted to see her again. Truthfully, I wanted her back, and for everything to just work out. I tried to convince her that it could work, but she finalized her breakup. I wondered if her mom had found out about us, and when I asked her if I could tell her mom about us, she attacked me. She lunged and punched me as many times as she could screaming not to tell her mom about us, before her two friends pulled her off. It got violent, but I just took it and tried not to cry. Devin's friend had a parent come pick them up, so we were forced to part ways.
I needed to talk to somebody, so I called up Louden and told him what happened, and he told me to meet up with him somewhere so that we could go to the Calvary and ride bikes there. The Calvary was a church, an Assembly of God, that wasn't actually in Dover. Apparently every Wednesday they had a bunch of skate-park ramps and grinding poles out in the parking lot for teens to come and ride around. A helmet was required, and Louden introduced me to all the people there. Since I was wearing my gloves and had a nice new blue Haro, they thought I was a professional. I had used the ramps a lot, and getting pretty comfortable, even with a lot on my mind. Come to about 5:30pm, Louden and everyone were called in to go to service, but I didn't attend because I had a lot on my mind. The rule was that if you attended Youth Group, you were allowed to come back out and ride around some more, otherwise had to go. I rode back without Louden and ended up back at the Greentree Plaza, with the Super Fresh, and my restaurant, and Devin's favorite ice cream store.
I called Devin to request seeing her once more, I don't remember if she wanted to meet me somewhere at 7:30pm, but I remember sitting there and waiting for hours at the same seats we first kissed on. A little before 7:30pm rolls around, I call her, but there's no answer. About a minute later, she calls me back. I answer. She asks if it's me, I said yes, she tells me to hold on a second.
The next person to come onto the phone was a State Police officer. As soon as I heard his voice, my heart dropped, and I immediately hopped on my bike and booked it out of there, suspecting a setup. The officer spoke with me about Devin, and what was going on. He told me to never contact her again, by any means at all. I begged to make exceptions, to at least stay online over the internet with her, but it was solid, I was to never contact her ever again. He asked for my information, but I refused, as I was on a pre-paid cell phone and a bike in the middle of a city I didn't live in. I knew right there, that her mother had found out, or at least would have found out soon. I went to Devin's house, since it was nearby, but there was nobody there, as I was expecting a police car. Something didn't add up, I wondered where could she be. After we hung up, I called her cell phone back, and he answered in appall. I asked to say goodbye to Devin, one last time. Devin quickly replied with one, quick, single, firm, goodbye, all before I could reply with my goodbye. The officer was angry and threatened to take action if I didn't stop. I told him that I was going home, and wouldn't bother her anymore, but wouldn't let them find me. I rode back to the homeless shelter, expecting police cars, but there wasn't. I showed up, and parked my bike around back and went inside and up to my room.
Suddenly, my roommates came into the room telling me to go downstairs, that there were two cops asking for me. Their lights weren't on, but I could see their car in the parking lot. I remember walking down the stairs, being stared at by everyone, including Mr. Lewis, who was talking to them before I did. The two officers were waiting outside for me. They just wanted to talk, and everyone convinced me I wasn't in any trouble.
When I saw this officer, the size of him, I was glad I didn't mess with them. He was with a partner. They talked with me, and got all of my information down. They said that they were going to contact my father and tell him just that we met, and tell him where I was. They were more worried about me than they were about Devin, and it soon became a primary issue of what I was doing out here. Mr. Lewis came outside and learned that I wasn't into any trouble, he was informed, and filled in. The two police officers left, and I looked at Mr. Lewis as I went inside and asked him if he wanted to talk with me. He made it very clear that he did, and I went into his office.
He looked at me and realized who I was, why I was here, and what I was going through. He was on the phone with the House Manager and told him that I just came down here to see my girlfriend, and everything that happened. After about a half hour, I was in tears, and he told me it would be best for me to just go back home where i belonged.
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Buzz Killlington
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