The Stories People Tell

…Jessie talks like that, she always talks like that, but she’s really a great girl. A good lady. When our pipes were busted, there was no water to the whole building for a month ’cause the landlord wouldn’t fix them, Jessie told everyone they could come shower at her place. I showered at her place so many times…

…It was after my accident, I got home from the hospital, I was in so much pain; they gave me one of those five-day dose steroids, day one nothing, day two nothing, day three a little better, by day five I felt wonderful, then next week the pain started again. They can’t just keep giving you steroids, there’s nothing they can do…

…the landlord said water was free. My lease said water was free. Then he tries to charge me because he says I use too much water. I went to Legal Aid, they said he can’t charge me because of the lease. So he broke the lease. I’ve gotta be out in two weeks…

…Just to look them in the eye, just to know that they stole from you and they’re still pretending to be your friends… just to know that it was because her son was using, but they won’t admit it… I won’t ever touch drugs now. Not even prescription drugs. Just over the counter ibuprofen and sometimes a beer. No drugs…

…The landlord said I got one month to clean up my trailer, get a new paint job, get it in better condition. But I can’t afford new paint. Can’t do it myself. I have to work full time. Can’t hire someone to help me, they charge fifty dollars an hour. I don’t got fifty dollars an hour. But I’ll be gone by the end of the month anyway…

…I want a pool. It’s so hot, there’s nothin’ to do with my daughters here when it gets this hot. They complain all day long. Wish I had a pool. We had one down in Florida, you know. Everyone has pools in Florida. But my son, he drowned in the pool one summer when no one was out there. He was just little. I didn’t want a pool in my yard after that. But… maybe I could get one of those covers? You know, cover the pool, keep my fence locked, so if anyone breaks in and drowns it’s not my fault… They couldn’t blame me for that, could they? 

The Gospel is everywhere, little passions of little Christs in every place you look. If we listened to each other with reverence, I think we’d always be in awe of others, of what they’ve survived. Listen to the stories people tell.

(image via pixabay)