Home and Work - Day 11

I woke up this morning on an inflatable mattress, which had lost about 40% of it’s original pressure. I stayed in the apartment that I financed, under someone else’s name, on Aloha Drive. While bouncing around between hotels and short term vacation rentals I finally got to a point where I realized that money was going to run out eventually. I had another guy who had been staying with me during this time. Partly because he was also homeless but mostly because I’m most dangerous when I’m alone. His name is David, but I'm not going into the significance of that at this point.

He didn’t have the money to cover all the move in expenses to afford a place of his own, but I did. I didn’t want to be tied into a lease of any kind. I had no idea how long I would be in Waikiki, on Oahu or even in this forsaken paradise in the middle of the Pacific, so I didn’t want the commitment. The arrangement was simple, I covered the cost of getting the place and I got to live there as long as it took him to pay me back.

The intersection of Lewers Street and Aloha Drive

I was particularly proud of myself for thinking of it. It meant that I would have a roof over my head, even when I was broke, and that I’d still have money coming in. This was key because while I had money I spent it recklessly. There are only two things that matter when you’re high: how to get high next and right now. The latter doesn’t lead to cautious spending and budgets.

My whole scheme played out quite differently than I imagined. I should have known better than to finalize everything without having seen the place, or the neighbors, before hand. But I didn’t think it really mattered as I wouldn’t be living there all that long. He was going to be stuck there for a year so how bad could it really be.

The place he found wasn’t so bad really. It was classified as a one bedroom, but divided in such a way that it easily be made into two studio’s for our purposes. One of us would have the kitchen connected, the other the bathroom. For being in the heart of Waikiki and under $1200 a month it was a steal.There was one catch though, the neighbors.

Surrounded on all sides were elderly, or near elderly, residents who had all lived there for the last fifteen years or more. There liked the way Waikiki used to be and abhorred change and especially fresh off the boat mainlanders like myself. From the first day I was a labeled a disturbance to the peace and I very much was.

He wasn’t expecting to get the apartment before March 1st, so I had already made arrangements for a place through the end of February. When word  came that he could get the keys on the 22nd he jumped on it. It made sense to me since we could each have some time apart after spending the majority of the last month together. We also needed to furnish the new space and that wasn’t going to happen over night.

I’m not exactly sure how it happened but I was the one who spent most of the first week there. Well, myself and another good friend of mine that we’ll also call David, that isn’t actually his name but it is. He’s the one I met first here on Oahu.

When we were together it was almost as bad as when I was alone. It didn’t matter what time of day it was, when he sent me that text, “wyd”, it meant we were going to be seeing each other shortly. Our encounters were often brief and focused on one thing: shots.

"David" and I at large in Waikiki. Censored due to unauthorized use of image.

The two of us are incredibly similar in many respects. The characteristic that is most relevant to this anecdote is that we both have a way of flaunting our self destructive behaviors, We didn’t censor what we talked about because other people might be listening. Bags of dope would be thrown around in front of open windows. We’d regularly christen a new space by going back and forth at a volume everyone around us could hear, “Slam?” “Yes! Let’s slam!’ “Well if we’re going to slam, I hope it’s a good slam.” “Well even a bad slam is a good slam because it’s a SLAM!”

We didn’t care who knew what we were doing and almost challenged them to try to do something about it. We wanted everyone to know that we were injecting methamphetamine. In hindsight I have to wonder if we actually were challenging someone to do something about it. Help us.

It was this behavior, along with already distrusting neighbors and walls suitable for wrapping fresh spring rolls that ultimately destroyed the situation. I had warned my roommate that the neighbors didn’t much care for me, but he always replied with, “fuck them, as long as we pay rent they can’t say a thing.” Unfortunately that was not so much the case.

It happened to be the same day that I left for detox. As I was loading my belonging into an uber can to take them to Chinatown for safe keeping in my absence, the landlord had just called. He was informed that he received a number of complaints specifically about myself and another guy “with a backpack’ whom they thought was also living there. Which he might as well have been. It was then put forward that if either of us were to be found living on the property it could result in his immediate eviction.

And just like that I came to realize I had blasted a giant hole right through my parachute

I have still stayed there a couple times since I've been back. It’s far from the best environment for me, so that alone tends to keep me away. I’d also like to still recuperate my deposit on the place, which isn’t terribly likely to happen if I am the cause for losing it.

Where was I going with all of this? Oh yeah!

 

I rolled off the mattress and stood up slowly. I still get the occasional light headedness if I stand up too quickly. Such was the case today and I had to brace myself on the bathroom door jamb for a moment before making it to the toilet. It was 6:30 am

Gratuitous Morning Selfie

Yesterday evening I had run through the “Gigs” listings on craigslist as I have started doing every night. Being as I have to be ready to leave on a moment's notice when a bed opens up for me I can’t seek real employment. I do still need to have some income if I’m going to survive though. I find it’s usually just filled with creatively worded ads for college aged XXX models and pyramid schemes, but every once in awhile something real gets tossed in.

“Warehouse / Wood Shop Cleaning”. The job was simple enough, show up at 9am and spend the day vacuuming up saw dust off various pieces of machinery. One look at my resume and one might think I was crazy for taking such a job, but I haven’t gone as far as to list “drug addict” in my work history yet. Maybe I should.

I had emailed therm around 730 pm the night before. After providing my contact information I made clear that my email goes directly to my phone which I always have on me. Then due to a combination of too much sun and a belly full of food, I fell asleep unexpectedly. The first month of stopping meth can be a lot like having narcolepsy.

I didn’t receive their reply till I was sitting on the toilet already convinced that I should just go back to sleep. Instead my mind went into full overdrive. It had been over four months since I’d worked for even a day. I frantically tried to remember all the things I would do in preparation each weekday morning.

I was already on the toilet so the most important part was handled. Then I had to shower, brush my teeth, trim my beard (something I decided I didn’t have to do anymore since I was officially homeless), eat breakfast, pack a lunch, drink a cup of coffee. It was all so fantastically mundane and I loved every minute of it.

Street Art along Queen Street in Kaka'ako

The job was in Kaka’ako, about two and half miles away. I didn’t have money to ride the bus so I left two hours early on foot. I was not going to be late. Even though I left plenty of time I still rushed, which resulted in being covered in sweat by the time I walked down the side of the road, there were no sidewalks, on Queen Street.

It was 8:20 am. I remembered during my time as Warehouse Manager how irritating it could  be when people showed up too early so I found a park bench around the corner and entertained myself catching Pokemon. Yes, I am still playing Pokemon Go religiously.

At 8:50 I arrived at the shop. There were already a few people bustling about, loading a truck and turning on equipment. I met the supervisor who introduced me to a man named Rob. They never said he was the owner but his age, demeanor and the respect he commanded all suggested he wrote the pay checks.

He gave me a terse introduction to their operation and showed me to the shop vac. I then spent the next six hours vacuuming. It wasn’t glorious but it was satisfying.

#work

I was reminded of when I first took the management job. I had inherited a mess to say the least. Trash was piled everywhere, you couldn’t even push a cart down the aisle without needing a plow scoop mounted on the front. A year later you could have eaten on the floors.

It wasn’t without a lot of hard work though. In every job I’ve had I have a way of becoming a workaholic at first. I see a new challenge and pour everything I have into solving it. Long hours, weekend shifts, being drenched in sweat before noon, they were all common occurrences for me. The problem is that once I master a particular position, I then become restless, bored and arrogant. Luckily that wouldn’t be the case here, since it was only for a day.

I did however make a lasting impression as I have a way of doing with employers. I had completed the entire day's work and then some in only six hours. Rob told me they were likely to need my assistance again in the future. I thanked him politely and encouraged him to contact me when the time comes, but also warned him that any day I may be called to the windward side. He nodded and didn’t ask for further details.

Upon leaving I was starving so I headed down to a place on the corner which had a line out the door for most of the day, Queen’s Bar-B-Q. There is the most beautiful assembly of food here in Hawaii and they call it “plate lunch”. The main course can vary but it is always accompanied by rice and mac salad. I’m not sure what it is they do differently with mac salad here but it is something to behold. Unless there’s too much mayonnaise, but when your body has been starved of nutrition there is no such thing as too much mayonnaise.

Katsu Chicken plate lunch from Queen's Bar-B-Q

I got back to my old apartment to grab my laundry and shower. The stench coming off my body was enough to repulse a corpse flower. Then I was off to the laundromat where I started writing while my clothes spun around in circles.

Given the recent cash injection I decided to find a hostel to stay for the night. I walked with my duffle bag, nearly as large as I am, down to the Diamond Head side of Waikiki. There were four hostels all within a block of one another, I figured one of them had to have an opening for the evening.

Luckily they all had beds available, at fairly reasonable prices too. Unluckily for me, they wouldn’t allow me to check into any of them. In order to prevent people from staying endlessly they have a policy at hostels here in Hawaii that require you meet certain stipulations. You need to have either just arrived (with a boarding pass to prove it), have a scheduled flight off the island (also verifiable) or a military ID. There are no exceptions to this rule I was told.

More Kaka'ako street art. The mural outside Cafe Duck Butt.

So I trekked back up Kuhio Avenue to the apartment on Aloha Drive. I may sleep here again, I’m not sure. The potential risk is formidable but there is a part of me that is convinced I’d be able to talk my way out of any serious repercussions. My charismatic charm and quick wit have started to return to me. Let that stand as a warning to any attractive men that happen upon my path.