small town

malvern, ar, doesn't have a cab service.

today a man with all his possessions packed in two neat, wheeled suitcases came to the door of the bank i work for. he made the mistake many do in thinking we have money there. we're the operations center (i like to think we're "the brains") and mainly ensure that everything in the money places runs as it should. we keep the doors locked.

one of the guys went out to speak with him, bringing a cold bottle of water along. the man, who thought he might possibly have an account with us, was looking for a place to get some help - his house had been stolen. clearly, he needed far more help than is contained in a cold bottle of water.

the receptionist started making calls to see if there was a place we could refer him to, a local shelter. she settled on calling the police to see if they might know of someplace. they sent an officer who, after talking with him for a few minutes, drove off. we think he gave him some money for food.

anyone who knows me knows this would never do. i knew there were places in hot springs a mere 17 miles away. i started making calls as our new friend wheeled toward the sonic. i called a women's shelter to get a number for a men's shelter to see if they knew of a malvern shelter. no such thing. my co-workers told me the nearest mental health facility of any sort is in bryant, 35 miles away. i'm still not sure that's true - it's too heartbreaking to consider.

i found, after a few calls, a place in hot springs that could take him this afternoon. he'd have a bed, a shower, a meal. check-in time was between 4 and 5:30 pm. it was about 11:30 am. i figured i could pay for a cab ride to get him to hot springs. no such thing. cab services in hot springs won't come there, either. i called the police back, i called the sheriff's department. they have cars, right? they transport people, right? not today. even so, i thought he might have gotten to malvern hitchhiking (we're right near the interstate). i decided to write everything down and bring it to him, suggest he spend the day heading in that direction.

he was out of sight by now - it had been a while. i got in my car and started driving around to find him. how hard could it be? it was hard. 20 minutes later, i found him crossing an expanse of grass behind some tennis courts. i called after him and told him about the place in hot springs, about how he could have shelter, a shower. he earnestly told me he just needed to get his money to buy a new car and change his identity. no more surgeries, he pleaded, no more lsd, no more fbi following him - he was done.

i gave him the note with all of the information. he put it in his pocket. if he turns up tomorrow, i'll do the same thing.