Under the Viaduct, H. Anderson [top young adult novels .TXT] 📗

Kaylee waited for her to continue, hoping she wasn’t going to ask her for money, because that was one thing she was unable to give right now.

“Clothes. He needs some decent clothes and I don’t mean for you to buy them for him. There are several places—churches and shelters—that have free, donated clothing for just such a purpose, but he’ll need to be able to get to those places. And he’ll need help picking out the proper attire.

“A haircut and shave. Again, not asking you to pay for it. Those same places that supply clothing, have barbers come and give of their time and talents for free on certain days of the week or month. Find out when and get him there.”

So far, the list seemed doable.

Mama C continued, “And, this is the hard one, he’ll need to get a copy of his Social Security Card. He knows his number, but employers need a copy of an actual card. I have no idea what is needed to get it. I have a feeling it won’t be easy without an I.D. or permanent address. You’ll have to do some research into that.”

Kaylee nodded again, already thinking of ways she could find out. “He can use my phone number to put on the applications and I can drive him to any interviews he gets.”

“Now,” Mama C said, “the hard part is up to me.” She patted Kaylee’s arm. “I get to convince him to let you help.”

Downtown Denver bustled with people and cars. Kaylee thought it would have settled down a few days after Christmas, but people must have still been out visiting family and exchanging unwanted or mis-sized gifts. The traffic tried her patience. It didn’t help that she was having little luck with the Social Security Card mission. It was a catch-22—Blayne would need an I.D. or birth certificate to get a copy of his SSC, but he needed his SSC plus two forms of mail to prove his address in order to get an I.D. She was on her way to the homeless shelter to talk to someone whose job it was to deal with these kinds of conundrums. She may have also been using this task as an excuse to postpone going to find Blayne. Mama C had been able to talk him into letting Kaylee help him, but he wasn’t happy about it.

She drove around the block twice trying to find a place to park before giving up and parking three blocks away. She wrapped her scarf tighter around her face and neck to ward off the bitter cold. Knowing she shouldn’t be walking with her head down, she did it anyway. All of the self-defense classes she’d seen said to walk with purpose, head up and alert. Kaylee had a hard time looking at the people huddled in doorways and out on the sidewalk. She wanted to help them, but had no idea where to even start.

She entered through the main doors of the Denver Rescue Mission and headed straight to the information desk, unwrapping her scarf as she walked. “I have an appointment with Hope Williams.”

The woman at the desk smiled. “I’ll walk you to her office. This place is a maze if you don’t know your way around.”

“So,” Kaylee tried to hide her annoyance, but she wasn’t doing a good job. “I was right, then. There’s no way for a homeless person with no contact with his family to get a copy of his Social Security Card. You realize this makes it nearly impossible for someone to get out of the situation they’re in, right?”

Hope, the Case Manager Kaylee was meeting with, leaned forward across her desk. “Yes, Ms. Burke, I do realize it. This is one of the many battles I face every day.”

“And there’s no way around it?”

“Not that I’ve found in my five years of working here. Your friend is going to have to contact his family. Or you’ll have to do it for him.”

Gravel crunched under her feet as Kaylee made her way to the encampment under the viaduct, in no hurry to face a probable ornery Blayne. She most definitely wasn’t going to tell him what she’d found out about getting a Social Security Card—not today, anyway.

She smiled warily as Blayne straightened from leaning on a cement pillar and walked toward her. The expected scowl did not adorn his face, but his eyebrows scrunched a little as he closed in on her.

“You really don’t have to do this, college girl. I can do this myself.”

“I…I know. But it’ll be faster with me driving you.” Kaylee peeked behind him, of course Mama C was nowhere to be found to help her in this conversation.

“Don’t you have anything better to do? I’d hate to keep you from your classes.”

Did he mean that or was he mocking her? She really couldn’t tell. “I’m between semesters. I don’t start again until mid-January. So, to answer your question, I don’t have anything better to do.”

“Don’t you have a job? Or do your parents pay your way?” Ahh, there was the snark she expected from him.

Her anger flared just a touch. She swallowed it down and replied. “No, my parents don’t support me. I pay for college with scholarships and I work as a TA when school is in session. But, like I said, it’s between semesters, so no school and no work.” She turned and headed back toward her car, only caring a little bit whether he followed her or not.

After a brief pause, footsteps scuffed behind her, hurrying, it seemed, to catch up. He reached her side and, with a gentler voice, said, “So, that means you don’t have any money coming in right now.”

Kaylee nodded, looking straight ahead.

“And yet, you’ve been spending money on food and stuff for us.” He stopped, grabbing her arm at the elbow, stopping her mid-stride.

She turned to face him, still not able to look him in the