“Can I have some money to buy a hamburger? Carl’s Jr. has a meal for $7.”

“Oh man, don’t eat stuff there, get a burger around here.”

“It’s expensive around here.”

“That’s true. Here you go.”

“Thanks man.”

“So how’d you end up like this?”

“How did I end up homeless…I lost my job.”

“What were you doing?”

“Janitorial. Before that I was going to school, trying to get ready for the real world. Then all of a sudden my mind went.”

“How did your mind go?”

“You want the truth?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not gonna hate me are you?”

“Of course not.”

“Too much weed.”

“I smoke a lot of weed, well..not as much as I used to, but it just didn’t agree with your system?”

“It doesn’t happen to everybody. Weed is not bad. They got it for medical use. It’s legalized in Colorado, but some people, maybe 1 in a million can get affected by it. I got paranoid schizophrenia. I try to smoke now I get totally paranoid. I think people are coming after me. I get scared. I can’t talk to nobody. You ever heard of that?”

“I’ve heard of paranoid schizophrenia, but I’ve never heard of weed causing that.”

“Yep, in some people. Mostly it happen to black people they say. I was cool at first. I was going to Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. I went to the World Class tour. I was listening to reggae a lot, I was smokin, I was smokin man. But then it caught up to me. Then I couldn’t do school  no more, couldn’t get a job. Now I’m doin sorry jobs, living in a bum room. My parents still want me to go back to school. I tell em ‘I’m old as hell’.”

“How old are you?”

“48.”

“It’s never too late. You’ve got plenty of time.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“48 ain’t too old?”

“It’s never too late.”

“Wow, if my mind could just heal up, I’ll be alright. I could go back to school. Get a trade or something. That would be great. I haven’t felt right since 1985.”

“I’m Garry. What’s your name?”

“Steve. Thanks a lot Garry.”

“Stay up Steve.”