Things I'm Not Supposed To Know

Nobody is. But it's being whispered around, and Rich passed it on to us.

Adam, his assailant, has not been seen anywhere by anyone in the homeless community for 5 days now. One simple explanation is he got so scared at what he'd done that he skipped town. It's an easy explanation, though it doesn't give closure. An arrest and a long sentence would give closure. But we may never know.

Incidentally, Rich is recovering, moving a little more easily each day. His post - ER doctor's visit was this afternoon, and it went well enough. It will still be a while until he's back to himself, particularly since he's overworking himself. But no actual damage is being done, just a longer recovery.

The previous two paragraphs are not in the "not supposed to know" category. Just a bit of framework.

Rich has made a lot of friends in the local homeless community. He's been there (homeless) himself, and has used his skills to help them, finding things they needed and giving them away to those who could use them, always with respect. Sometimes there is a barter of sorts, as he will put word out about what he himself could use, and someone knows where it can be located. Sometimes there is a small fee when it can be afforded. Sometimes it's a gift of goodwill.  A single example is one man who has back problems who'd been sleeping on a thin blanket over rocks in a nearby river bottom - meaning a dry riverbed of course, high enough to remain so even in monsoon weather. Rich found several thrown away rugs, toted them over to this man to put under his bedding, layered  for a substitute mattress. Weeks later we got word his back felt better. There are many more instances.  Rich doesn't brag about his good deeds.  But he definitely has friends.

Adam hasn't made them. In fact, he's made so many enemies among so many people, and this latest attack was so egregious, that the word is out that he'd been "green lit." The homeless community, so often the brunt of uneven justice, has supposedly developed its own code. To be green lit isn't just evicted.  It means license among the community to make him permanently gone, in a way that he will never be found again. Nobody is saying that's what has happened to Adam, of course. But local lore holds that it has been known to happen, and that there are people out there who will undertake seeing that kind of justice imposed. And who will see that in is never known about, just part of local lore. The supposed fact that no bodies have been found under river bottoms is touted as a reason to believe that being "green lit" is a sentence carried out without consequences for those who partake.

Then again, if Adam heard the word, he'd be smarter than I suspect he may be to head out of town and never look back. Heck, fear of the local cops should do that right now.

As for us, we're not about to step down our vigilance. A long jail sentence would be closure. This keeps us looking over our shoulders, looking for that white chevy pickup, waiting for the next attack or piece of vandalism. If that is no longer necessary,  despite no arrest, I don't want to know. Everything I've just written about his possible fate is just rumors. 

Absolutely. Just rumors.