Early Christmas Present: Mark Gets an Apartment!

The phone rang. I was putting away a special bag of groceries intended for a Thanksgiving feast for me and Elmer that included cooking a turkey in a burn barrel, a recipe/process I learned from a homeless man in Oregon City. It would be the first turkey I’d ever cooked!

I didn’t recognized the number but spam wasn’t indicated so I answered. Why not? Maybe some Hollywood agent visiting Oregon had discovered one of my books in a street library and wanted to make a movie or streaming show out of it.

“Hello, it’s Matt,” I said.

“It’s Mark,” said the caller.

I instantly recognized the voice.

MARK FROM THE OLD CROW BOOK CLUB! MARK MY GREAT FRIEND. A FORMER HOMELESS MAN IN PORTLAND NOW LIVING IN A SAFE REST VILLAGE! IT TOOK A VILLAGE TO GET HIM OFF THE STREETS BUT WE DID IT! AND MARK HELPED MAKE IT HAPPEN BECAUSE HE SHOWED UP WHEN WE NEEDED HIM TO SHOW UP!

I might also add that Mark is the best and most discerning reader of my writing that I have ever encountered and we had met because I’s seen him sitting on a sidewalk and reading one of my books discovered in a Portland street library. There’s got to be a word for that kind of cosmic convergence.

In due course Mark informed me:

He had borrowed a phone from a friend to call me. He was moving out of a Safe Rest Village and into an apartment somewhere in outer southeast Portland. At last a place of his own where he could invite friends over. He was unsure as of yet if he had to immediately find employment to help cover his subsidized rent. But he was up for work, perhaps. He was also applying for SSI benefits because of the double heart attack he suffered two years ago that necessitated a hospital stay and then the hospital paid for a taxi to dump him right back on the streets where he’d suffered the heart attacks. He hadn’t seen any of the book club members for months. They were all in the wind.

I was on the verge of crying at Mark’s good news and realized I was practically yelling into the phone because I was so fired up.

But…

then…

Mark steered the direction of the conversation to my new book, Gift of the Oregon Magi. A friend in Portland had bought him a copy and slipped it into his backpack resting in front of the grocery store where he sells the weekly newspaper advocating for the homeless. He had gone inside to take a piss.

Mark had apparently read the book in one sitting, which is a lot more than I can say for some family members and close friends. He started telling me his favorite tales and that several of them should be made into movies or streaming shows!

I marveled at my friend’s understanding (and dissection) of my stories and what popped out to him.

At one point, I ended the literary discussion and told Mark I would try and launch some kind of effort to help him furnish and appoint his apartment. I couldn’t handle it in person but I would ask people in Portland who knew Mark, who cared about him and the book club, and might want to pitch in and help my friend.

(If you want to make a financial contribution to assist in this unique project, please reach out to me privately through email or by phone. It’s a damn good cause to support this holiday season.)

If you enjoyed reading this story, please consider purchasing a copy Gift of the Oregon Magi this holiday season and support an Oregon author and independent publisher.

The book can be purchased directly from Nestucca Spit Press at www.nestuccaspitpress.com or via Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR4TDMFR