Marcie and Tina took Tina’s mom to the beauty parlor aboard the ship and Marcie arranged for Tina’s mom to get her hair done and then she paid for it. She took Tina for a walk around the ship while her mom was occupied. Marcie had a little time before the next group of homeless arrived.
Lunch was a pleasant occasion, with piped in music and sandwiches and salads on the buffet. Nancy’s soon to be boss, Rex, walked in, pushing a cart with little frosted cakes to put on the buffet and passed Bruce, sitting at a table. Bruce was scratching open sores on his arm, seemingly without realizing it. That turned Rex’s stomach and he had to run out of the room. After he composed himself and went back to putting the cakes on the buffet, he went to find the purser, Arnold and asked if they could talk. Rex told Arnold what he had just witnessed and asked if he realized scratching sores like that usually indicated meth use. Arnold laughed and said he was aware and would talk with Bruce to see if he needed to be moved to the clinic.
Satisfied that things were moving in the right direction, Rex got back to his kitchen duties. He found the desserts were already gone and he quickly reloaded the table. He smiled as he saw two kids each grab a cake and decide to each share half of their cake with each other. Rex thought to himself, “sometimes hardships cause people to be extra kind to others.” All of a sudden, their pleasant dining experience was interrupted by a loud shout and crashing of dishes! Two men were slugging it out, yelling and screaming at each other! “You stole my wallet! Give it back!” one man picked up a plate and slammed it on the other man’s head.
“I ain’t got your wallet! Leave me alone!” The first man was kicked into the buffet, sending ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, pickles and onions all over the floor and scattering it on the nearest row of tables and people! A security guard towering above the men, came up and separated the two men and he and his helper took them each to their own cabin and locked them in from the outside! It was only a temporary fix, but calmed things down for now. A cleaning crew was dispatched and they made short work of the mess.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Arnold called Bruce aside after lunch and started asking him questions. “Bruce, you have been scratching open sores. Usually that indicates meth use. What is going on with you?”
Bruce looked him in the eyes and said, “That is true, however when I heard about this opportunity and that only non drug using individuals would be considered for living on the ships, I quit cold turkey. It isn’t easy, but I haven’t gone back to it. It will probably take a little longer to quit scratching and also for the sores to dry up, but I am not going back! This is a whole new start for me and I am not going to mess it up this time. Arnold made sure Bruce went to the clinic to get the sores covered and treated.
The vans had headed back to the closed down grocery store to pick up a second group of homeless. The turn around was pretty swift this time as there was a group of people cleaned, x-rayed and waiting. They simply loaded up and took off again for the ship. One other trip was made that first day. All told, almost 200 people were taken off of the streets that first day and given a place to live and plug into! The clinic ended up with 150 people checked in and being treated.
The following day was slightly chaotic, as individuals were given their new assignments after breakfast on the ship. Nancy began her prep work in the kitchen. She was to cut up the vegetables for lunch and then make homemade dressing for the salad. She was so happy to be working in a clean kitchen again with fresh food!!! She said to the top chef, “It takes some getting used to, working with gloves on!” He smiled and continued with his meat slicing and sandwich making.
Some people had camped out in the grocery store parking lot in hopes of being on the first transport out to the ship for this new day. Everything seemed to run like clockwork, getting the vans on the road again! Tactics for gathering the drug users had been modified. It was decided to keep one van at the grocery store for loading, but the second one was equipped with two huge strong men and was sent out to the streets to collect drug users. This proved effective and the van filled quickly with the two men carrying the unconscious ones and putting them aboard.
Harold looked at Jim who was watching this new tactic of clearing the streets. Jim said, “Gotta go! Not good! Stay out of sight!” Harold didn’t know where Jim was coming from and tried to pacify him. Jim got belligerent and started shouting until Tim lit up a cigarette and dipped it in fentanyl, took a puff and then convinced Jim to also take a puff. Jim visibly relaxed, giving up the fight for another day.