Q-Man here.  Q-Man Fenton. 

I'm afraid my life ain't much better since the last time I wrote.  Still tryin' to get on VA disability, fighting with the VA, tryin' to survive by my wits, dealin' with the death of Gracie-The-Bag Lady; she was found dead by a Dumpster 'cross the street from the Barnes & Noble Bookstore; guess she had a heart attack or somethin'; she had a lot of health problems.  Shoeless Joe and Snaggle-Tooth Annie, two of my buddies, were the ones who found her dead; she died on Easter Sunday.

They had a funeral for her last week; me, Shoeless Joe, Snaggle-Tooth Annie, Rica, Vet-Man, Charlie, Bright-Eyes, Tears, and other homeless people came to the funeral.  It was very sad; many of us cried; we knew we had lost a wonderful friend.  We shall miss Gracie-The-Bag Lady very much.

Gracie, she had a home, but she done go out to get some meds or food; don't know what she was doing, but she died; now we must go on without her.

I guess y' can say Gracie was, like, our granny or something; she watched out for us, and since she got herself a place, she would come see us every week, bringin' us food or somethin'; she loved us like a mama or granny would.  We knowed she was gonna die soon; she looked terrible last time we saw her:  all grey and skinny; she was nothin' but skin and bones. 

We expected her to die, but it was no less of a shock when we found out the news from Shoeless Joe and Annie; they wre the ones who told us 'bout it.

I'm not mad at them, but they could have let us know sooner that Gracie wasn't doin' good, healthwise.

I am currently at a shelter near the VA; I don't like lookin' at the VA buildin' 'cause it remind me of the shit I have to put up with.  Seems each time I go there, I see a different doctor; they can't agree on what to do with me, and I just end up leaving there, feelin' nothin' but frustration and anger.  I swear all of 'em are foreigners or somethin'; we don't seem to speak the same language!  It's annoying!!

I still am havin' those nightmares of the crap I saw in Grenada; I try to sleep, but I can't; it seems I only get maybe two to three hours a night; no wonder I'm so gol'blamed tired all of the time!!

Today, we are going to go to the cemetary to visit Gracie-the-Bag-Lady (her body; she's in Heaven, with Jesus and all those people).  We see her just 'bout every week since she died.  We talk to her like she is alive, and we know she is watchin' out over us; we have ourselves our own guardian angel now.

It's not gonna be the same without her.  We loved her so much!

After we see Gracie-the-Bag-Lady's grave, we are going to go to the church to have lunch and prayer; I need a lot of that.  My life's gone to nothin' but hell and a henbasket; don't see anyway out of this rat trap!  I could use a miracle or two (possibly even three or four!).  It will be nice to see my friends and to get a nice, hot meal!  I hate scroungin' 'round in the trash just to find somethin' halfway decent to put into my belly!

I will go now; have to get ready for when the van comes to pick us up to take us to the church.  I will write in here again when I can; until then, this is Q-Man saying so long! 

~Q-Man.  :(

*to be continued.*