Postcard #3

Denver, Colorado, USA
July, 2006

Ashley nudged me and nodded her head at a boy walking toward us. Even from a distance I could tell how dirty he was, but her attention to this boy was in no way negative. There was a half smile on her face and as we neared him, I too was smiling. This boy was wearing a pair of cut off, dark jeans and Misfits shirt with the sleeves torn off. There was a bandana around his wrist, which he used to wipe some of the sweat from his face. This brought attention to the streaks of dirt running down his neck. Still, Ashley and I were smiling.

It was our second day in Denver. We had wanted to do some shopping to forget about the pains in our stomach from missing home, but ended up lost trying to find any stores that would interest us. We wandered up and down empty streets looking for anything to set us in the right direction. This boy was the only person we deemed worthy to talk to in the two hours we had been walking in the scorching sun.

"Hey ladies, do you have fifty cents?"

I reached into my pocket, looking for change for the boy. We were now only a few feet apart. I could smell the stale smell of sweat. I could see that despite his dirty exterior, he had perfectly straight, white teeth. He wasn't under fed. His body was in good shape. He extended his hand toward us and said, "Fifty cents so I can call you later."

Ashley and I giggled and smiled at him.

"Can you help us find some where to go shopping?" I asked, knowing that if we didn't ask then we'd have to back-track all the way back to the hotel.

"Consume. Consume. Consume." He didn't say he would help us, but we followed behind him anyway. Ashley didn't notice right away, but when we turned a corner I saw huge gashes on his arm. The skin seemed to be peeling back on its own. All around the wound was raw and red. I couldn't help wincing.

"The greed of this country is disgusting. Everyday I see people emptying their wallets just to fill some void that they have in their hearts or something."

I tried to get Ashley's attention, but she was too wrapped up in the voice of the boy to look at me. I turned back to his arm. The cuts were all different sizes, all spaced out unevenly, all in different stages of healing. At a closer look I saw all the years of scars from shoulder to elbow. I sighed.

"But you can't fill a hole inside with material things. You need emotional things to fill a hole like that. Assholes. It's a distraction. How long does that distraction last? It's momentary. So, they continue to consume, consume, consume."

He turned to me, noticing where my eyes were and said, "Raccoons. Vicious beasts." When he saw that I was unconvinced he winked and turned his attention back to Ashley, "But, you go ahead and shop until you feel better. One block over. That's the 16th Street mall."

I reached into my pocket, pulling out a five dollar bill to hand it to him. The boy shook his head and said, "That's just another momentary relief."

Ashley and I did shop. We shopped until our arms ached and our feet were tired. But as we walked back to the hotel the homesickness started to sink in again and we realized the boy had been right.