There but for ...

Rock bottom

"I'll just stick these in the bin then we can be off love." Ned dragged the black bags around the side of the building. A noise alerted him to the presence of another. A crumpled bag of rags gave a small cough. "Oi! You can't sleep here. Get off with ya." A large dirty hand raised its middle finger in answer. Sharon heard Ned's raised voice and came to investigate.

"Leave him alone Ned. The guy can't help being homeless."

"It's his own fault." Ned turns to the man. "What was it, drink, drugs, thieving? I bet you've been inside."

"If you consider spending a night in the cells 'inside' then yes, I have been imprisoned." His voice was cultured if a little raspy.

Sharon moved closer but Ned stood in her way.. "Get back love, he might be dangerous."

"There are some who considered me a killer but I can assure you I have never hurt anyone other than myself." The man sat up and pressed his back against the wall for support. The coughing restarted, harsher this time.

"The man's sick Ned."

"Yeah, sick in the 'ead."

"I have had some psychological issues, yes. Then so would you if you found your baby dead in his cot." The man seemed to shrink in size as tears left white streaks on his dirty face.

Sharon moved in closer again, shoving Ned out of the way. "I want to hear your story." She sat on the ground next to him. "I'm Sharon and that's Ned."

"Pleased to meet you Sharon, Ned. I am Jonathon Kaisley, ex-principal of Marroton High, but my 'friends' call me Proff." He held out his hand. Ned looked at it with disgust, but Sharon took it.

"Where do I start? I met a beautiful woman named Sarah. We married and had a baby, Stephen. I had just been promoted to principal, we had bought a nice house and everything was hunky dory.

Then one morning I looked into Stephen's cot and he was cold and blue. Despite the doctors telling us it was nobody's fault, Sarah and I blamed each other. Soon the arguments turned to long silences. Then she left.

Those close to me were sympathetic but the neighbors soon started whispering that I had done away with her. The police got involved and I was soon vindicated but the old saying 'no smoke without fire' caused me to lose my job.

No job, no house. I got a room in a shared house but the other tenants were substance abusers and I did not intend to go down that road so I took to the streets."
 

"Oh, you poor man." Sharon made a start toward hugging him then changed her mind as the smell of him hit her nostrils.

"Sorry, I am rather whiffy." The Proff started coughing again, a retching, heaving cough. Sharon gave him some tissues. She could not help but notice the blood.

"Ned, get an ambulance."

"No Ned, it's too late for that. I have terminal cancer. By the morning I'll be gone. You can call someone then."

518 words