my brother's keeper

last night was horrific.

the police arrived at the pancho villa camp/us to cite folks for criminal trespassing. after they left and we re-entered the camp/us, karla's tent (where i am rooming) was collapsed, one stake having been pulled. i suspect an officer thought it would be fun to pull a stake and make us work to reconstitute the tent.

after spending time chatting with my camp/us members i buttoned down the hatch and tried to sleep. the wind was blowing wild and crisp. if i had been in a slatted house, i am sure the wind would have been howling like a banshee.

i went outside and gave midnite some extra blankets, knowing the biting cold would be especially hard, since he sleeps beneath the stars, with a blanket beneath him and a couple above him.

i bundled up and laid myself down for the night, when shortly thereafter, the rain began lightly tippling on the roof of my tent. my thoughts went immediately to midnite.

midnite is a street dweller who came onboard at occupy while we were at armory park. his hair is matted, his demeanor quiet and removed, until inflamed with passionate anger, when he righteously feels wronged or disrespected.

i have grown fond of midnite, i have seen moments of glowing brilliance in his quick mind, a quality that many cannot see, because they are reluctant to interact with him at a level of equality, where one begins to see beyond his appearance, and into his mind. he is articulate, and sensitive, and tries to give to the camp/us as an active member.

anyway, i am troubling myself with midnite as the rain is falling, and i am trying to fall into sleep, i want to invite him in out of the rain ... into the tent to rest, where the rain will not effect him. i fall asleep, turning over in my mind that i should unzip the tent door and say, "brother, come in to this shelter from the rain." but the fact that he is sexed man and i am sexed woman keeps me from doing so. there is still, at my very core, an inability to trust my own safety with a stranger or new acquaintance of the opposite sex. plus, i wasn't sure that midnite was the type of man who would sleep in a tent... perhaps he didn't like being confined ... perhaps he slept beneath the dome of stars as a personal preference, i was afraid on many levels, including the risk of offending him.

i fell asleep slowly, turning these issues over.

i was exhausted having slept very little the night before, as we had been through the emergency evacuation from the armory camp/us and we were up all night sorting and rebuilding at our new location.

the rain came down throughout the night, and i inched my way from the back wall of the tent to the front door, as i slept to avoid the pooling rain. around 4:30 in the morning, i woke up to the chattering of my teeth and the shivering of my body. my pillow had wicked the water, and was a cold mass against my face. everything i was sleeping on was soaked, and everything i was sleeping under was wet.

the tent was pressed down on top of me, and i thought it had collapsed again.

i scrambled out of the tent. grabbed my uke and other possessions and headed mindlessly to my car, teeth chattering. i exchanged my soaking shirt with a dry one, turned on the engine and napped behind the wheel. at some point i fell off into a deep sleep and left the engine running by mistake.

when the sun rose, i walked back onto camp/us and drank hot chocolate with the sanitation, kitchen, and peace keeping crew. i was still worrying for midnite, and wondering how he had fared through the night.

in the early hours a volunteer from tucson arrived with two tents, and two sleeping bags. the woman from lexington took the first tent, and they installed it at the top of the park. then the various crew members i had been sharing coffee and conversation with were insisting i take the second tent. i have a tent, though it's not mine, i do have a place to shelter. i accepted the gift and the offer that i take possession of said tent. i scouted a place for my new home and put it together with the man who had donated it.

then i went looking for midnite, i knew he had survived because his pile of blankets was empty. i spotted him walking by the west island and heard his voice "my tent was ..." echoing from across the roadway. i called him over, told him how bad i felt about him sleeping outside in the awful storm last night. and asked him what he had said about his tent, he said, "i lost it in the brouhaha last night at armory."

"ah," i smiled and motioned him to come with me, "i have a surprise for you."

"surprise?" he flashed his eyes in consternation, surprises aren't a welcome turn for midnite.

"no, no! a gift! something to show you!" i assured him.

i took him to the door of his new home, "have a look in there, and tell me what you think. it's kind of musty but..."

midnite leaned down to peer in, and raised back up to look me in the eye, "well, yeh, it's nice, man?"

"it's your new tent midnite! it was donated this morning, and last night i felt so bad with you sleeping outside in the wind and rain beside my tent that i wanted you to have a place to shelter."

"for me?!!"

"yes, for you!" he leaned in and quickly kissed my cheek, to thank me.