He told me he’s able smell them as soon they walk into his office, urine and feces or layers of caked dirt, he has eyes at the back of his head, listens to see if a client brandishes a gun or knife, or is having a schizophrenic episode, in which case he’ll talk her down, ask if something happened on the walk over, wonders if she’d like to have a seat, while reassures it’s okay if she wants to stand, he has back trouble himself and knows the problem, begins asking how long she’s been homeless, yes, that’s a long time, and if she’s traded money for sex, a question that’s not even used by the database and makes it difficult to establish trust, which is the baseline for everything, but before he pulls out that question, tries to capture her social security, just the last four, you don’t want to give them to me, no problem, goes for date of birth, and if he’s lucky, may get a month, which gives him something to work with, starts to wonder how a client is eating and if she’s tried Glide or the nuns beneath the Chavez overpass and if she needs a new script for medicine, shows concern until he is able to build the picture of an official record, he discusses all of this with me over dinner, tells me about his job ferreting lost souls who live beneath bushes and highways; we’ve been dating for many months now and then he tells me that he’s still married to his second ex, his “ex-ex,” he calls her, but she’s not really.
https://ninaserrano.com/nina-serrano-reviews-lenore-weiss-the-golem/