I've been thinking of writing an autobiography or memoir, but it just never comes together for me, but I figured if I write one story at a time and post it on my blog maybe once a month, I can do that. Maybe one day I'll pull all the stories together and put them in a book but for now I'll just share some stories with you about my childhood and into adulthood. Some of the stories will be happy, some sad and some horrific because that was my childhood. But they will all be real, things that actually happened. If it seems like something that people enjoy reading maybe, I'll keep it going. These stories will not be in any kind of order; I'll just write them as they come to me.
Marshal Claffey
When I was 18 years old, I was living with my mom, her boyfriend Roger and my brother. I was walking to the store down the street and saw a "Now Hiring" sign in the window of the laundromat, so I went in and asked about the job. She hired me on the spot. After a week of training, I was left alone in the laundromat to clean the washers and dryers, give change for the machines, and take any dry cleaning that came in. It was a pretty easy job.
A few months later, a homeless guy named Marshal came in and asked if I could keep an ear out on the pay phone that was right outside my shop. I said yes because he said his sister was going to call and he wanted me to get her phone number so he could call her back. I did that and thought that would be the end of it.
He started coming around a lot and just talking to me, sometimes he brought in a couple of shirts to wash in the machine. He never dried them though. I found out that he lived in the overgrown desert lot right across the street from the laundromat I worked at. He had dug a huge hole in the ground out there, shored up the sides with wood and put 2x4 wood slats across the top. He covered the wood slats with a tarp and a large rug and some broken branches. He had a step ladder down inside the hole so he could get in and out of it.
After talking for a few weeks, he asked me if I wanted to come see his hole (in the desert) and I stupidly said yes. *You live and learn I guess* So after work I went over to the desert with him, and he took me over to a campout/bbq that a bunch of homeless people were sitting around. They had scored a bunch of McDonald's hamburgers in the trash can behind the McDonald's and were unwrapping them and putting them on the BBQ grill they made. I ate one, because, *When in Rome* smh
The other homeless people talked to me and told me what they did to get by and digging through the trash bins of the fast food places was how they ate because these places throw away a lot of food. One couple even had a toddler out there with them and they had been homeless for over a year. Some of them had holes in the desert, some didn't.
I can't believe I'm going to say this but Marshal and I started dating and a few weeks later, I let him move in with me in my trailer. My mom agreed since her boyfriend Roger had also been homeless when she met him because he was schizophrenic. Roger and my mom stayed together for years until he had a heart attack and passed away. She got him on medication and he did really well for a while.
Things were going good until I found out that Marshal got high by huffing paint and paint thinner. Huffing is when you spray the paint into a bottle or paper towel and then breathe in the fumes. It gets you high. I told him that I didn't want him doing that around me and we had a fight Halloween day. I went off to work, and he came in later that night dressed as a clown and high as hell after huffing paint. It was dripping down his face and his clown face paint was all messed up because of it.
I told him if he didn't leave, I was going to call the police, and he just went crazy and started hitting me. I ended up having bruises all over my arms and neck, a black eye, a concussion, bruised nose and broken rib. He ran out and the 3 people who were at the other end of the laundromat came running up to me. I called the police, pressed charges and they went out in the desert and found him near his hole in the desert. He got 30 days in jail.
He tried to apologize but I wasn't having it and we broke up. I woke up screaming at night from nightmares for almost a year after that. Roger, my mom's schizophrenic boyfriend walked me to and from work everyday for a week and even stayed in the laundromat with me during the day, the man was really good to me and my mom.
I found out that Marshal beat up his next girlfriend too, but her brothers beat him so badly that he ended up in the ICU for over a month. Karma?
I found out years later that he got high, went into a bank and tried to rob it while 2 police officers were sitting in a car right outside. He was arrested and died in prison a few years later. The police report I found online years ago said they found him dead in his cell. I have no idea what happened to him.
Links to past stories
2023
2024
An interesting story Mary. You tried with him and gave him somewhere to live yet he couldn't let go of getting high. Some people are like that I guess.
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling a bit better too. Hugs
Yes, we both tried and it just didn't work out. I am feeling a bit better.
DeleteThank goodness for Roger who took care of you. It shows that not all homeless men are violent - just like not all apparently "normal" or "well-adjusted" ones are good.
ReplyDeleteThat's very true.
DeleteWhen you're only a teenager and you have not really anything to guide you, that is when you're most apt to do things that turn out badly. Horrible that you got beat up. It was wonderful that Roger was capable of walking you to work and staying with you after all that happened. And yes I do believe that what goes around comes around so Marshall got his due.
ReplyDeleteKarma is real for sure.
DeleteRoger was a blessing. And he really loved my mom.
You’ve led an unusual ‘to me’ life.
ReplyDeleteI know. I really have.
DeleteYou have a kind heart and that sometimes leads to unwise decisions. It was good of Roger to look after you.
ReplyDeleteYou live and learn as you get older.
DeleteOh the memories you have, Mary. Yes, we live and learn, Karma got him.
ReplyDeleteKarma did get him.
DeleteIts nice to read an honest story like this.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI think most of us have made bad decisions as a teenager. I'm glad that Roger was there for you!
ReplyDeleteOh I'm sure everyone has made some bad decisions in their time.
DeleteDV can happen even in supposedly ideal relationships. This was not your fault! I am glad it wasn’t worse and you didn’t let him back into your life 💕
ReplyDeleteI know. I was done and am glad that I learned and let him go. Thank you.
DeleteI think it speaks to how open and generous you were willing to be and he's the one who messed that up with his addiction and violence. I'm sorry you were abused by him
ReplyDeleteThank you. It was a life lesson for sure.
DeleteOh Mary so sorry about this.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteThat was quite the story and I'm glad all ended well for you.
ReplyDeleteI am too, thank you.
DeleteMary, I'm sorry about all that has happened to you. I do think you should write a book. Hope you are feeling better today.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I will write a book one of these days.
DeleteYou were young. We all do stupid things when we're young. And he wasn't terrible to start with.
ReplyDeleteIt was a live and learn lesson for sure.
DeleteJesus, what country allows their people to be so poor that they have to dig out holes to live in? Treating their people like rats, so sad.
ReplyDeleteThere are tens of thousands of homeless people in the US.
DeleteDear Mary, you have a kind heart and a lovely disposition.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI think all of us have done things when young (as teens, young adults). that we have regretted but we didn't have the maturity to know that maybe such and such wasn't a good idea. You showed a lot of strength in breaking up with him and then not going back to him. Life is a harsh teacher. Some, like Marshal, don't learn and karma gets them in the end. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThat's very true.
DeleteLive and learn is a tough lesson but he got what he gave. Hope you're feeling better and have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteMemoirs are great fun. In fact, I've written several books which are, indeed, a retelling of my time in the Navy. When I'm finished with the book I'm working on now, I'll return with a story about the three years I was aboard USS George Washington.
ReplyDeleteThat was quite the story. I'm glad he was gone from your life once you realized he was huffing, and especially when he hit you.I hope your back is feeling better too. And I hope June is going well for you!
ReplyDeleteYou didn’t judge him for being homeless. You gave him a chance and he screwed it up. So, it’s on him. Sounds like his brother taught him a well-deserved lesson.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that happened to you, Mary! I would have nightmares from something like that too! How scary! Very nice that Roger stepped up and helped protect you.
ReplyDeleteYou gave him more of a chance than most folks would
ReplyDeleteIts awesome story ma'am. That kind of self-reflection often makes a memoir feel authentic.
ReplyDeletedefinitely write your memoirs on paper and give to you grandson - what a walk through life!!!
ReplyDeleteCrazy! Honestly, please do put these stories out there one day. Very much worth the read. I hope the nightmares went away -- but I wouldn't be surprised to learn you don't like clowns.
ReplyDeleteWhat a story. I would have had nightmares, too. And Roger sounds like a good person.
ReplyDelete