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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2009)
UR C O .E B M T ÏN C À D E C ID E 11 Street roots Education * Dialogue+Independence BY TYE DOUDY CONTRIBUTING WRITER sitting on the sidewalk flying a sign for beer. These other kids were intimidating as hell; they were dressed all in black Carharts and their jackets were covered with spikes and patches. They had multicolored Mohawks and fucked-up dreadlocks. Some of them had lots of metal sticking out of their faces. One of the kids, a big fat guy with really bad skin and a huge ring through his septum, got up off the sidewalk and pushed CJ up against the wall. “Are you trying to spare change on my corner?” he asked CJ . from about an inch from his face. CJ was so freaked out he couldn't answer,«and at the; moment when he thought the guy was gonna smash his face in, one of the girls arby and I had been doing car burglaries for a few weeks now and selling whatever we could to the pawnshops and used clothing stores. We got the idea from this kid we met named CJ who was a long-time downtown Portland dope fiend and had been doing the car prowl thing forever. GJ had dirty blonde hair that had matted into two large dreadlocks; he called them his mud flaps. He had a number erf shitty tattoos up and down his arms, mostly punk rock stuff like anarchy signs and pentagrams. On his face, right above his eyes and taking up most of his forehead, he had poorly inked bluish green goat horns. He always wore filthy black Carhart bib overalls that were blown out in the ass and held together by Punk Rock and Black Metal patches. CJ was a good thief and long-time heroin In his Sunday best he approached the truckers asking each for a ride out of addict like us. He had hopped freight trains town. The men wanted nothing to do with him and as he grew more panicked and hitchhiked all over the country. He he saw an old conple getting into their truck together. He ran up with tears knew so many tricks for getting by under the radar in the city, and he taught us a lot. streaming down his face and begged them for a ride. He didn't care where He showed hs how to use a chip from the they were going, he just wanted to go. porcelain part of a broken spark plug to break car windows quietly; which downtown pawn shdps were legitimate, and which ones were crooked and asked no questions. This is the short version of how CJ ended up on the streets as he told it to me one night a Sunday and his foster family had Pressed stood up and told the guy to let him go. while drinking rum under the Ross Island him up and taken him to the church they “How old are you, kid?” she asked, and Bridge. attended. As they were pulling into the when he told her that he was only 12, her CJ was only 19 but he had taken up the church CJ noticed that there was a truck immediate response was to tell him to “GO street life at around 12 years old after he stop just down the street and he knew he HOME!” All the other kids laughed when got tired of his foster dad giving him black had found his chance. During the service CJ she said this and then she smiled and asked eyes and putting cigarettes out on him. told his foster mother that he had to use the him if he was hungry. After getting in one too many fights at bathroom and instead went right out the That afternoon they feasted on dumpster school, his teachers had finally noticed CJ. back door and down the street to the truck pizza and day-old bagels. They spare- and his problems. It wasn't long before child stop. In his Sunday best he approached the changed and bummed smokes from protective services was called and CJ was passersby until they had enough money for truckers asking each for a ride out of town. placed in the first of à long string of foster The men wanted nothing to do with him. and a few boxes of wine that they called “space homes around Denver, where he was from. bags.” The kids had a camp in Golden Gate ' as he grew more panicked he saw an old ‘ At first he tried to be a good kid and do Park they took him to. That night they couple getting into their truck together. He w hat he thought was expected of him, but drank the wine, gofdrurik, rolled smokes, ran. up with tears stream ing down his face invariably the strict structure and rules of ■ told stories, and had a lot of laughs. CJ had and begged them tor a ride. He didn't care the foster homes would.be too much for him where they were going, he just wanted to never felt so free. In the morning he went and he would run away. He would always get go. They were good people who fed him and back out to fly a sign with his new friends picked up the within a few days and and after making a few bucks in change they didn't ask too many questions. It turned out returned to the home or placed in a new ! took him to a thrift store to get him some theywere going to California, and when new clothes. He found a pair of army fatigue one. they let him out a t an off-ramp in Oakland pants and a Dead Kennedys shirt that he Finally, when CJ had just turned 12, he with a $20 bill and the sleeping bag they was able to buy for just a few bucks. He ran away from his last foster home. He had had given him, CJ thanked them with tears threw his old church clothes in the nearest taken an interest in painting, and using in his eyes and never looked back. garbage can and from then on wherever he some paints and brushes he had found in When he made it across the bridge into traveled he always found his black-clad and the garage had painted a picture of a purple San Francisco he Was terrified and refused dragon on a piece of cardboard. It was thè | to talk to anyone. Finally, though, his money tattooed tribe on the street comers and in the freight yards in pretty much any city he only thing he had ever done on his own that ran out and he got hungry. One day while he felt proud of and he couldn't; wait to show panhandling, became up on a group of lads visited. ;.y his foster dad Jimmy. As soon as Jimmy B Tye Doudy lives and works in Portland. Addicts Almanac is a reprieve o f his popular series from 2008. He - can be reached a t wurmstar@gmail. com pulled into the driveway CJ ran up and dragged him over to the garage to show him his masterpiece. Jimmy immediately flew into a rage; he didn’t even look at the painting. He just grabbed CJ by the arm, yanked, him into thè house and gave him the beating of his life. Jimmy finished by painfully shaving CJ'« head with a rusty old pair of hair clippers, stripping him of his Clothes and locking him in his room so he couldn't run away. The crime? CJ in his youthful enthusiasm had forgotten to clean the paint brushes he had used without permission. It didn't take more than a couple of days before CJ found his chance to escape. It was Canning jars & equipment, cookware, kitchen took & appliances M eet Your Local Branch Manager; “Com m unities a re n tju st streets a n d build Organic cotton sheets, towek, & blankets ings. Com m unities are thriving places where cultures, commerce a n d souls grow stronger together.” Mary Edmeades Social impact Banking medmeades@atbinabank.com Member EQUAL HOUSING At Albina Community Bank the most ordinary, financial transaction can have an extraordinary impact on our local community. You’re going to bank somewhere, why not let your bankjng make a difference in the places where you live and work? Natural Kitchen & Home Food dryers 2106 SE Division Books on meat-free cooking, gardening & sustainability 503«231«5175 M o n -S at 1CM> * Sun 11-5 Juicers LENDER Street Roots is forever grateful to all of its incredible volunteers. Thank you for all you do!
