A Sheltered Life Chapter 6

THE RIPPLESSo here I am at Starcrest and Hidden waiting for the 509. I've 'text' my friend to let her know my destination and that I will still be by there afterward to retrieve my mace and pocketknife. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to avoid the stray dogs out on the street, be they four legged or two. Besides, the pocketknife is all I have left from my Dad's effects and unless I want to sneak back home and risk running into my husband, it's all I've got of him besides my memories. My Mom gave me backbone and self-sufficiency as well as survival skills, but I would also like the little things I left behind and one day I plan to retrieve it all and store it 'til I get my own place.But let's get to the ripples that certain actions at the shelter has caused, not only for me but the three women I formed a bond with. This new sorority that we named "Karma is a Naked Bird" was born on October 16th at BWCS. There were three of us, Mary, Connie and me. We were discussing the rumors, gossip and out and out lies that were floating around the shelter, either directly or indirectly involving either one of us and the fourth member of our group, Seriah. Most of these items making us laugh til our sides hurt and tears were flowing. Come on now, if you can't laugh at yourself then you won't make it out there in the real world. We were also, as usual, discussing the bad behavior we had witnessed at the shelter involving abuse, theft etc. and how some staff members cared but were helpless to do anything about the situations. Karma, what comes around goes around and the truth will out is what we decided was going to happen and we prayed on it. Connie mentioned Pixar, in particular the birds on a wire. I said that We were the Big bird and Mary stated that the little birds were all around us causing us to laugh even harder. At the end of this jest I stated that the proverb that we should state and keep in mind to help us get through the day is that KARMA IS A NAKED BIRD!! We all stopped and stared at each other and felt something tie us together at that moment, something profound. We vowed to let Seriah in on our special proverb and to keep thinking along those lines to keep us sane in this madhouse, the shelter. We Naked Birds, as we call ourselves, have been through some crap at the shelter. If one of us doesn't feel safe then all of us try to find a solution. We could say, and do say anything that comes to mind to each other without retaliation or unfair criticism. We find solace in each other either as a whole or one on one because we know that in the end all four of us will stick it out and try to do the right thing. I had dispelled all rumors that I was NOT undercover with the news or SAPD or even FVPS. I am just another in a long line of battered and abused to cross over the threshold. Everyday, new faces, whole families came in. The place was overflowing with sadness and the lack of space to contain it. I was so grateful that I was without children, but my three friends were either at the beginning of child rearing or near the end. I was so grateful I had a bunk and not a cot, or a couch. I was even grateful for the sandwiches on the weekends since the kitchen is closed then. My guess is that they tried to give the residents a chance to use it but Some of those residents didn't clean up after themselves and well you get the picture. During a house meeting one of the staff members stated as much so I got my guess verified. Digression.Since the INCIDENT, I've been written up on November 4th for leaving the window open in ,my "shared room". I did indeed do this on November 3rd due to unpleasant odors. No one else in the room received a write up(I flat out asked my roommates including the kids) and since there are 8 of us in the room, hmmmm you can see the trail I'm leaving can't you? I told Sandra and Blanca that I was going to sign the write-up because in all honesty it was probably me and we laughed together. Why the laughter? Because they've been in my room, they know my bunk was the obsessively neat bottom bunk to the left. They know how the room smells of rotten produce, funky tennis shoes, piss and perpetual hair dye (Roxanna Valdez died her hair two days in a row, including the time I was at the window signing the write-up). I call this combination of odors "OSTRICH PISS" and I've had several women at the shelter comment on the odor in passing. Literally in passing the room or coming to the door and they've asked me how I could bear it. My reply was lots of Renuzit solids and Airwick sprays, LOTS!! Come on, it's funny, really and the fact that neither one of them wanted to give me write-up confirmed my own suspicions that the bumpy ride was about to start so fasten your seat belts ladies and gents!!Then Mary gets a write-up for her 15 year old daughter being out of her room after 8pm. This she relayed to me in the dining room as we stared at several small children and teens running amuck without parents, drinking from mild jugs and putting their hands in the communal ice cooler, all after 8 pm.Then Seriah gets a typed letter informing her that she has to leave by Nov. 10th for not providing the shelter with her ID and the birth records for herself and her 5 year old daughter. Can you say protective custody due to gang violence and transported over several state lines just to get to this shelter? Testify birds!! Also, she did provide the information but it seems that her case manager, Maria Martinez, Lourdes the receptionist and Ms. Bobbi Payne couldn't recall where this information could possibly have disappeared to. Then Connie is informed by Veronica Morales that she and her two daughters were to be exited as her 'bullying' at the shelter had been documented by her numerous written complaints. I will add at this poiunt that Ms. Bobbi Payne advised Connie to stop "collecting" (her words) and start a journal instead. Connie is also under protective custody due to gang related violence. Both of these women have since contacted their outside sources and both have called 211 to get information on where to go it you're not safe at the BWCS. Let's hope that the State of Texas does indeed launch an investigation as per their claims on 11-13-11 when these requests came through with a 'no longer feel safe' statement attached to them. Mary is afraid of being sued by Ms. Payne for crocheting a one of a kind item that we three, Me-Mary-Connie, prototyped on Oct. 23rd in the dining room (our favorite spot)and she wants to sell for BWCS as a charity item and donate her proceeds thusly. Hey, I wouldn't put anything past Ms. Payne.Of course, if you read Chapter 5.1, then you know that I am shelter-less and homeless and spend my time bouncing about with family or at the library here and there. On November 14th, both Seriah and Connie tell me that they may not be at the BWCS to meet me at the Clinic. I have a dental appointment that Thursday Nov. 17th. Since Ms. Payne has her staff meetings on Thursday's, both women were sure that one or the other was going to be exited for mere association with me and my outspoken ways. I have a big mouth and I'm not afraid to use it, lol.Seems that since my hasty departure on Friday Nov. 11, Veterans Day where Ms. Payne dumped me in front of the Salvation Army, the "birds" were being threatened by other residents', namely Mary Josephine Nunez, Roxanna Maria Valdez and Maribel Rupp amongst others. Seems someone on staff let it slip that Connie was on thin ice from the rash of written complaints coming in over the last two weeks, umhmmm, and one more written complaint would cause her to be exited. Oh course Mary Nunez, a long time resident of five months, was more than happy to flap this one last written complaint under Connie's nose as she headed to the manager's office to turn it in. It also seems that Maribel Rupp( who just completed court ordered Anger Management at an offsite location on Broadway, FVPS hint hint cough), who now occupies my bunk in the room with Roxanna Valdez, has followed her down the hall(with Roxanna in tow) trying to start a confrontation because she HEARD that Connie was spreading gossip about her. Well Maribel, if you grap two women's boobs and tell them they're hot, I'm just saying.Now Roxanna and Mary N. had spent two weeks after the INCIDENT trying to convince me that Connie was a tramp and a gossip. Mary N. tells me. after an Anger Management class on Nov. 7th;at which time Roxanna wailed on and on about how she felt "others" were spreading tales about her and her lack of discipline with her sons//es verdad; by poking her head into the Janitor's closet (where I was taking care of my household duties for the week )VERBATIM "You know I don't take sides right?" She has that little fake smile on her face and continues with "but you might want to watch your back." to which I replied "Now Mary, if I thought you were telling me something untrue I'd just ignore you you know." Mary bobs her head and retreats. This same Mary N. came to me Weds. night prior to my Referral to another shelter. to tell me that she had heard that I was undercover for the Express News and that if word of this reached "Felicidades", whatever that implies as this particular women was so shy and quiet but I discovered has the warmest smile, that it could mean trouble for me,. She also made it a point to say she had heard this rumor from Connie. Not so as I planted the rumor as a 'what if' in my room with my roommates, one of whom was Roxanna. I noticed that Mary kept clutching her stomach and that she looked feverish. I asked her if she was feeling alright. She said it must be something she ate and then went away. That same night I passed her in the hall on her way to the manager's office to complain about being sick in her room and she was sure it was the food. There are lots of complaints about the food, 11-10 a piece of glass inside a biscuits(have the Pic), the stew the night before the was culprit that made Mary N. sick, the greenish hamburger patty that my case manager seemed very interested in on 11-19 at our weekly meeting, the undercooked pork that was proven to have given several children an intestinal parasite along with the fact that some of the residents insist on feeding the cats out of the same dishes that we eat from and that were being washed by a woman with a staph infection and no hairnet. That woman and her son are no longer at the shelter after five trips to the ER via CAB with no results showing for the effort. Yes, I digress but it was important so NAH!!Back to the 14th of November. Both Connie and Seriah are verbally threatened and accused of being bad parents during the Anger Management class in front of a FVPS representative. Both accused women, on of whom the representative is familiar with, tell her a little story about the events leading up to November 11th and Ms. Payne placing me on the street. This professional tells them that the Ripple Affect is quite clear and to continue to speak out against it, to keep fighting. Seriah has ties with the school and continues to stand firm on the child abuse that we've witnessed first hand. In the meantime, an outside representative, who has done nothing but good things for some of the residents at the shelter, has severed ties with on of our foursome due to threats made towards her and has since canceled all contracts on some previous arrangements. I know what you're thinking. "Wow, what an arrogant bitch". I've often wondered about these were 'delusions' that I suffered throughout my life too!! Turns out I was neglected, abused and taught to ignore these things. BUT, 4 different women on four separate paths who find each other at the same place in their lives and decide to band together and grow beyond our woes, ignoring those around us who aren't trying to get past their tragedies and move upward and onward! That's more than coincidental to me. So let the ripples travel outward. Let our voices carry these sad tales and abuses with them. Someone will hear us, the four women so different from each other and yet exactly the same. I cling to that and will continue to inform the city, the state, the nation of the things we've seen and our own logical conclusions on the facts we've puzzled out for ourselves, together, in the dining room, late at night, at the Battered Women and Children Shelter.11-15-11 Just an update:FVPS has not returned my call from the 11th and now the 17th but they are a big organization so I'm sure someone will try to get back to me.TCID has not returned my call regarding Meningitis, Hand Foot Mouth, Staph and the lack of sterilization involved after exiting these residents before moving someone else into their bunks.The Fire Marshall has indeed sent me an email informing as to where I can call to report code violations regarding fire evacuation procedures.Kabb-tv has not responded to my plea but then again, they too have more Important stories to chase down I suppose.On Thursday November 17th, after a staff meeting, Ms. Bobbie Payne ordered the immediate exit of Seriah Stone and her 5 year old Daughter due to a written complaint that was filed on Tuesday. Quite a coincidence as all four of us met up with each other at the clinic that very morning and were seen by several staff and residents together. Connie stated that Ms. Payne would not make eye contact with her. Mary H. has been reassured by her counselor and case manager that Ms. Payne wouldn't dare exit her, BUT she exited Ms. Latanya Robinson over an unacceptable shirt incident previously mentioned in The Grievance. I also called the front office to let them know I'd like to retrieve my mace and pocketknife(the same items I asked Ms. Katie for on Friday, Veterans Day, November 11,2011 when Ms. Payne Referred me to the Salvation Army Hope Center) and was informed by Ms. Sandra(who stated on 11-14 that she had seen said items but now they were gone) from the manager's office that Ms. Payne had given my items to An Officer Garcia with the SAPD my guess was on November 14th and that I would have to call 210-207-7273 to retrieve them. AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO DO JUST THAT AND GETTING NO ANSWER FROM THE PROPERTY ROOM, oh yes I do have the balls babies, I will have to keep you informed of that scenario at a later date. Oh yeah, and upon advise from the clinic, I left a message for Laura regarding a letter of exit that was needed at the clinic for my files and that she could fax that over as they would be waiting for it. This call was made from my tracfone while inside the clinic right after Josephina requested it of me. Bet that won't get done either but You shoud know that I'll just keep calling to get what is needed to continue taking care of me and my health, LMOA!!And an update on Seriah. She called me after a full night of no rest for all four of the Naked Birds, to inform me that as she was crying outside the shelter(the same shelter that rescued me and that Ms. Katie called personally after Ms. Payne told her to get her out before 5 pm today, a Friday and right before the Thanksgiving break next week) when a woman came up to her and offered her a place for her and her daughter. She had prayed for a miracle and it fell upon her in the guise of a kind woman looking for a woman she had met and was told stayed at the shelter. Seriah was on her way to FVPS as she too had called and was successful in securing a meeting for today with several representatives who had heard her VOICE of CONCERN. I will try to get an update on that if possible but CAN I GET AN AMEN!! :)